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Heatwaves in the UK: ESG Considerations for Building Resilience

Janet Ng, U.K. ESG Advocate

A heatwave had just swept parts of the UK last few weeks (Met Office, 2025). During the summer of 2022, the temperatures recorded in the UK, for the first time, reached 40°C and over 4,500 heat-related deaths were reported — served as a stark reminder for scientists and ESG professionals alike (Khosravi, et al., 2025). As climate change progresses, heatwaves are becoming more frequent, intense, and hazardous — highlighting the UK’s current challenges in preparedness and underscoring the need to strengthen environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies for greater resilience (Mehryar, et al., 2025).

Environmental Risk: Cooling, Carbon, and Cascading Impacts

For decades, UK housing and urban infrastructure have been designed to retain heat, not shed it. Now, with 82% of UK households reporting difficulty keeping at least one room cool — a fourfold increase since 2011 — residents are increasingly turning to air conditioning (AC) and electric fans (Khosravi, et al., 2025). AC ownership jumped from 3% in 2011 to nearly 20% in 2022, and is expected to rise further as summers warm (Khosravi, et al., 2025). This shift is environmentally risky. Increased AC use during peak hours strains the national grid and, when fossil fuels are used for backup, raises carbon emissions (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, 2025). More broadly, heatwaves drive cascading effects: wildfires, droughts, water shortages, and transport disruption. Many of these impacts are amplifications, not direct results, of heat, emerging from the interdependence of social, environmental, and infrastructure vulnerabilities (Mehryar, et al., 2025).

Social Impact: Inequality and Vulnerability

Heatwaves are not equal opportunity events. Lower-income groups are twice as likely to report overheating and are less able to afford active cooling technologies like AC, while younger adults are more likely than older adults to use such technologies. Elders, despite being at higher health risk from heat, often under-report discomfort and are less likely to perceive themselves as vulnerable or to adopt cooling measures (Khosravi, et al., 2025). Vulnerable populations, including those in poor-quality housing or with underlying health conditions, are disproportionately exposed and less able to adapt — issues that ESG frameworks must now foreground.

Governance: Integration and Proactive Policy

Current policies remain facing challenges, with adaptation and mitigation handled by separate agencies and considered in isolation (Howarth, et al., 2025). These policies focus remains on winter heating and decarbonisation, with little attention paid to sustainable cooling or adaptation for summer heat (Khosravi, et al., 2025). Scholars argue for a joined up approach — “Climate Resilient Net Zero” — that treats adaptation and mitigation as complementary goals rather than competing priorities. That means designing heat resilience into net zero pathways (e.g., passive cooling, green infrastructure, building fabric and low carbon cooling technologies), and ensuring policy, funding and governance align across sectors and scales (Howarth, et al., 2025).

Building Resilience

Heatwaves are here to stay. As the climate warms, the UK faces a clear ESG challenge: how to adapt equitably, sustainably, and at scale. This means shifting from reactive “quick fixes” to proactive, system-wide planning; integrating climate resilience into mitigation strategies; and ensuring the most vulnerable are neither left behind nor left to bear the brunt of inaction. ESG leadership in the age of heatwaves is no longer optional.

References:

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, 2025. Understanding secondary heating behaviours Research findings (RAF067/2324). [Online] Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6889c9076478525675738fa5/secondary-heating-behaviours.pdf [Accessed 11 August 2025].

Howarth, C. et al., 2025. Integrating climate mitigation and adaptation in the UK: A new anticipatory narrative for achieving “Climate Resilient Net Zero” in preparing for heat risk. [Online] [Accessed 11 August 2025].

Khosravi, F. et al., 2025. A nation unprepared: Extreme heat and the need for adaptation in the United Kingdom. [Online] Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2025.104065

[Accessed 11 August 2025].

Mehryar, S., Howarth, C. & Conway, D., 2025. Heat Risk Interdependencies in the UK: Implications for Adaptation. [Online] Available at: https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF005797

[Accessed 11 August 2025].

