Heatwaves. Literally and metaphorically the “hottest” topic in climate change research. While heatwaves are becoming more and more common in India, are they still dismissed without proper knowledge? More than what we can as individuals do to save ourselves, what is being done at national and international levels? Have we understood it enough and are our plans actionable?

On this episode of The Big Story, our hosts Prateek and Anoushka are joined by Aditya Pillai, fellow with the Initiative for Climate, Energy, and Environment (ICEE) at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) to answer these questions. 

Aditya Pillai reviewed 37 Heat Action Plans across the country and shares his findings through this chat. He sheds light on what we mean by heatwaves, their detrimental effects, and addresses Heat Action Plans around India while also giving a global perspective, taking into account HAPs all over the world. 

Tune in for an engaging conversation!  

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Chapters:

0:00- Intro

4:14- Alarming Heat Effects and What We Can Do about Them

6:15- Slow Desensitisation to Rising Temperature

13:21- Aditya Talks about his Amazing Smartwatch

17:03- Heatwaves: Undeniable yet Ignored

19:28- Rural Infrastructure Trends and Urban Heat Island Effects

25:52- Contextual Approach to Understanding Heatwaves

27:46- What are Heat Action Plans?

29:10- Encouraging Climate Adaptive Lifestyle Changes

30:15- Oiling the Public Machinery: Is Academic Research Leading to Institutional Impact?

35:20- On-Ground Heat Management

37:43- Behavioural Change to Tackle Heat 

39:40- Which State has India’s Best Heat Action Plan?

42:50- The Funding and the Legal Foundation of Climate Policy 

46:40- Drawing Inspiration from the Global Scenario

49:12- Why does Delhi NOT have a Heat Action plan?

53:33- Can Climate Change Swing Elections?

1:03:59-  The 3 Influential People who should Listen to this Podcast.

1:09:31- Learnings from COVID-19

1:13:03- Why Heat Action Plans need to be Hyper Local?

1:15:01- Suggesting Heat Action Plans for every School and Office