EWN reports that in a first for SA, the City of Cape Town has announced the appointment of a Chief Heat Officer.

Albert Ferreira, manager for Resilience and Climate Change, will take on this role to champion awareness around heat and extreme heat events expected to increase in frequency due to climate change. In the hottest months, many areas in Cape Town experienced temperatures higher than 35°C and being heat smart was becoming increasingly important, the City said.

Cape Town became a member of the international City Champions for Heat Action (CCHA) initiative in 2024 to amplify awareness of the city's heat risks and advance its heat response work with global partners. Chief heat officers around the world aim to "unify their city governments responses to extreme heat through internal activism, accelerating existing heat protection efforts and initiating new work to reduce the risks and impacts of extreme heat, especially for heat-vulnerable communities in their cities". The appointment builds on Cape Town's Beat the Heat programme, introduced during the summer of 2024.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Paula Luckhoff at EWN

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