10-07-2025
'Heatwaves should be given names like storms - they are a danger to life'
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When the sun shines in Wales, we celebrate it. A day at the beach, a picnic in the park, all pursuits that aid our well-being after a long winter, while front pages carry photos of dripping ice cream cones and cheer another 'scorcher'. But as the thermometer nudges past 30°C again this week, it's time we delve a little deeper.
Prolonged, extreme heat isn't normal, and we aren't prepared for its side effects.
My role is to be a guardian of future generations under Wales' Well-being of Future Generations Act, but also to make sure those in charge are doing all they can so we can live well today.
And climate change isn't just a future problem — it's happening now, and heatwaves are one of its most lethal symptoms. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
Globally, heat kills more people than floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes combined. According to insurance company Swiss Re, an estimated 500,000 people lose their lives every year to extreme heat. Yet here in Wales, high temperatures are not yet being treated as the public health emergency they often are.
Academics have been leading a growing movement to name heatwaves in the same way we name storms – a simple, but powerful message.
When we hear that Storm Babet is on its way, we know to prepare — to check in on neighbours, avoid travel, and follow emergency guidance.
The same logic should apply to heatwaves, especially when we know they disproportionately impact older people, young children, and people living in poverty. Naming heatwaves would make their danger visible — and visibility drives urgency. If you tell someone the weekend will be "Heatwave Idris" suddenly it's not just a beach day. It's a signal that something potentially life-threatening is happening, and we need to respond accordingly.
My Future Generations Report 2025 argues that climate risk must become a core part of how we plan, design, and deliver public services.
Health boards, councils, and emergency planners should be working with communities to assess vulnerability to climate extremes and take coordinated action.
In places like Cwm Taf Morgannwg and Pembrokeshire, this kind of forward-thinking is already under way.
Cwm Taf Morgannwg Public Services Board's climate risk assessment involved more than 220 people from residents to emergency planners, to identify how floods, droughts, and heatwaves could affect everything from infrastructure to social care across three local authority areas.
This isn't top-down decision-making — it's people-led planning that responds to real lived experience.
And this is vital, because the impacts of climate change are not distributed equally. Research from Madrid shows people on lower incomes suffer most due to poorly insulated homes, lack of access to green space or air conditioning, or pre-existing health conditions that are worsened by heat.
So, what can we do? For starters, we must stop seeing climate adaptation as optional.
The Well-being of Future Generations Act gives Wales a unique framework to plan for long-term challenges.
By the end of 2027, I want every public services board in Wales to have a climate risk assessment and outline clear steps that reflect their communities' needs.
The natural world holds many of the solutions and we must ensure our climate action is nature-led.
Increased tree cover in our towns and cities can significantly reduce local temperatures, improve air quality, and make urban areas more resilient to heat.
This year it was announced a quarter of Newport, South Wales, would be covered by trees within 10 years, with the planting of almost 30,000 'urban forest' trees. Wales was the first country in the world to measure its urban tree coverage and has planted its first Tiny Forests, from Barry to Kinmel Bay.
In Medellín, Colombia, a network of green corridors has already reduced average city temperatures by 2°C, with Paris, Durban and San Fransisco taking similar action. Imagine the impact if we summer-proofed all our spaces, so we could enjoy more comfortable days and protect our most vulnerable.
We should also rethink how and where we build. The National Infrastructure Commission for Wales sees climate change as a national security threat, urging planners to stop developing in flood-prone areas. It recommends we treat nature as a stakeholder in every major infrastructure decision — and create a dedicated fund for adaptation and resilience. These are not radical ideas; they are common sense.
Crucially, adaptation will require listening to those most at risk — older people, disabled people, low-income families, carers — and putting their needs at the heart of planning.
We're not moving fast enough - only two of our 13 Public Services Boards (the statutory bodies set up to improve the well-being of the area under our future generations law) have a climate change risk assessment.
The cost of doing nothing is enormous. But the cost of acting now — planting trees, upgrading infrastructure, reforming planning, educating the public — is far lower, with multiple benefits.
If giving monikers to storms has played a part in saving lives, there's every reason to believe it could do the same for heatwaves.
Because the climate crisis isn't coming — it's here. And we'd better start naming it.
