COP29 HEAT STRESS: INTERVIEW
Medellín, Colombia: Not even the City of Eternal Spring is immune from the urban heat island effect – but local communities are responding By Howard Hudson, OPEC Fund “LIKE PUTTING A LID ON A POT”
Photo: iStock
U N Secretary-General António Guterres issued an urgent call to action this summer: “Scorching conditions have killed 1,300 pilgrims during Haj; shut down tourist attractions in Europe’s sweatbox cities; and closed schools across Asia and Africa – impacting more than 80 million children… The message is clear: the heat is on. Extreme heat is having an extreme impact on people and planet.” Nowhere is immune – not even normally temperate cities. So what solutions are out there? We spoke with Carlos Cadena-Gaitán, Associate Professor in Politics and Development at EAFIT University in Medellín to hear how his city high in the Colombian Andes is dealing with the challenge of urban heat.
OPEC Fund Quarterly : What heat stress challenges are facing your hometown? Carlos Cadena-Gaitán: Medellín is known as the City of Eternal Spring, but these days it barely lives up to its name. Over the last decade it’s been changing into a tropical city, in some ways like Cartagena on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. We’re now suffering extreme climate variability, pronounced dry seasons and above average temperatures. That’s brought the urban heat island effect to some neighborhoods, along with the inevitable stress and strain on human health. Worse still, data suggests that in 5-10 years’ time many neighborhoods – including poorer, more vulnerable communities – will regularly suffer from extreme heat island effects. Heat is only part of the problem,
however. Medellín lies 1,500 meters above sea level, high up in the Andes, but is surrounded by even taller mountains. When we have extreme air pollution combined with low winds, it’s like putting a lid on a pot. Pollution churns from car exhausts and factory chimneys but cannot exit the valley. Every year for the last decade we’ve suffered extreme air pollution stress, causing terrible health effects. OFQ : What can Medellín teach the world about responding to crises? CCG: “Climate governance” is the key term here. For decades we’ve seen various communities work together and push forward urban environmental projects with a long-term perspective. It involves grassroots initiatives following
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