Focus on Arts and Ecology

Regional updates from Shalinee, Dialogue Earth's South Asia reporter, February 12, 2026 

In Bhutan, where hydropower underpins the economy, clean energy ambitions are now expanding. At the World Governments Summit 2026 in early February, Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay said that Bhutan is seeking increased UAE investment in clean energy sectors, especially hydropower expansion, green hydrogen, and technology-enabled uses such as data centres and future green fuel industries. Highlighting Bhutan’s renewable energy potential, Togbay said in Dubai that energy from renewable hydropower can be used in green data centres and AI computing, as well as to produce green hydrogen.

Just across the border in Nepal, the Green Climate Fund, the world’s largest climate fund, has signed a grant agreement with one of Nepal’s largest commercial banks. This partnership with Nepal Investment Mega Bank (NIMB) is said to be the first step in unlocking increased domestic and international private capital for climate action in the Himalayan country. 

And finally, Dialogue Earth is currently in Mumbai, planning a very special run-up event to the prestigious Mumbai Climate Week. In India’s first city-led climate week, we are bringing together experts from various backgrounds to discuss urban heat with one core question: Is India getting too hot for roti, kapda aur makaan? 

(Sources: Dialogue Earth)

Climate policy experts reflect on the agreement’s focus on “cooperation”, “dialogue” for environmental matters in lieu of binding targets. 

By Shalinee Kumari, February 6, 2026

When India and the European Union finally concluded their long-pending Free Trade Agreement last week, leaders on both sides hailed it as a landmark moment for global commerce. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called it the “mother of all deals”, a thought echoed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Some media outlets described it as one of the “biggest trade deals ever signed”.

But while the deal’s trade aspects are built on binding commitments, penalties and enforcement mechanisms, its promises on climate action and environmental protection are notably softer, relying on consultation rather than compliance.

Two decades in the making, the deal is expected to reduce tariffs and administrative burdens and expand market access for India’s labour-intensive sectors, including textiles, leather products, tea, coffee and spices.

Yet experts who spoke to Dialogue Earth say the deal’s dedicated chapter on Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) reveals a familiar imbalance. While core trade provisions covering aspects including goods, services, competition, subsidies and intellectual property are framed in enforceable language, environmental and climate commitments are not. Potential disputes over sustainability issues are steered towards dialogue and consultation, rather than penalties-based mechanisms that underpin the rest of the agreement.

What this means in effect, some experts say, is that while the India–EU FTA may encourage a degree of alignment on sustainability standards, it should not be mistaken for an instrument of climate governance.

Language changes meaning

That distinction is evident in the language used to describe the agreement’s enforceable commitments and its non-binding environmental provisions.

Core trade provisions in the agreement have been framed using binding words such as “shall” and are backed by enforcement mechanisms including sanctions and retaliatory measures, noted Aparna Roy, fellow and lead for climate change and energy at the Observer Research Foundation think-tank’s Centre for New Economic Diplomacy. The environmental and climate commitments are mostly focused within the chapter on TSD and are framed around cooperation, she said.

While the phrasing used in the TSD chapter – which mentions renewable energy, a reduction in maritime sector emissions and sustainable management of natural resources – also includes “shall”, these precede non-binding targets such as “strengthening dialogue”, “enhancing the integration of sustainable development” and recognising the need to “address” climate change, according to the 2022 textual proposal of the chapter.

“Politically, softer environmental language is often a deliberate design choice to prevent trade negotiations from stalling, particularly when partners have divergent development priorities or regulatory capacities,” said Roy.

To preserve room for possible diplomatic manoeuvring, environmental provisions in trade agreements tend to prioritise flexibility over ambition. This, she said, weakens their capacity to address systemic risks such as emissions leakage, biodiversity loss and carbon-intensive value chains that cut across borders.

Dispute settlement for trade, consultation for environment

While the TSD chapter and its commitments are legally binding, enforcement relies largely on dialogue, consultation, expert review and monitoring mechanisms rather than sanctions, experts noted. The chapter also contains no binding targets and is not subject to the agreement’s main dispute settlement mechanism.

In contrast, trade provisions fall under the dispute resolution mechanism, which can be triggered by violations of tariff, investment or market-access rules.

“This asymmetry reflects the fact that trade obligations are treated as justiciable economic commitments, while environmental provisions are often positioned as normative or aspirational,” Roy said.

