Crushing blows to three of the world’s largest oil companies have made it clear that the arguments many have been making for decades have sunk in at the highest levels.
Jane Gilbert, Miami-Dade County s first Chief Heat Officer
Miami-Dade County has named Jane Gilbert as its first ever Chief Heat Officer.
It is understood to be the first position of its type globally. Athens in Greece and Freetown in Sierra Leone have pledged to also appoint Chief Heat Officers, and more cities are expected to follow.
Gilbert, who previously served as Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Miami from 2016 to 2020, will co-lead an interagency Heat Health Task Force to be formed this summer and co-ordinate efforts to protect people from heat.
“In Miami-Dade County, we know heat,” said Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “As the impacts of heat grow, they are further compounded by hurricanes, floods, and sea level rise. And we know extreme heat does not impact people equally – poorer communities and Black and Hispanic people bear the brunt of the public health impacts. Appointing Miami-Dade’s first Chief Heat Officer will help expand, accelerate, and coordinate
Dive Brief:
The country s top contractor by revenue, Bechtel, has joined the Atlantic Council s Extreme Heat Resilience Alliance as the sole engineering and construction partner to help fight the impacts of rising temperatures and support urban preparedness against heat waves around the world.
As part of the alliance, the Reston, Virginia-based engineering and construction firm will use its experience in designing resilience standards and developing guidelines supporting climate-proof construction to make existing infrastructure more robust and efficient to support projects that protect communities from extreme heat. Heat waves are one of the most dangerous weather hazards facing communities around the world, said Tam Nguyen, Bechtel s manager for sustainability, in a statement. Mitigation and adaption measures will positively impact the quality of infrastructure, the services it provides, and the health and well-being of people, enabling communities to tolerate extreme heat,
Press release content from PR Newswire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation.
Bechtel joins global alliance to protect communities from extreme heat
January 11, 2021 GMT
bechtel.com. (PRNewsFoto/Bechtel)
LONDON, Jan. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ Bechtel joined the Extreme Heat Resilience Alliance as the sole engineering and construction partner following an invitation from the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center to help fight the impacts of rising temperatures and support urban preparedness against heat waves around the world.
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Heat waves across the globe are hotter, more frequent, and longer lasting than ever before. Left unmitigated, extreme heat will impact every aspect of human life - from where and how we live, to the food we put on our tables and the structure of our economies.