freetown heat action plan
The City of Freetown’s heat action plan aims to achieve three primary goals:
Engage Freetown’s population on heat threats and possible solutions, coordinate the city’s many partners and agencies that need to work together to effectively combat heat, and prepare for rising heat. ​​​
Build equitable and sustainable heat adaptations to cut rising threats, particularly for the most vulnerable, while enhancing urban resilience and sustainable development.
Mobilize finance and partnerships to ensure effective governance.
To achieve its goals - which also include reducing economic and labour productivity losses, addressing inequities, promoting inclusion and reinforcing the city’s commitments to public health and climate adaptation - the city has created the following targets to achieve its goals: ​​
target 1
By 2030, increase heat awareness by 60% in the city with a particular focus on informal settlements and vulnerable groups. This will be carried out with annual January to May heat season campaigns, and efforts to increase the participation of young people and women in heat resilience action.
Informal communities are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat, as these areas can be up to 6 degrees Celsius warmer than surrounding regions. Informal dwellers constitute approximately 35% of Freetown's 1.2 million residents, which means ensuring these populations are literate in heat resilience, and understand the risks and action to take to lower them, is crucial.
​
​
In its first two heat-season campaigns in 2023 and 2024, Freetown educated residents about extreme heat risks such as heat rash, dehydration, and the exacerbation of pre-existing medical conditions through rallies, media and social media, and campaign materials—including bumper stickers, flyers, banners, and bottles of water—distributed across roadsides, markets, schools, and streets. Those efforts will continue and expand. The materials provided practical guidance on recognizing signs of heat-related illnesses, staying hydrated, accessing cooling centers, avoiding strenuous outdoor activities during peak heat hours, and seeking shade.
Urban heat island hotspot mapping, with stationary devices and mobile temperature sensors mounted on bikes, is helping identify hotpots for targeted intervention. Vulnerable residents also will be part of a perception survey to assess impacts experienced and coping mechanisms as well the effectiveness of Freetown’s heat campaign. The city intends to hold a yearly Cooling Challenge to develop practical measures to reduce heat risks and promote cooling in urban heat islands and vulnerable communities. As well, the city aims to train 10 youth each year as Climate Heat Ambassadors, including hands-on internship experience at Freetown City Council.
Establish a coordination network, including an extreme heat taskforce.
​
​
​​
The establishment of a multi-sectoral coordination network will have profound impacts on Freetown's ability to respond to extreme heat events in a timely and effective manner. By bringing together government bodies, health services, NGOs, and the private sector, Freetown will be better equipped to swiftly address heat risks from public health to infrastructure.
Establish high-resolution extreme heat monitoring and put in place a customized early warning system by 2026.
​
​
A Heat-Health Early Warning System will enhance heat resilience by ensuring accurate, timely alerts and effective responses to extreme heat events, with fewer heat-related health emergencies, and improved urban planning informed by real-time data. A key feature of this system will be the use of scientifically informed heat thresholds that are tailored to Freetown’s unique environmental and social conditions, based on factors such as temperature, humidity (heat index), and the specific vulnerabilities of different population groups. For example, the thresholds will be adjusted for vulnerable areas like informal settlements, where poor housing conditions amplify the effects of heat, and for at-risk groups like pregnant women or the elderly who may experience heat impacts at lower temperatures than the general population.
target 2
impact
actions
impact
target 3
impact
goal 2: build equitable and sustainable heat adaptation solutions
target 4
By 2030, cut urban heat through both nature-based solutions - such as planting urban trees - and engineered solutions - such as creating cooling zones and corridors at city scale - to increase urban cooling and boost community resilience to heat by 60%.
Expanding urban tree coverage - in watershed areas, backyards, public green spaces and along the coast - and establishing cooling zones will play a crucial role in reducing the Urban Heat Island effect in Freetown and enhancing resilience. Afforestation and reforestation efforts will provide shade, improve air quality, and mitigate flooding while protecting biodiversity and creating economic opportunities through the planting of medicinal and economic trees. Meanwhile, strategically designed cooling zones and corridors will provide shady refuges, reducing heat-related illnesses and improving public health. By integrating nature-based and engineered solutions, these initiatives will enhance urban livability and decrease reliance on artificial cooling.
​
​
​
Make sure the 35% of Freetown residents in vulnerable groups and informal settlements have access to heat adaptations tailored to them. That includes measures such as installing shade covers in outdoor markets, increasing the use of cool and reflective roofs in informal settlements and supporting urban gardens.
Installing shade covers and reflective roofs can reduce heat exposure for market vendors and residents, particularly women and vulnerable groups, minimizing heat-related illnesses and enhancing market productivity by protecting goods from spoiling. Application of reflective roofing materials - such as mirrored reflective sheets to cover the heat-absorbing zinc roofing common in informal settlements - can lower indoor temperatures in homes. Urban gardens, in turn, can help curb the urban heat island effect as well as reduce flood risk and runoff while promoting local food production and enhancing economic opportunities. ​
impact
target 5
impact
goal 3: mobilize finance and partnerships for effective governance
target 6
Mobilize $10 million in seed funding to scale up heat adaptation solutions in Freetown by 2028. That includes leveraging partnerships to access climate and heat adaptation finance that specifically benefits the 35% of Freetown’s people who are informal residents and vulnerable women, as well as implementing social security net programs, including microfinance and insurance.
Co-designing an investment heat adaptation plan and leveraging partnerships will unlock additional climate finance, enabling larger-scale cooling solutions and infrastructure improvements in the most heat-affected areas. Social security net programs, including microfinance and insurance schemes, will provide financial support for individuals and businesses to adopt climate-resilient practices and safeguard livelihoods. These measures are aimed at reducing economic vulnerability, strengthening community-led adaptation, and ensuring long-term protection against extreme heat for those most at risk.
​
Establish a city-wide integrated and sustainable Heat Action Plan to guide urban cooling and heat mitigation reduction strategies, and embed heat action planning in appropriate regulations and policies.
​
Ensuring a comprehensive heat plan is incorporated into local and national policies will provide a strong governance framework for it, ensuring long-term sustainability. Collaboration across sectors will align heat resilience measures with broader climate change frameworks, fostering coordinated, inclusive, and effective responses to urban heat.
​
The Freetown Heat Action Plan is strongly rooted in the city’s five-year development plan. It is built to address heat challenges highlighted from reports and studies including an urban heat mapping assessment and historical data trends from the Sierra Leone Met Agency.
The development of the Heat Action Plan was spearheaded by Eugenia Kargbo, Africa’s First Chief Heat Officer, and Senior Heat Strategist at Climate Resilience for All, alongside partners including Climate Resilience for All (CRA), the Arsht-Rock Resilience Center, NOAA and C40 Cities, as well as consultations with key ministries, departments, agencies, NGOS, development partners, civil society organisations and the private sector.