Indonesia launches KATALIS-HEAT to understand and address the health impacts of extreme heat

Extreme heat is increasingly impacting the health of populations and is one of the deadliest climate-related hazards globally. Indonesia, a World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Member State, is taking action to reduce avoidable heat-related illness and death and address the diversity of indirect health impacts of extreme heat, by enhancing understanding of heat risks and initiating heat action planning processes across the country.    

On 8-9 July 2026, the Ministry of Health, the WHO Asia-Pacific Centre for Environment and Health in the Western Pacific Region (ACE) and WHO Indonesia launched Knowledge, Assessment & Targeted Action for Local Implementation and Solutions for Heat-Health (KATALIS-HEAT), in collaboration with the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN) Southeast Asia Hub, the Ministry of Environment, and the Agency for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics of the Republic of Indonesia (Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika).

KATALIS-HEAT establishes a comprehensive understanding of the health impacts of heat in Indonesia and catalyzes action across sectors and levels of government to prepare for and respond to extreme heat. The University of Indonesia, Hasanuddin University, and Diponegoro University serve as local implementing partners, contributing their respective expertise and strengthening capacity for future heat-health initiatives.

This work builds on Indonesia’s National Adaptation Plan 2026-2030, which identifies heat exposure as a key climate risk for the country. The plan notes temperatures have already increased by approximately 0.81°C relative to the 1991-2020 baseline, with national mean temperatures projected to reach +1.0°C to +1.5°C by 2050. The frequency of hot-day events is projected to double by 2050, while warm-night events may triple by 2100. Exposure to extreme heat is also heightened by changing contextual factors, such as increasing urbanization.

Globally, heat stress associated with rising temperatures is known to result in significant health impacts, as seen most recently in the WHO European Region during summer this year. Despite Indonesia’s growing vulnerability to extreme heat, information specific to the health impacts of heat in the country remains limited, restricting the ability to advance targeted, evidence-based responses and adaptation strategies.

The KATALIS-HEAT launch meeting sparked critical discussions on managing extreme heat in the country, convening over 100 virtual and 40 in-person participants from multiple ministries, partner organizations, community-based organizations, and municipalities. Participants shared perspectives from across sectors on the challenges of heat and the action needed. After hearing from local and international researchers on the existing evidence of heat-health risks in Indonesia and reflecting on examples of heat governance from other countries, participants discussed potential approaches to heat-health action planning at the national and subnational levels.

Photo: Syauqi Muhamad Hamzah

This year, the KATALIS-HEAT project focuses on a comprehensive landscape review to synthesize available evidence and existing action on heat in Indonesia, local heat-health impact analyses to understand the magnitude of health impacts of hazardous heat across the country, a pilot for municipal level heat-health action planning, and a national policy dialogue. The activities will contribute towards a road map for heat-health action – as an important step to prepare for and respond to the impacts of extreme heat in Indonesia.

The KATALIS-HEAT project is made possible thanks to the support of the Rockefeller Foundation.