Met Office, 2025. Heatwave on the way for some. [Online] Available at: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news-and-media/media-centre/weather-and-climate-news/2025/heatwave-on-the-way-for-some [Accessed 11 August 2025].

(Date: 25th August, 2025)

2025年8月19日SGS 專家為ICSD會員舉行了一場關於「範圍三排放」的啟動網上CPD講座，標誌雙方的策略協作，共有超過280名會員參加

What Secondary Heating Behaviours Mean for ESG Practice in the UK Home Sector

Janet Ng, U.K. ESG Advocate

ymjanetng@gmail.com

Understanding Secondary Heating Behaviours

As the UK marches toward its Net Zero 2050 target, the decarbonisation of domestic heating systems remains a key focus. Heating homes accounts for 17% of the UK’s carbon emissions, with the vast majority of households relying on fossil fuel-based systems such as natural gas (79%) (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, 2025). Decarbonising this sector is not just a matter of technology, it also requires understanding consumer behaviour. The recent report, Understanding Secondary Heating Behaviours (August 2025), provides some implications into how the use of secondary heating may intersect with ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) considerations.

The Role of Secondary Heating in UK Homes

Secondary heating refers to supplementary systems such as electric fires, portable heaters, and log burners, used alongside primary heating systems like gas boilers. While secondary heating provides added warmth, flexibility, and comfort, it often creates greater energy consumption and emissions, especially when fossil-fuel-based systems are used (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, 2025).

The report found that secondary heating is often used to address the shortcomings of primary systems, which fail to meet four key consumer needs:

Keeping Warm: Many homes struggle to maintain desired temperatures due to poor insulation or ineffective heating systems.
Affordability: Rising energy costs have led some households to rely on perceived cheaper alternatives, such as electric blankets and portable heaters.
Flexibility: Households often need to heat specific spaces or for short durations, something secondary heating provides better than traditional systems.
Comfort and Aesthetics: Emotional factors like cosiness, togetherness, and even nostalgia drive the use of open fires and log burners.

The ESG Implications

From an ESG perspective, secondary heating behaviours highlight the interconnected challenges of environmental impact, social equity, and governance & policy challenges.

Environmental Impact: Secondary heating systems—especially those relying on fossil fuels—contribute to increased emissions. Open fires and log burners, for instance, release significant particulate matter, affecting both air quality and public health. Furthermore, the report mentions that the increased reliance on electricity-based systems during peak hours (5–10 pm) risks straining the national grid, especially as the UK transitions to electrified heating through heat pumps and electric vehicles (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, 2025).
Social Equity: The report identifies a “cost-constrained” consumer typology, where affordability is the top priority. For lower-income households, secondary heating often becomes a financial coping mechanism to offset the high running costs of primary systems. This raises concerns about energy poverty (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, 2025). Although the "Warm Homes Plan" fund, launching in April 2025, offers government-supported energy upgrades for low-income households, it is limited to England (Gov UK, 2025).
Governance and Policy Challenges: The findings underscore the need for more targeted policies to ensure that the transition to low-carbon heating systems, like heat pumps, is both equitable and effective. While heat pumps promise efficiency, participants expressed skepticism about their ability to meet needs like affordability or rapid heating. This reveals a gap in consumer education and policy design, as many remain unfamiliar with how heat pumps operate (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, 2025).

The UK’s journey to decarbonising domestic heating is as much about people as it is about technology. The Understanding Secondary Heating Behaviours report reveals critical insights into why households rely on secondary heating and how these behaviours intersect with broader ESG priorities. By addressing the problem of energy poverty and raising consumer awareness about low-carbon alternatives, decarbonising domestic heating systems may help progress toward achieving the Net Zero 2050 target.

References:

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, 2025. Understanding secondary heating behaviours Research findings (RAF067/2324). [Online] Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6889c9076478525675738fa5/secondary-heating-behaviours.pdf [Accessed 1 August 2025].

Gov UK, 2025. Apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant to improve a home. [Online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/apply-warm-homes-local-grant [Accessed 4 August 2025].

(Date: 11^th August, 2025)