New National Heat Risk Commission announced

A new National Heat Risk Commission is being created to investigate how to improve efforts across the UK to tackle the wide-ranging impacts of high temperatures, it was announced today (23 March 2026).

The new Commission will be based at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and chaired by Emma Howard Boyd CBE, the former Chair of the Environment Agency and London Climate Resilience Review, commissioned by the Mayor of London.

Howard Boyd has been appointed a Professor in Practice at the Institute and will take up her post from 1 April 2026.

The Commission will be independent of Government but will offer recommendations about how government at national and local level can reduce the threat to British lives and livelihoods from rising temperatures due to climate change.

The Commission will consist of independent experts spanning public health, wildfire risk, meteorology, and economic productivity. The other members of the Commission will be announced later in the year.

The Commission arrives at a critical moment, with 2025 officially confirmed as the UK’s warmest year on record, including the hottest summer. Despite this, UK policy remains fragmented, leaving a significant gap between rising temperatures and national readiness.

The Heat Risk Commission will publish an interim report in the summer followed by a final landmark report in June 2027. These outputs will provide practical recommendations for “better homes, better living, and better working” in a warming climate.

Emma Howard Boyd CBE, Chair of the Heat Risk Commission and Professor in Practice at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said:

“Extreme heat is not an equal-opportunity killer. It disproportionately affects the most vulnerable in our society – those in social housing, the elderly, the very young, people with underlying health conditions and pregnant women.

“This Commission will provide the roadmap to ensure the UK is resilient to high temperatures without compromising our economic or climate goals.

“The Government must make adapting to extreme heart a priority or additional lives will be lost”.

Bob Ward, Policy and Communications Director at the Grantham Research Institute and Chair of the London Climate Ready Partnership, said:

“Several assessments have shown that the UK is suffering growing damage from rising temperatures, including hundreds of deaths each year and big hits to the economy through reduced productivity in overheating workplaces, particularly in London.

The response from national and local government has not yet been sufficient and we hope the Commission will help to make our resilience to high temperatures more of a national priority.

“Emma Howard Boyd is acknowledged as one of the world’s leading experts on climate change adaptation and resilience. We are delighted that she has accepted the invitation to Chair the Commission.”

-ENDS-