On 2 July, at the Sala della Protomoteca in the Campidoglio, Roma Capitale presented the Heat Plan, the city’s first integrated strategy proposal to reduce the impact of heat waves in neighbourhoods. The meeting focused on an increasingly urgent challenge: adapting the city to a climate that has already changed, strengthening health protection, the livability of public spaces and the protection of the most vulnerable people.
The Plan stems from data that clearly show that extreme heat is no longer an episodic phenomenon. In 2025, Rome recorded over 40 days with temperatures above 35°C and 101 tropical nights, confirming a warming trend that directly affects the quality of urban life. Future scenarios also indicate an increase in heat waves, tropical nights and days with extreme thermal discomfort.
One of the most relevant aspects that emerged during the event concerns the unequal distribution of the impacts of heat. The elderly, people with pathologies, vulnerable families, citizens who live in homes that are poorly insulated or without adequate cooling systems are among the most exposed groups. In this context, the Plan also recalls the issue of cooling poverty, i.e. the difficulty of keeping one’s home cool and safe during the summer, due to housing conditions, energy costs or economic fragility.
The strategy includes ten lines of action, including prevention and warning, support for vulnerable people, risk information, climate monitoring, green and blue infrastructure, shading, depaving, redevelopment of public buildings and development of the network of climate shelters. The Plan document also estimates an investment of around €50 million in the first five years of implementation, with priority for the most vulnerable neighbourhoods and population groups.
Particular attention is paid to the first network of Climate Refuges in Roma Capitale: public places, free and accessible, indoors or outdoors, where people can reduce their exposure to heat. These are not health facilities or emergency facilities, but a permanent proximity infrastructure, designed to strengthen protection from the heat and people’s well-being in the most critical periods.
For those working on the fight against energy poverty, the Heat Plan represents an important step: energy vulnerability does not only concern winter heating, but also the possibility of living the summer in dignified, safe and healthy conditions. Tackling the climate crisis in cities therefore means integrating environmental, social, health and energy policies, with particular attention to those who are most exposed to the effects of heat.
You can download and consult the attached Plan.