A Call for Evidence, published alongside the National Heat Risk Commission’s framing report, A Heat Circuit Breaker for the UK, marks the first milestone for the National Heat Risk Commission.
LSE Global School of Sustainability writes:
… It is the first step in an evolving programme of evidence-gathering and engagement on how the UK can improve resilience to the growing risk of extreme heat – the country’s deadliest climate change-related health risk
This initial phase seeks evidence, experience or insight from organisations across the UK. Future phases will build on the evidence gathered through this process and the Commission’s developing programme of work, including a phase focused on hearing directly from individuals.
…
In this phase we would like to hear from businesses, public bodies, institutions, and voluntary and community organisations in the UK. The Commission wants to understand how organisations have been affected by extreme heat, and its companion hazards of drought and wildfire; what organisations are doing to prepare and respond; and what would help enable further action. The Commission is seeking evidence from organisations and businesses in response to the following questions:
- How is extreme heat, and its companion hazards of drought or wildfire, affecting your organisation, sector and the people you work with or serve?
Please tell us about impacts on your workforce, customers, service users, communities, operations, services, assets, supply chains, productivity or costs.
- Are some people or communities more affected by extreme heat, drought or wildfire than others?
Please tell us about any groups who may be particularly exposed or vulnerable, or who face greater barriers to preparing for and coping with extreme heat. This could include people affected because of their health, age, sex, disability, income, housing, location, occupation, access to services or other circumstances.
We are also interested in whether existing responses to heat risk could create or worsen inequalities, or whether they could help reduce them.
- What is your organisation doing to understand, prepare for and respond to extreme heat, and/or its companion hazards of drought or wildfire?
This could include plans, policies, investment, changes to working practices, infrastructure, nature-based solutions, data or climate information, and consideration of both current and future risk.
- What has worked well, and what have you learnt?
We are interested in successful approaches, lessons from implementation, and actions that have not worked as expected.
- What tools, information, evidence or guidance do you use, and what is missing or needs to improve?
This could include weather or climate data, risk assessment tools, standards, guidance, advice, good practice or decision-support tools.
- What barriers are preventing your organisation or sector from taking further action or delivering planned measures?
For example, finance, skills, capacity, unclear responsibilities, regulation, competing priorities, organisational decision-making, uncertainty, technical constraints or difficulties moving from plans to delivery.
- What do you need from other organisations or institutions to become more resilient to extreme heat?
This could include action from local, regional, national or UK governments, regulators, funders, infrastructure providers, professional bodies, suppliers or other partners.
- What wider changes would help your sector, communities and the UK become more resilient to increasing heat?
We welcome both new ideas and perspectives on existing recommendations. Are there any policies, standards, regulations, investment priorities or other actions that you think should be considered?
- In ten years’ time, what would ‘good’ heat resilience look like?
This could relate to your organisation, sector, communities or society. We welcome views on both the outcomes that would be desirable and those that are realistically achievable over this timeframe.
- Is there anything else the Commission should understand or investigate?
Guidance on submitting evidence
Please email your evidence to NHRC@lse.ac.uk by Friday 30 October 2026. You do not need to answer every question. Please respond only to the questions that are relevant to your organisation, experience or evidence. Please be concise, aiming to limit your response to each question to around 300 words. If your response exceeds 3,000 words, please include a short summary. Please include a short introduction to you or your organisation and your reason for submitting evidence. Please do not send us material that has already been published, including blogs, newspaper articles, website content and journal articles. You are welcome to reference these sources and/or summarise the points most relevant to the questions posed. Please send your evidence as an email attachment.
See full details at Read more here
