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Satellite view of forest cleared into fields around Ariquemes in Rondônia, Brazil, with remaining rainforest in dark green.

Ariquemes, Rondônia, Brazil, July 2025. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

Climate Risk Intelligence from Space

Satellite Data for Sustainable Finance and Policy

Satellite Earth Observation gives the climate market consistent, repeatable evidence of environmental change, for modelling climate risk and informing policy and investment. Optical, radar and atmospheric instruments in orbit record land surface temperature, forest loss, ice and atmospheric gases [1], many of them every few days [2]. Financial institutions and insurers can integrate this data into climate risk assessments, identifying exposure to physical hazards such as floods, droughts, or wildfires across portfolios. This supports the pricing of climate-related assets and disclosure under frameworks like TCFD [3] and the EU Taxonomy [4].

A leading use case is in deforestation tracking. In 2020, Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research (INPE) stated that between January and April 2020 that a total of 1,202 sq km of Amazon forest had been cleared, with the area cleared in April almost double the 2019 figure [5]. This is shown by images acquired by Copernicus Sentinel 2 satellites in May 2019 and 2020 showing part of the deforestation [5]. Using these insights, efforts can be made to mitigate deforestation across the Amazon rainforest by allocating resources in accordance with Earth Observation data [5].

Sentinel-2 satellite images of the same part of the Brazilian Amazon in May 2019 (top) and May 2020 (bottom), showing newly cleared forest in 2020.

Credit: European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery

References

  1. European Space Agency. Climate data records at a glance. ESA Climate Change Initiative. https://climate.esa.int/en/climate-data-records-at-a-glance/
  2. European Space Agency. S2 Mission. SentiWiki, Copernicus Sentinel Online. https://sentiwiki.copernicus.eu/web/s2-mission
  3. IFRS Foundation. ISSB and TCFD. IFRS Foundation. https://www.ifrs.org/sustainability/tcfd/
  4. 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
  5. Copernicus Programme. Deforestation in Brazil. European Union, 12 May 2020. https://www.copernicus.eu/en/media/image-day-gallery/deforestation-brazil