In a commentary, SMU Lee Kong Chian Professor of Urban Climate and Co-Chair of Working Group II of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Winston Chow opined that temperate cities do not need to copy Singapore’s dependence on air-conditioning. He stressed that the real lesson is that heat must be managed as a system, with a portfolio of responses that reduces heat exposure, protects vulnerable groups and avoids treating air-conditioning as the only answer. Prof Chow said Singapore can reduce local heat risks through long-term planning, finance, design and public health measures, including green and blue spaces, district cooling, heat advisories, public education, and support for outdoor workers, the elderly and low-income households. He added that this portfolio approach is supported by research from the Cooling Singapore Initiative, led by SMU, NUS, NTU, Singapore-ETH Centre and other universities.