Climate Risk Services

Fluvial Floods (Riverine Floods) occur when rivers or other water bodies overflow their banks. They are among the most loss-driving natural hazards, capable of disrupting transportation and critical infrastructure, damaging buildings and production facilities, and halting operations in affected areas.

Pluvial Floods (Flash Floods) result from extreme precipitation, causing surface water accumulation. These floods pose severe risks to ecosystems, production processes, and critical infrastructure, often leading to significant business interruptions even at sites that are not in proximity of a water body.

Storm Surge (Coastal Flooding) occur when windstorms push seawater inland, causing coastal inundation. Even without changes in windstorm severity or frequency, rising sea levels amplify these impacts over time. Storm surges can damage coastal infrastructure and buildings and disrupt supply chains.

Extreme Precipitation can trigger flooding in areas outside mapped flood zones, potentially damaging infrastructure and agriculture while disrupting transportation and logistics networks.

Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) involve the sudden release of water from a glacial lake or water stored within, under, or on a glacier. These events can devastate transport routes, buildings, and tourism infrastructure in mountainous regions.

Wildfires reflect changes in fire susceptibility within a region, influenced by its intrinsic characteristics. Forward-looking indicators include shifts in the Fire Weather Index, which serves as a proxy for evolving wildfire conditions. Wildfires can disrupt transportation and critical infrastructure, damage buildings and production processes, and halt operations in affected areas.

Droughts represent prolonged periods of water scarcity, severely impacting agriculture, forestry, and industries reliant on water for cooling or transport.

Heat waves defined as abnormally hot weather lasting at least three days can reduce worker productivity, damage materials and infrastructure, and increase cooling costs. Heat stress, characterized by high temperature and humidity, threatens outdoor labor safety, elevates health risks, and may require operational adjustments.

Cold stress occurs when temperatures drop below 0°C, with cold spells damaging crops, affecting production processes, degrading roads, and driving up heating costs.

Permafrost thawing, the gradual loss of ground ice, can destabilize terrain and threaten buildings and infrastructure in mountainous or Arctic regions.

Windstorms are characterized by exceptionally high wind speeds linked to weather phenomena such as tropical cyclones (including hurricanes and typhoons), tornadoes, or extratropical cyclones. These events can disrupt transportation and critical infrastructure, damage buildings and production facilities, and halt operations in affected areas.

Avalanches refer to a mass of snow, ice, earth, or rocks, or a mixture of these, rushing down a mountainside. Avalanches can endanger tourism and transport infrastructure in mountainous regions and cause significant damage to buildings and critical facilities.

Solifluction describes the slow downhill movement of water-saturated soil in cold regions, leading to soil instability that can compromise building foundations and disrupt transport routes.

Water stress refers to the ratio of total water demand to available renewable surface and groundwater supplies. High water stress occurs when demand nears or exceeds sustainable supply, which can increase costs, disrupt industrial operations, and heighten competition among agricultural, industrial, and domestic users. In severely stressed regions, shortages can hinder economic growth, disrupt production, and place additional pressure on infrastructure needed to store, treat, and distribute water.

Water quality (based on 9 input layers) refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water that determine its suitability for human, agricultural, and industrial use. Poor water quality can disrupt industrial processes, damage equipment, increase treatment costs, and strain infrastructure, limiting reliable access to safe water for businesses and communities.

Air quality refers to the concentration of pollutants in the atmosphere, including particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide. Poor air quality can harm human health, degrade ecosystems, and disrupt industrial operations. In heavily polluted regions, it can reduce workforce productivity, damage machinery, disrupt supply chains, raise compliance costs, and increase pressure on industries to adopt emission controls and filtration systems.

Habitat intactness measures the proportion of remaining natural biodiversity. It is important for industries like forestry, agriculture, and tourism, as habitat loss can reduce resources, disrupt supply chains, and increase operational costs. Declining intactness can also lead to stricter regulations, higher restoration expenses, and reputational risks for businesses.

We share our risk views used in our core business and additionally develop scientifically sound climate risk data such as our Climate Risk Scores.

Our Risk Data & Services (RDS) solution is a location-based risk intelligence GRC SaaS platform that turns customers site-specific data into digital twins, enabling customer’s contextual decision-making with curated risk insights.

Our specialists tailor Swiss Re’s insights of climate models to our customers requirements boost resilience.

We have a vested interest in making our customers more resilient and supporting them in managing the impacts of climate change proactively.

Swiss Re’s risk engineers support the translation of climate risk insights into actionable risk mitigation measures.