This session explored ways to strengthen a shared understanding of what effective heat governance entails, including the institutional arrangements, coordination mechanisms, and policy instruments needed to transition from response-oriented measures to long-term resilience.

India’s urban trajectory is driving up heat stress and cooling demand, pushing buildings-related energy use toward a tipping point. This session explores building regulations that go beyond energy codes to mainstream passive cooling and blue-green infrastructure.

This session brought together state government officials and a representative from the National Institute of Urban Affairs to discuss subnational action on heat and cooling. Panelists shared state-level efforts and how governments are moving toward greater collaboration across government, NGOs, and academia.

South–South cooperation offers a critical pathway for practitioners to learn from peers navigating similar institutional and resource constraints. This session brought together experts from Africa and India to exchange insights on institutional approaches, data-driven decision-making, and financing for sustainable cooling.

Heat stress threatens the largely informal and increasingly gig-based workforce in India. This session examined why heat governance misses key exposure factors, and how protection can be embedded across health, labour, housing, and disaster risk frameworks in informal-economy contexts.

Neha Dhingra, Director, CLASP-India

• Pradyumna Poddar, Past President, Indian Fan Manufacturers Association (IFMA)
• Ashish Rakheja, Managing Partner, AEON Integrated Building Design Consultants LLP
• Pradyot Kole, Scientist D, Deputy Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India
• Shravan Shankar, Co-founder, Climake
• Aditya Narayan Singh, Director, Ozone Cell, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India *
• Kamran Shaikh, Director, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Government of India *
• Gaurav Mehtani, Associate Vice President, Daikin Airconditioning India Pvt. Ltd. *

Driven by inadequate infrastructure, informal livelihoods, and gaps in disaggregated data, this session examined the compounded vulnerabilities of women and children, and how policy, urban design, and cooling strategies can centre those at the margins of climate adaptation.

Extreme heat is reshaping India’s power sector, driving up peak cooling demand while reducing generation efficiency and stressing transmission and distribution infrastructure. This session brought together utilities, practitioners, and researchers to identify priority actions for strengthening power sector resilience.

This Plenary brought together leaders from banking, insurance, philanthropy, and industry to discuss financing for heat resilience and climate-friendly cooling. The session acknowledged that adaptation and cooling finance is not a niche climate issue but a mainstream economic imperative that must be embedded across financial decision-making.