African Heat Initiative Launched at First African Urban Heat Summit in Freetown

CRA Announces 1st African Heat Summit, Heat Action Planning Grants for West African Cities & Councils, New Market Shade Structures for Freetown, and an Adaptation Finance Primer for Practitioners

Freetown, Sierra Leone, 6 February 2025—Today, the first African Urban summit was held in Sierra Leone, marking a significant step in urgently elevating and addressing extreme heat impacts. 

Cities, due to population density, informal housing and heat trapping building materials, are experiencing the effects of extreme heat, which is threatening lives, livelihoods, and economies, particularly for women and vulnerable communities. 

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The one-day summit, officially opened by Sierra Leone’s Vice President, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, was co-hosted by Climate Resilience for All and Freetown City Council. It brought together mayors from Kanifing, Monrovia, Conakry, Accra, Ouagadougou, and Abidjan, along with climate experts, local council leaders from across Sierra Leone, and multilateral organizations. This landmark gathering emphasized the urgent need for collaborative solutions to address extreme heat in Africa’s rapidly urbanizing cities.

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The summit culminated in the launch of Freetown’s first-ever Heat Action Plan, outlining targeted actions, policies, and partnerships to enhance climate resilience. Additionally, Climate Resilience for All (CRA) launched the African Heat Initiative expanding its geographic focus which currently includes India, Pakistan, Thailand, and Sierra Leone to continue to focus on strategies and solutions that can be implemented quickly across the most vulnerable communities in West Africa and beyond. It includes:

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Competitive Science Grants for Heat Action Plans for Select West African Cities

Technical support heat action planning grants will be competitively awarded to select communities in West African cities and councils which attended the African Heat Summit, with technical support from CRA.  

These grants will support the initial development of science-based planning to develop urban heat action plans based on the experience and example of Freetown’s heat action plan--Africa’s first-ever plan--as a model for other heat action plans, prioritizing and engaging the most vulnerable communities.

Adaptation Finance Primer for Practitioners

Every community, institution, company, and government will need to consider how to combine different sources of capital together to fund and finance their own protection through adaptation interventions and projects that prevent and reduce the impacts of inevitable climate driven disasters. 

CRA in partnership with Tailwind released a guide to empower practitioners to use the full spectrum of capital needed to reach people and communities most vulnerable to climate change.

Market Shade Structures in Freetown

In response to the need expressed by market vendors in Freetown, CRA will be partnering with Freetown City Council to build new shade structures in markets across the city. Access to shade to protect the health of the women vendors and the products they sell is critical to prevent heat illness and decreased incomes. 

"This Summit represents hope and action - we need both in equal parts to take on this invisible threat and prepare and defend communities and economies from the deadly grasp of extreme heat. With women bearing the brunt, solutions for heat must start and end with their voices and leadership," said Kathy Baughman McLeod, Chief Executive Officer, Climate Resilience for All. 

“The Summit is a critical roadmap in addressing the growing threat of extreme heat in our cities. Through collaboration, innovation, and shared expertise, we are charting a path toward more heat-resilient urban communities. The launch of Freetown’s first Heat Action Plan and the commitment of cities to take concrete action demonstrate that we are not just talking, we are acting,” said Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, Mayor of Freetown.

Key summit outcomes also included a call to action for governments, international organizations, and private sector partners to invest in sustainable, heat-resilient urban development. 

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