About 500 roofs across four continents have been painted with a reflective coating as part of research into tackling the health impacts of climate change.
Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland is leading the REFLECT project, testing whether reflective white roof paint can provide relief from extreme heat in Niue, Mexico, India, and Burkina Faso.
Climate change has pushed temperatures to extremes that can be harmful for people’s health in these nations and others around the world, says Dr Noah Bunkley from the University’s Te Poutoko Ora a Kiwa, Centre for Pacific and Global Health. Dr Bunkley is managing the global project, led by centre director Professor Sir Collin Tukuitonga and Dr Aditi Bunker from Heidelberg University in Germany.
“Cool roofs could be a climate change adaptation tool that might have huge benefits for the health of people in vulnerable communities,” Dr Bunkley said. “We know that heat kills: it increases the risk of health problems such as heart disease, kidney failure, heat stroke, and diabetes. We urgently need solutions that are affordable, easy to implement, safe, and scalable.”
Temperatures can exceed 45 degrees Celsius in Mexico, India, and Burkina Faso, and 32 degrees in Niue, where humidity may remain above 90 percent.
“Climate change has more severe impacts on low-income communities, those living in fragile housing and people who don’t have the means to adapt,” Dr Bunkley said.
The University of Auckland team is conducting the Niue research, while local universities are contributing to the work in the other three countries. Since the project launched in Niue in 2023, more than 200 of the island’s 530 households have signed up. Half have had their roofs painted, while the other half form a control group and will receive coatings if the research shows they are effective.
People aged 18 and over in participating households will have physical health assessments for a year, cognitive tests, and surveys to monitor heat-related conditions, mental health and wellbeing, and the frequency of healthcare visits. The aim is to assess whether cool roofs have a measurable impact on people’s health and lives, and to build evidence to support future funding for similar projects in heat-affected areas.
Dr Bunkley describes his involvement in the project as “serendipity.” At 25, during training for his medical and surgery degrees, he spent two months in a rural hospital in Tanzania, East Africa.
“It was eye opening to see the conditions people lived in and the limited healthcare available due to the lack of resources for doctors and patients. Some patients couldn’t afford antibiotics, so their infections got so bad it led to amputations. That made me passionate about global health equity,” he said.
He later worked for three years as a junior doctor at Tauranga Hospital, where he saw many people with preventable conditions returning repeatedly. “I wanted to address the underlying causes of disease and create healthy environments where people can thrive. Public health offers that potential to improve lives on a large scale,” he said.
After completing a master’s degree in public health, Dr Bunkley was asked to help apply for funding for the global cool roofs project. The Wellcome Trust awarded £2 million. When project leaders suggested he could work on the research while completing a PhD in public health, he accepted. “It was a great opportunity to work on a project that has potential to improve global health equity and address some of the impacts of climate change,” the 33-year-old said.
Since then, the Rockefeller Foundation has funded a meeting of the REFLECT project team in Italy. The Niue research has received grants from the Tindall Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, and The Pacific Community.
Results from the research are expected early next year.
Media contacts
Dr Noah Bunkley – M: 027 350 2516 | E: [email protected]
Research communications adviser Rose Davis – M: 027 568 2715 | E: [email protected]