The presence of consultation mechanisms and monitoring committees for TSD commitments in FTAs does not automatically translate into implementation of their output on the ground, said Debarshee Dasgupta, a doctoral researcher on environmental and water governance at SOAS, University of London. “While such mechanisms create space for dialogue, the extent to which their recommendations are acted upon is not always guaranteed.”

A 2019 assessment of TSD provisions in EU FTAs by the Centre for European Reform think-tank notes that they are typically excluded from enforceable dispute settlement and do not carry financial penalties for non-compliance. Members of the European Parliament and civil society groups have even described them as “toothless” in practice, according to the assessment. These critics point to an imbalance within EU trade architecture, where investors can seek financial compensation under investment protection mechanisms, while environmental and labour concerns have far more limited avenues for redress, the review noted.

A TSD approach put forth by the European Commission in 2022 introduced the possibility of using sanctions as a last resort for significant breaches of the Paris Agreement and the fundamental labour principles of the International Labour Organization. This was implemented in agreements such as the EU-New Zealand FTA of 2023, but has not been applied to the India-EU agreement.

Nevertheless, there have been examples of consultation and monitoring mechanisms seen in the India-EU FTA being successfully used by the EU to ensure compliance with environmental commitments. Subia Ahmad, senior research associate at the Centre for Policy Research, pointed to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), an import duty imposed by the bloc on carbon-intensive goods. However, whether “similar levels of compliance can be achieved through the India-EU trade partnership remains uncertain”, she said.

The things cooperation could achieve

Much like trade, environmental concerns reach across different local, national and global considerations and scales. They are increasingly being thought of in the context of risks to trade and economic exchange, said Dasgupta. There is therefore a need for India and the EU to “cooperate [and] exchange knowledge that goes beyond simple technology transfer, to assimilate some of these concerns in the specific trade-related provisions”, he said.

But in the current geopolitical context, consensus and cooperation are increasingly fragile foundations for environmental governance, said Roy. With the US having left the Paris Agreement, multilateral climate institutions are under strain. Trade relations are being shaped more by matters such as industrial policy and supply-chain security than by collective problem-solving, she noted. In such a landscape, consensus often settles at the lowest common denominator, while cooperation becomes conditional and driven by interest. “The need for coordination is greater than ever, but the political space for binding commitments is shrinking”, she said.

Nonetheless, Dasgupta observed that India and the EU have strong incentives to cooperate, such as through deeper exchanges of regulatory knowledge and policy approaches. In the present geopolitical moment, cooperation should not be discounted, he said. “Doing so risks a tragedy of the commons,” where parties act in their own self-interest rather than for the common good, leading to loss of shared resources.

At this moment, it might be too early to say what this trade agreement can realistically deliver for climate action, as the deal is yet to be ratified by the European Parliament, said Ahmad.

Nonetheless, Roy said it is unlikely to function as a transformative climate instrument. Its value lies instead in an enabling role: aligning standards, improving transparency, facilitating clean technology cooperation, and embedding climate considerations within supply chains rather than directly enforcing emissions reductions, she noted.

The agreement could contribute to regulatory convergence on issues such as sustainable manufacturing, carbon accounting and environmental reporting, which are becoming central to global trade, Roy said. But meaningful climate action will continue to depend far more on domestic policy choices, public investment and multilateral climate finance than on trade-based enforcement, she noted. Trade agreements can support climate objectives, but they cannot substitute for stronger national commitments or binding international climate governance, she added.

From depending on others for food to cultivating a sustainable and marketable crop, marginalised tribes in Kerala are reclaiming their livelihoods one tuber at a time. 

By Vipindas P, Bindhu Joseph, January 20, 2026

When sisters Ammini and Annamma first started growing white yams, elephant foot yams and tapioca, they were trying to lay down roots for themselves as much as for the tubers they were cultivating.

They had lost their parents young in the Paniyan community, a marginalised Adivasi (Indigenous) group in the Wayanad district of South India’s Kerala state. The sisters, now in their late fifties, had to navigate the layered indignities of landlessness, poverty and social exclusion.

A changing climate did not help. “Earlier the rain came on time, but now we cannot predict it,” Annamma said. “Only the tubers survive whatever comes.”

