Julie Hirigoyen — Non-Executive Director on the boards of Willmott Dixon Holdings Ltd, The Kings Cross Group and Thriving Investments Ltd, and Independent Sustainability Advisor and member of Chapter Zero — reflects on climate, health and the boardroom; she sets out why climate and health are key considerations for boards, and what action must be taken by NEDs to both mitigate and adapt to the issue.
Writing in mid-July 2026, as Europe endures its third major summer heatwave of the year, Chapter Zero member Julie Hirigoyen makes the case that extreme heat is no longer a once-in-a-generation event — it is a recurring, foreseeable operational and human risk that belongs squarely on the board agenda. With preliminary estimates putting European excess deaths from this summer's heatwaves at between 15,000 and 20,000 people, and the Met Office issuing red warnings for extreme heat in England on consecutive days for the first time on record, the urgency of the moment is hard to overstate.
Hirigoyen's argument is rooted in existing legal duties. Under the Companies Act 2006, directors are already required to promote the success of the company, exercise reasonable care and diligence, and oversee the company's relationship with its workforce and wider stakeholders. Climate-related physical risks — of which extreme heat is a leading example — are now widely regarded as foreseeable and material, intersecting directly with these obligations as well as duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. A board that treats heat risk as a facilities management issue rather than a strategic governance matter is, she argues, not meeting the standard the law expects.
The article covers:
- The scale of the risk — why researchers now judge heat of this intensity to be tens to hundreds of times more likely than in 2003, and what that means for employees, customers, supply chains, buildings and asset valuations.
- The broader health picture — drawing on the 2025 Lancet Countdown report, compiled by 128 scientists across 50 countries, Hirigoyen sets out how climate change is worsening health risks across indicators ranging from infectious disease and food security to mental wellbeing and water scarcity.
- Directors' legal duties — a clear-eyed analysis of what sections 172 and 174 of the Companies Act, alongside Health and Safety legislation and evolving disclosure frameworks including TCFD and UK Sustainability Reporting Standards, already require of boards.
- The litigation landscape — why courts are increasingly affirming that climate risk sits within directors' existing fiduciary duties, with reference to ClientEarth v Shell's Board of Directors and the direction of travel among investors, regulators and campaigning groups.
Learn More:
Read the full article here.
About Chapter Zero:
Chapter Zero aims to equip and inspire boards to effectively embed climate targets and considerations into business strategy, offering expert knowledge and insights alongside a lively, influential, and supportive community of climate-conscientious NEDs.