Climate change: new technologies to manage risks

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The climate change is fuelling increasingly severe and frequent natural events, such as floods, fires and hurricanes. These extreme phenomena threaten people, homes and infrastructure, highlighting the importance of monitoring the associated risks. The need for advanced tools to assess and prevent such events has become urgent. Although it is difficult to reverse the damage already caused, new technologies now enable citizens and companies to assess the long-term risks associated with climate change. In particular, the use of climate data, forecasting models and advanced technologies provides a clear and timely view of natural hazards. With these resources, it is possible to take preventive measures to protect assets and people, improving the ability to respond to future emergencies.

A concrete example of the growing climate threat is storm Babet, which hit the UK with devastating flooding in October 2023. In Trowell, Nottinghamshire, Claire Sneddon saw her house severely damaged by water, despite assurances received at the time of purchase. Repair costs reached £45,000, highlighting the need for more effective protective measures. In the US, extreme weather events are also increasing. In January 2024, forest fires devastated parts of Los Angeles, while in the previous October, Hurricane Milton heavily clogged West Florida.

In this context, the UK Environment Agency recently updated the National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA), which now shows the flood risks from rivers, seas and surface waters for England. This update was made possible by a thorough collection of data from local authorities and up-to-date climate forecasts, which identified areas at risk of flooding. The analysis revealed that approximately 6.3 million properties in England are vulnerable to flooding and that this number could rise to 8 million by 2050 as a result of climate change. New technologies, combined with forecasting models, make possible more precise risk management and more sustainable urban planning. In addition, the agency plans to launch a portal to enable citizens to monitor long-term risks, thus offering an additional tool for prevention.

Technological innovation is also playing a key role in forest fires. In Spain and Portugal, the project ATEMPO has been implemented, which uses artificial intelligence and advanced technologies to monitor and analyse fire risks. These systems enable rapid identification of at-risk areas and timely response, significantly reducing fire damage. Besides ATEMPO, there are other initiatives that use AI and related technologies for forest fire prevention. For example, the use of drones equipped with thermal sensors and advanced sensing systems enables the real-time monitoring of forest areas, facilitating the early detection of outbreaks. In addition, predictive modelling based on big data and machine learning helps predict fire evolution, supporting the operational decisions of firefighting teams.

Monitoring environmental risks, impacts, dependencies and opportunities is also possible thanks to platforms such as XNatura. In particular, the analysis of climate change risks and impacts carried out with XNatura takes into account factors such as hydrogeological risk, aridity risk, and local and global temperature variation, thus making it possible to move from a perceptive to a quantitative picture of the impacts of climate change on a specific area. Among the monitored indicators, we find hydrogeological risk: thanks to the integrated analysis of rainfall, temperature and hydrogeological disruption history, XNatura provides an accurate assessment of current risk and future projections under different IPCC scenarios. This approach enables companies, municipalities and nature parks to plan effective strategies for managing and mitigating climate risks.

This article has been realised within the project "Biodiversity services EU expansion" (CUP: E43D22000480009) in the framework of the Lombardy Region's call for tenders "PR FESR 2021-2027 - LINEA INTERNAZIONALIZZAZIONE 21-27", aimed at supporting the internationalisation of Italian companies. 3Bee is the naturetech company that develops innovative technologies for monitoring, protecting and regenerating biodiversity, supporting companies in defining customised climate strategies based on the analysis of their impacts and dependencies on nature. With an established portfolio in Italy, Germany and France and prominent partnerships, 3Bee continues its expansion into international markets to create real impact through technology.