Today, five other Paniyan families have joined the sisters in establishing community conservation plots, to grow tubers both for the local market and to protect biodiversity. These generate income both through crop yield and by creating an opportunity to earn wages – supported by the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation – for over 100 days during lean months.

This model has since been replicated in other Adivasi hamlets in Wayanad, where farmers have begun tuber cultivation using seeds supplied by Ammini and Annamma via the foundation.

Adivasi communities in the district haven’t always been self-reliant. Large numbers remain landless or live in Indigenous settlements with marginal landholdings, insufficient for cultivation. The sisters moved between multiple temporary shelters before settling in a village called Madamkunnu, Wayanad, where they slowly built their enterprise.

With eight children to feed between them, they faced months of food scarcity, rising debts and struggled to secure essentials like mobile phone top ups. Unable to afford input-intensive cultivation, or to diversify their crops, even an expense as small as their betel nut habit had to be sacrificed.

They could, however, grow tubers for food.

Ammini and Annamma grew white yam, elephant foot yam, taro, tapioca and other vegetables primarily for household consumption, with little surplus for sale. That changed when the duo realised how resilient tubers were.

“Tubers are considered an emergency crop as they can survive when other crops fail due to climate change,” said N Anil Kumar, chairman of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board. “Drought and pest and disease outbreaks are natural impacts of changing climate, and tubers are largely resilient to these effects. Another aspect is the large volume of food they provide. These peculiarities make tubers an unavoidable source of food security for vulnerable communities,” he added.

According to Kerala’s climate action plan, published in 2022, biodiversity hotspot Wayanad is highly vulnerable to climate change, with temperatures rising by 1.46C between 1984 and 2009. Extreme weather events have already led to reduced crop yields, increased pests and diseases, water scarcity, accelerated extinction of threatened crop species, and, in 2024, disastrous landslides.

For the Adivasi communities that grow tubers, they have become a lot more than just food. As well as contributing to food security, the conservation of local varieties is a source of resilience and pride, and they make the unpredictable seasons easier to deal with. Climate change has turned tuber conservation into both a livelihood strategy and a safeguard for the future.

For families like Ammini and Annamma’s, who depend on small plots, seasonal labour and climate-sensitive crops, the impact of these shifts is felt immediately in their kitchens and incomes. Tubers have, therefore, gained importance as a solution to the climate-induced agrarian crises.

Sowing seeds

As their initial efforts to scale tuber cultivation succeeded, the sisters gradually expanded from subsistence cultivation to establishing seed and conservation plots, turning this model into an important supplementary livelihood.

This was the first moment when their small, uncertain cultivation efforts began to connect with a wider network of knowledge and encouragement. It helped that tubers were easy to grow and held cultural significance, often used in curries and side dishes. They also mature relatively quickly, have a long shelf life and both the leaves and tubers of some species, such as Colocasia and elephant foot yam, are edible.

“Conservation plots helped us earn INR 50,000-60,000 [USD 557-670] per year as additional income from an 80-cent (0.3-hectare) plot. The amount was credited to our bank accounts. We withdrew some during emergencies, bought earrings for my daughter, and even purchased a mobile phone,” Annamma said. “Luxuries like these were otherwise inaccessible through routine wage labour. Now, even our children support us, as they too benefit from the produce and income,” she added. Before cultivating tubers, the sisters relied mainly on short-term work in the paddy and coffee fields of non-Adivasi farmers.

Community conservation plots are primarily owned and managed by women, and their income benefits children and families. Elderly members of the Paniyan community, often the least preferred in the labour market, have also been engaged as custodian farmers, making the programme inclusive for the most marginalised. In Madamkunnu, this inclusiveness is visible in the way Ammini, Annamma, and their neighbours work side by side, bridging generations, sharing knowledge.

“When we provided white yam as our contribution to government flood rehabilitation centers, we felt truly happy. Historically, we depended on others for our own food,” community member Anandan told Dialogue Earth.

The conservation plots not only offer financial stability but also open small avenues of dignity and aspiration, purchases and choices that were once unimaginable for wage labourers. The model has since been replicated in neighbouring Adivasi hamlets in Wayanad, using seeds supplied by the sisters.

