The ‘Road to Readiness’: AXA Publishes Heatwave Readiness Guidance 2024

Crippling heat is everywhere. Billions of people around the world are suffering under increasingly severe heatwaves. 

More than 70 per cent of the global workforce – 2.4 billion people – are now at high risk of extreme heat. The most vulnerable communities are hit hardest.

In response to the rapid rise in the scale, intensity, frequency and duration of extreme heat, on 25 July 2024 UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for an urgent and concerted effort to enhance global cooperation to address extreme heat in four critical areas:

• Caring for the vulnerable
• Protecting workers
• Boosting resilience of economies and societies using data and science
• Limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C by phasing out fossil fuels and scaling up investment in renewable energy.

The 2024 edition of the AXA Future Risks report confirms that climate change related risks remain the top concern for experts and populations across the world.

That’s why, AXA has created a public readiness guidance for Extreme Heat. This is the second volume of AXA’s 'Road to Readiness' collection that is motivated with the overall aim for AXA to further expand its commitment in society and to help building resilience in the communities; the first volume published in November 2023 focused on flooding.

This is a grab and go document for our customers, our business partners, and any businesses aiming to

• encourage them to develop resilience to extreme heat
• elevate their awareness of heat risks
• share AXA’s expertise and knowledge leveraging on our own readiness practices to protect employees, operations and reputation through actionable capabilities to prepare and respond to extreme heat situation

You can download and read the report here.