Satellites give the climate market a consistent, repeatable record of environmental change, for modelling climate risk and for informing policy and investment. Optical, radar and atmospheric instruments in orbit record land surface temperature, forest loss, ice and atmospheric gases [1], and many of them pass over the same ground every few days [2].
From measurement to exposure
Banks and insurers can build this record into their climate risk assessments and see which parts of a portfolio are exposed to floods, droughts or wildfires. That helps them price climate-related assets and report under frameworks such as TCFD [3] and the EU Taxonomy [4].
Watching the forest
Deforestation is one of the clearest cases. In 2020, Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research (INPE) reported that 1,202 km² of Amazon forest had been cleared between January and April, and that the area cleared in April was almost double the 2019 figure [5]. Copernicus Sentinel-2 images of the same ground in May 2019 and May 2020 show part of that clearance [5]. Evidence like this shows the people working to slow deforestation in the Amazon where to put their resources [5].
The Brazilian Amazon
References
- European Space Agency. Climate data records at a glance. ESA Climate Change Initiative. https://climate.esa.int/en/climate-data-records-at-a-glance/
- European Space Agency. S2 Mission. SentiWiki, Copernicus Sentinel Online. https://sentiwiki.copernicus.eu/web/s2-mission
- IFRS Foundation. ISSB and TCFD. IFRS Foundation. https://www.ifrs.org/sustainability/tcfd/
- European Commission. EU taxonomy for sustainable activities. Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. https://finance.ec.europa.eu/sustainable-finance/tools-and-standards/eu-taxonomy-sustainable-activities_en
- Copernicus Programme. Deforestation in Brazil. European Union, 12 May 2020. https://www.copernicus.eu/en/media/image-day-gallery/deforestation-brazil