The heat economy
Who already offers protection from heat, who funds it, which new businesses and services could help, and what to ask before you buy, fund or start something.
About this section. We gathered this from public websites and reports in October 2026. Being listed does not mean we recommend, partner with or rank anyone, and none of it is financial advice. Companies describe their own products; we have not tested them, so please check details with them directly. If something is missing or out of date, tell us.
The lesson running through all of it: protection works when someone is clearly responsible for buying it, paying for it and keeping it working, and when the people it is for can actually use it.
Three questions come before any product: who needs protection, who can approve it, and who can pay? They are often different people. A street vendor needs shade, but the city looks after the pavement. A worker needs rest breaks, but the employer sets the schedule.
Who needs protection
Residents, workers, farmers, pupils and patients.
And those responsible for them: employers, cities, landlords, schools and health services.
The people who need protection are often not the ones who pay for it.
Who connects them
Who supplies protection
Cooling and safer places: Cool roofs · Cooler building design · Shade and greenery · Efficient fans · Evaporative coolers · Efficient air conditioning · Safe servicing of cooling gases · Shared cooling networks · Cold storage for food and medicine · Cooling for workers
Services, data and care: Heat sensors · Heat warnings and data · Drinking water in the heat · Workplace heat safety · Heat-tolerant farming · Heat-ready health care · Power for cooling
Paying and sharing risk: Heat insurance · Ways to pay for cooling
Four kinds of money
What counts is protection people can actually use: they can reach it, afford it and use it safely, and it keeps working.
Some protection needs public or shared funding. Shade in public places, paid rest for informal workers, care for people who can’t pay, and warnings that reach everyone. These are paid for through public budgets, social protection, grants and buying together.
For each: what it is, who usually pays, and three questions to ask a supplier.
Paints, coatings and sheets that reflect sunlight, so less heat gets into the building.
Usually paid for by: Building owners, employers, housing programmes, and city or NGO schemes for low-income homes.
Three things to check
Can help break: The cooling trap · The energy-poverty trap · The sleepless-nights loop · The poverty–heat trap
Shading, insulation, false ceilings, ventilation and layouts that keep buildings cool with little or no power.
Usually paid for by: Developers, building owners, schools, clinics and public housing budgets.
Three things to check
Can help break: The sleepless-nights loop · The lost-schooling loop · The cooling trap · The energy-poverty trap · The displacement loop
Shade structures, trees and planting in streets, markets, bus stops and schoolyards, and the care that keeps them alive.
Usually paid for by: Cities, market and transport managers, landowners and employers.
Three things to check
Can help break: The dying-green loop · The green-displacement loop · The cooling trap · The poverty–heat trap
No business found yet. Know one? Tell us.
Fans that move air using much less electricity, and the people who install and repair them.
Usually paid for by: Households, employers, and governments or utilities buying in bulk.
Three things to check
Can help break: The energy-poverty trap · The sleepless-nights loop · The cooling trap · The global cooling loop
Coolers that use water to cool the air. They work well in dry heat, but much less well in humid heat.
Usually paid for by: Households, workshops and factories in dry climates.
Three things to check
Can help break: The energy-poverty trap · The cooling trap · The energy–water loop
Air conditioners that use less electricity, sized and installed correctly, and serviced regularly.
Usually paid for by: Households, building owners, employers and public institutions.
Three things to check
Can help break: The cooling trap · The global cooling loop · The energy-poverty trap · The sleepless-nights loop · The overwhelmed-clinic loop
Trained technicians who service cooling equipment safely and collect old cooling gases (refrigerants), which warm the planet if they leak.
Usually paid for by: Equipment owners, manufacturers and public training programmes.
Three things to check
Can help break: The global cooling loop · The cooling trap
No business found yet. Know one? Tell us.
Central plants that cool many buildings through pipes, and companies that sell cooling as a service instead of selling machines.
Usually paid for by: Developers, building owners and large public buildings.
Three things to check
Can help break: The cooling trap · The global cooling loop · The energy–water loop
Cold rooms, milk chillers, fridges and transport that stop food and medicines spoiling in the heat.
Usually paid for by: Farmers’ groups, traders, food companies and health systems.
Three things to check
Can help break: The farm-debt loop · The heat credit squeeze · The overwhelmed-clinic loop · The energy–water loop
Cooling vests, shaded and cooled rest areas, and similar protection for people working in the heat.
Usually paid for by: Employers and public bodies.
Three things to check
Can help break: The poverty–heat trap · The overwhelmed-clinic loop
Instruments that measure how hot a workplace, classroom or home really is, combining heat, humidity, sun and wind (often reported as WBGT, the wet-bulb globe temperature).
Usually paid for by: Employers, cities, schools and research programmes.
Three things to check
Can help break: The invisible-deaths loop · The overwhelmed-clinic loop · The poverty–heat trap
Forecasts, alerts and risk maps that help people and organisations prepare for heat.
Usually paid for by: Businesses and insurers by subscription; public budgets for public warnings.
Three things to check
Can help break: The reactive-spending loop · The invisible-deaths loop · The poverty–heat trap · The heat credit squeeze
Safe drinking-water points, refills and reliable supply during heatwaves.
Usually paid for by: Cities, water utilities, employers, schools and clinics.
Three things to check
Can help break: The energy–water loop · The overwhelmed-clinic loop · The poverty–heat trap
No business found yet. Know one? Tell us.
Help for employers to assess heat risk, plan rest breaks, train staff and follow heat rules.
Usually paid for by: Employers, brands that buy from them, and labour departments.
Three things to check
Can help break: The poverty–heat trap · The overwhelmed-clinic loop · The protection-gap loop
No business found yet. Know one? Tell us.
Seeds that cope with heat, and advice that helps farmers and farm workers through hot seasons.
Usually paid for by: Farmers and farmers’ groups, seed companies and agriculture departments.
Three things to check
Can help break: The farm-debt loop · The dry-soil loop · The poverty–heat trap
No business found yet. Know one? Tell us.
Training, cooling and equipment that keep clinics working in a heatwave and help staff treat heat illness early.
Usually paid for by: Health departments, hospitals and donors.
Three things to check
Can help break: The overwhelmed-clinic loop · The invisible-deaths loop · The medical-debt trap · The reactive-spending loop
Controls, storage and backup that keep essential cooling running and ease pressure on the grid at peak times.
Usually paid for by: Utilities, building owners and facility managers.
Three things to check
Can help break: The energy–water loop · The cooling trap · The overwhelmed-clinic loop
Insurance that pays out automatically when heat passes a set level, often to replace lost income. It is sometimes called parametric insurance.
Usually paid for by: Policyholders, employers, worker organisations, and premium support from governments or donors.
Three things to check
Can help break: The protection-gap loop · The poverty–heat trap · The heat credit squeeze
Loans, pay-as-you-go plans, repayment through the electricity bill, and group buying that spread the cost of cooling.
Usually paid for by: Borrowers and buyers, with lenders, utilities and sometimes subsidies.
Three things to check
Can help break: The energy-poverty trap · The heat credit squeeze · The protection-gap loop
No business found yet. Know one? Tell us.
Spreadsheets with one row per record, including the researchers’ fuller notes and every source. Free to reuse with a link to Common Shade (CC BY 4.0).
Solutions library · Country snapshots · Paying for protection · The heat network
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Businesses, funding and ideas that protect people from heat.
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Businesses, funding and ideas that protect people from heat in Asia, and what to ask before you buy, fund or start something.
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