The Lived Experiences of Vulnerable Populations in the Context of Extreme Heat
A mixed-methods study of over 2,000 residents across five cities in Bangladesh and Nepal examining how vulnerable urban populations experience, perceive, and respond to extreme heat, and whether existing heat interventions are reaching them.
As climate change drives stronger, longer, and more frequent heatwaves across South Asia, this report brings the voices of the most heat-exposed communities into the policy conversation. Developed by the American Red Cross, the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, the Nepal Red Cross Society, and the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society with support from The Rockefeller Foundation, it draws on a mixed-methods study of more than 2,000 residents across five cities — three in Bangladesh (Bagerhat, Dhaka South, Rajshahi) and two in Nepal (Nepalgunj, Siddharthanagar) — complemented by focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The study examines how vulnerable urban populations experience, perceive, and respond to extreme heat, and assesses whether existing heat interventions are actually reaching those who need them most.
Key findings include:
- Near-universal exposure. 94% of respondents reported experiencing dangerous heat, and an overwhelming majority perceived themselves as vulnerable.
- Compounding impacts. Heat degrades health, cited by roughly 90% of respondents, while disrupting electricity supply and cutting income and working hours, creating feedback loops that push households toward negative coping strategies such as high-interest loans.
- Unequal burden. People with disabilities and women were most likely to face impossible trade-offs between protecting their health and meeting work and caregiving responsibilities.
- Interventions work. The report’s most significant finding: respondents exposed to heat programs in Bangladesh were more than twice as likely to have changed their behavior as those in control areas, with the largest gains among the least-educated populations.
- A perceived action gap. In Bangladesh, only 14% felt enough was being done, and just 21% felt decision-makers understood their needs.
The report closes with concrete recommendations for policymakers and practitioners: prioritizing financial protection during heatwaves, expanding cooling infrastructure, scaling inclusive low-literacy communication, institutionalizing heat resilience in city planning and Heat Action Plans, and reaching the most vulnerable through their daily routines and workplaces. It also shows how early warning systems can be strengthened by tailoring content, timing, and channels to the preferences of vulnerable subgroups such as outdoor workers, daily-wage earners, and sole-earning women, offering evidence for increased investment in heat interventions and a foundation for further research into their effectiveness.