Dialogue: Heat in the Workplace

Thomson Reuters Foundation

Megan Rowling is a journalist for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, covering the latest developments in humanitarian crises, aid, climate change, governance and women’s rights. She specialises in the impacts of climate change on developing countries, and solutions to this growing problem, including disaster risk reduction and climate finance.

University of Thessaly

Andreas Flouris is an Associate Professor at the University of Thessaly, in Greece, and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa, Canada. He is the Founder and Director of FAME Lab [(F)unctional (A)rchitecture of (M)ammals in their (E)nvironment], a research unit of 16 full-time researchers investigating the health and performance effects of environmental factors, with a particular focus on the impacts of heat. Dr. Flouris is a Coordinator or Partner in a series of large international projects in Europe and North America and he has published widely on the effects of different environmental factors on human health, productivity, and performance. He is currently participating in several Working Groups tasked to develop prevention measures to reduce the impacts of environmental factors for workers, athletes, and the general population, including the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization, and the Greek Ministry of Labour.

Documentary Case Study: Heatwaves and The City (WMO, 2023)

Groupe URD

Jérôme Faucet is a senior researcher, evaluator and trainer at Groupe URD, with 15 years of experience in the humanitarian sector focusing on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation including 5 years as an Anticipatory Action Specialist.

Groupe URD is an independent think tank that specialises in analysing humanitarian practices, developing policies and accompanying aid actors to improve the quality of their crisis responses. Groupe URD has been a pioneer in exploring the links between climate change and environmental degradation and humanitarian aid, analysing these impacts for over 15 years.

Before joining the Group URD, Jérôme was involved in the design of participatory action research initiatives such as online surveys and Knowledge Attitude Practice (KAP) surveys. He has extensive training experience ( both the development of training material and facilitation), in subjects such as Vulnerability and Capacity Assessments, Hazard Preparedness, Training of Trainers or Contingency Planning. He has played a key role in the coordination of research initiatives in the field of Anticipatory Humanitarian Action and heatwave responses.

Within the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, he has led the joint development of the first Early Action Protocol on Heatwaves in urban contexts for vulnerable groups through cooperation with the RCRC Climate Centre, the Vietnam Red Cross and the Vietnam Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change (IMHEN).

In 2020, he led the co-organisation and co-facilitation of the first RCRC Asia Pacific heatwave regional meeting with the Asia Pacific Urban Community Resilience Hub, IFRC APRO Health Unit and the Disaster, Climate and Crisis team. Practical examples from Australia, India, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Japan and Pakistan were showcased on how timely, simple, low-cost and at-scale actions can drastically reduce impacts due to extreme heat.

International Labour Organization (ILO)

Tahmina Karimova is a lawyer specialised in public international law, sustainable development, labour law and human rights law. She joined the research department in 2017; prior to that, she was the ILO National Coordinator for Tajikistan and a Project Coordinator for the ILO IPEC in Central Asia. From 2014 to 2017, Tahmina worked as a Human Rights Officer in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. She holds a PhD in International Law from the University of Geneva (Switzerland) and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.