Babu Nellarachal, an Adivasi tuber farmer in the district is part of a group of 10 Indigenous cultivators who together produce around 15 tonnes of tubers each year. In 2025, they sold their produce for INR 40 (USD 0.45) per kilogram. “Earlier, we mainly grew tubers for household consumption, especially to meet the high food requirements during our annual rituals. When agriculture gradually became market-oriented, about 18 years ago, I slowly began commercial cultivation of tubers such as white yam, elephant foot yam and Colocasia,” Nellarachal told Dialogue Earth.

To ensure economic security, he has planted high-yielding varieties such as Gajendra, a kind of elephant foot yam. He also conserves more than 45 different varieties of tubers on his farm. This demonstrates how Indigenous knowledge systems can simultaneously support climate resilience, food sovereignty and agrobiodiversity conservation.

For dignity

The harvest season for tubers coincides with temple festivals in Kerala, a time when devotees consume rice alternatives. This demand ensures a good prices for tubers. For families like Ammini and Annamma’s, whose income once depended entirely on unpredictable wage labour, this seasonal market window offers some new financial stability.

The sisters have adopted an 80/20 appraoch: 80% of the plot is dedicated to varieties in high demand such as Inchikachil, Urulan Kachil, Gandakasala Kachil (local white yam varieties), elephant foot yam and Palchembu (a native Colocasia variety). The remaining 20% is used for conserving traditional varieties with less market acceptance but high conservation significance.

This balance between market- and conservation-oriented cultivation has been pivotal in reshaping the sisters’ lives. Students and researchers who study climate-resilient agriculture and on-farm conservation now visit their farm, facilitated by M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation. These visits are moments of pride for the sisters, as they come to be seen as conservers and knowledge-holders in their community.

Local vendors who once overlooked them now extend credit, acknowledging their rising economic credibility. “When we decided to conserve, we didn’t expect these many benefits. Now we are sure these varieties need to be conserved, as they bring prosperity to our homes,” Ammini said. More families are joining tuber cultivation after witnessing these changes.

“We now face a situation where the problem and solution coexist – extreme weather threatens conservation, yet conservation is essential to survive extreme weather. Therefore, conserving this critical resource is more important than ever,” she added.

In addition to contributing to global goals such as on-farm agrobiodiversity conservation, tuber-farming initiatives provide enormous opportunities to build livelihoods and restore dignity for vulnerable communities. The sisters’ journey, from landless wage labourers to recognised conservers, captures the transformative potential of such timely interventions in the face of rapid erosion of biodiversity and climate change.

Winter might look like rest time, but trees can still dry out—here’s how to water smart during cold, dry spells so they come back strong in spring. 

Guest post by John Lang of Friendly Tree, January 7, 2019

Although trees remain dormant during the winter, they are not immune to cold and dry conditions.

Trees experience the stress of harsh winter weather – though they might not show it – and it’s usually a lack of water that does the most damage. Heading into the winter with dry roots can mean major trouble for trees in the spring.

Though it may be gray and wintry outside, your trees still need you. Long, dry periods without supplemental water can damage root systems and kill your trees. Although they may look normal in the spring, trees that have been weakened over the winter will usually die back later in the summer.

Follow these tips to help the trees on your property survive the winter and remain healthy all year long.

Watering During the Winter 

Keep watering trees on a regular schedule through the fall and until the ground begins to freeze (usually late October or November). Once the ground freezes, continue to monitor weather conditions throughout the winter months. 

When to Water 

Water acts like an insulator, both to a tree and the soil. Soil that stays moist will be warmer; likewise plant cells that are plump with water will be less susceptible to damage from the cold. 

Trees which are dormant don’t need to be watered as frequently as during the growing season. When there is little to no snow cover and little precipitation, plan on watering your trees one to two times per month until they begin leafing out in the spring. If the site is particularly windy, your trees may need more water. Once the ground thaws in the spring, you can resume your regular watering schedule.

Water only when the temperature is above 40 degrees F and there is no snow or ice on the ground near your trees. Water early in the day, so the plants have time to absorb it before the temperature drops at night.

Trees like their water slow and deep. Newly planted trees will require more frequent watering. You can check soil moisture by using a garden trowel and inserting it into the ground to a depth of 2", and then move the blade of the trowel back and forth to create a small narrow trench. Then use your finger to touch the soil. If it is moist to the touch, then they do not need water.

Be careful to apply water all the way out to the edge of the tree’s root spread. Most established trees have a root spread equal to their height. Water deeply with a soaker hose, if possible, and avoid spraying on foliage if watering an evergreen tree.

Mulch

Mulch is one of the best things you can do for your trees heading into the winter. Adding a layer of organic mulch in the fall protects the soil from moisture loss and helps regulate soil temperature throughout the winter.  

Planting sites which are more exposed to freezing and thawing are prone to cracks in the soil, which can dry out a tree’s roots. Mulch acts as a blanket and can prevent this kind of damage.

Watering Young Trees

Young or newly planted trees are much more susceptible to drought injury during the winter months. Make sure they are well watered through the summer and fall up until the ground freezes, and water every couple of weeks during the winter when there is no snow cover.

Evergreens

Evergreen trees lose water through their needles in the dry winter air, so they need more stored-up water going into the winter season to make up for it. Cold, dry winds can actually strip water from Evergreens faster than their roots can absorb it. That’s why it’s especially important to provide a sufficient water supply in the fall, and water during dry spells during the winter.

While it may seem counterintuitive to get out the hose when everything around you is brown and gray, it’s critical to keep your trees alive and healthy. Don’t ignore your trees this winter. Keep watering them and see how they thank you with a beautiful show in the spring.

About the Author:

John Lang is a Certified Arborist and a member of the Friendly Tree team, a family-owned New Jersey tree care service, dedicated to the thoughtful and careful maintenance of your trees and shrubs. Friendly Tree Service has been in business for 26 years and remains passionate about trees and nature. With a highly trained staff that treats every property as their own and state of the art equipment, Friendly Tree is on the cutting edge of the art and science of Arboriculture.

(Sources: Arbor Day Foundation)

Rising temperatures are already impacting millions of city dwellers. What is happening and what might be done about it? 

By Joe Coroneo-Seaman, February 4, 2026

Every year, around half a million people die from heat-related causes and the health of millions more suffers from heatwaves exacerbated by global warming.

Cities are particularly at risk, as temperatures in urban areas are regularly higher than in the surrounding countryside. This heat does not hit all city dwellers equally though, with some especially vulnerable due to age, poverty and pre-existing health conditions.

Research looking at 38 cities, published last year, suggests that in half of them it could take less than a decade for the cumulative number of heat deaths to exceed annual deaths from Covid-19 during the pandemic.

“We know what is driving it: fossil-fuel-charged, human-induced climate change. And we know it’s going to get worse,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in 2024. “Extreme heat is the new abnormal.”

This is what we know about urban heat, how bad it might get, and what can be done.

Cities are getting hotter

One way to measure dangerous heat is the number of days per year when the temperature exceeds 35C. Above this threshold, health impacts manifest with worrying frequency.

In the last three decades, the average number of days above 35C in 43 major global cities has risen 26%, with 1,612 such days occurring in 2024.

This number is likely to increase. Data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shows that, at 1.5C of global warming above pre-industrial levels, South Asian cities will experience on average 95 of these very hot days every year. If warming reaches 3C this number will likely increase to 134.

Recorded outdoor air temperatures only tell part of the story.

“With the way we build now, indoor temperatures are much higher,” explains Kurt Shickman, a senior fellow at the Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, part of the World Resources Institute. “People may be experiencing a 32-degree day outside, but they’re living and working and playing and learning in spaces that are far hotter than that.”

Billions will be exposed to extreme heat

Complicating matters is the fact that many cities are growing. The UN predicts that two-thirds of humanity will live in urban areas by 2050. That amounts to 2.5 billion more city dwellers globally, 90% of them in Africa and Asia.

This growth will increase the “urban heat island” effect which makes cities hotter than the countryside that surrounds them due to waste heat from energy use, lack of vegetation and more heat-absorbing surfaces like concrete. A 2019 study found that by 2050, urban expansion could result in average summer daytime and nighttime warming of 0.5C to 0.7C, and up to 3C in some cities. Depending on the location, this extra warming is about half, and sometimes two times, as strong as that predicted to be caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

Even in optimistic future climate scenarios, between 2070 and 2100 more than 3.5 billion people living in cities will be subject to at least one two-week-long heatwave with a daily average temperature of over 42C on the “heat index”. That is, how hot it feels to the human body when both air temperature and humidity are considered.

In the worst-case scenario, this could rise to 5 billion by that same period, with Bangladesh, China, Nigeria, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Pakistan most affected. In comparison, over the 1950-2009 period, around 1.2 billion urban dwellers are likely to have experienced this level of heat.

Heatwaves will last longer

As well as more heat, city dwellers are also likely to experience heat for longer.

Recent modelling work by the World Resources Institute looking at 996 of the world’s largest cities found their longest heatwave each year could last for an average of 16 days in a 1.5C-warmer world. That jumps to 24 days with 3C of warming.

The researchers behind this study defined a heatwave as three or more consecutive days where temperatures reach or exceed the top 10% of daily high temperatures, determined by data collected over the 40-year period from 1980.

The lengthening effect varies massively by region, with cities in the Middle East and North Africa potentially facing 36-day longest heatwaves in a 3C world, nearly two weeks longer than they are likely to suffer at 1.5C.

More people will die

At a certain point, the human body starts to buckle under extreme heat. The heart and kidneys have to work extra hard to keep your body cool, and they have limits.

Even if temperatures don’t reach life-threatening highs, going for extended periods without cooling down can put cumulative stress on the body.

Most heatwave deaths are indirect. People typically fall to existing illnesses like heart, lung or kidney disease, made worse by the hot weather.

Human-caused climate change is increasing the risks. A recent analysis of 854 European cities found climate change was responsible for two-thirds of heat deaths last summer, totalling nearly 16,500 people. Put another way, three times more people lost their lives than would have done without climate change.

Modelling looking at the same cities by scientists at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found the expected future rise of heat deaths substantially outnumbers any potential drop in cold deaths from a warmer climate.

Cooling demand will soar

In a world of long, blistering hot summers, demand for ways to keep buildings cool will rocket.

In its recent work looking at the world’s largest cities, the World Resources Institute (WRI) estimates that at 3C of warming, 194 million people could need twice their historical cooling demand. This is quantified using “cooling degree days”, which measures the difference, in degrees celsius, between the daily average and a comfortable temperature. For example, if comfortable is set at 21C, as it was in the WRI study, then a 24C day gives you 3 cooling degree days (1 day x 3 degrees).

The overall additional demand would be greatest in India, whose 189 largest cities combined would have 58,873 more cooling degree days per year.

Improving access to air conditioning will help, but it may not be a feasible or equitable solution in the short term.

As Shickman points out, air conditioners need electricity, and extreme heat often arrives at the same time as other disasters. “After a hurricane or tornado, you may not have the power to run your AC.” The cost of that electricity can also be a barrier to access, leading to what some researchers call “cooling poverty”.

Plus, to build the air conditioning infrastructure at the scale needed will take years, whereas urban heat is an immediate health threat.

“Passive cooling has to be our primary line of approach for every building,” he asserts. “There are some [solutions] that can be applied just about everywhere: albedo modification. That is, cool roofs, changing the colour of roofs, walls, pavements, and shade. Those are really applicable in any context, irrespective of climate and water availability.”

“It’s like a buffet or a smorgasbord. The stuff in the trays is the same for every city, it’s what you put on your plate that’s going to be a little different.”

More city trees are needed

Reintroducing trees and vegetation is one way to cool cities down. Trees naturally lower the air temperature nearby by providing shade and through evapotranspiration, their version of sweating. They can reduce air temperatures around them by up to 8C.

The effect is especially pronounced in tropical, arid and continental climates. Research published in 2024 looked at the cooling effects of urban trees in 110 cities around the globe. In 83% of those with comparable data, the air cooling achieved by planting trees was enough to lower the average temperature during the hottest month to below 26C.

But according to the 2025 Lancet Countdown report on health and climate change, at a global level the density of vegetation in cities has remained largely unchanged in the last decade, growing by just 0.2% on average since 2015.

All these numbers paint a sobering picture of a sweltering future.

Yet, Shickman offers a note of guarded optimism. Life-saving measures such as cool roofs and tree planting “are city transformations that we can make, all with available materials and technologies today”.

“We are not talking about something we need to innovate out of. We know what to do. We have the tools. They are available in large parts of the world,” he reflects. “It’s a matter of doing it.”

Unless otherwise indicated, all the graphs and associated data included in this article have been reproduced with permission from the owners, allowing republishing under Creative Commons.