Dia Mirza, Model, Actress, SDG Advocate and UNEP Goodwill Ambassador for India, shares a deeply personal reflection on the rising heat in India and the transformative impact of Supriya Sahu’s leadership. 

"It's difficult to describe how the heat feels during summer in India. “Oppressive” puts it lightly. It’s as if every sip of water evaporates straight back out through your skin. But what’s even harder to capture in words is how this feels as a mother. It’s both angering and heartbreaking to watch global warming compromise the health and freedom of our children, all the while knowing that they will also inherit this crisis.   

I live in Mumbai, and my work as an environmentalist has taken me across India. That is how I first encountered Supriya Sahu’s leadership. For years, she has taken on some of the toughest environmental challenges facing our country — from plastics to wildlife conservation — always ahead of her time, always rooted in service to people and nature.   

But it is her work on cooling that resonates with me most deeply. Supriya understands that in a rapidly warming world, cooling is not a luxury — it is a human right. She is transforming how communities protect themselves: restoring nature to lower temperatures in cities, redesigning schools so children can learn safely, and championing solutions that keep people cool without warming the planet. As a mother, and as an Indian, I am profoundly grateful for her vision. Because of leaders like her, countless families will be able to watch their children step into a cooler, kinder future." 

Read the full story: Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu