Climate change is a major issue that is increasingly being highlighted by authorities and is already impacting several industries. Several companies and startups specializing in climate analysis have developed solutions to predict how climate change could affect global trade. These tools mostly exploit artificial intelligence and neural networks to help other organizations manage the risks posed by gradual global warming.

Several solutions to help businesses manage the impact of global warming on trade

Several companies and start-ups have taken on the challenge of helping business firms manage global warming. These firms model the interactions between data and environmental factors such as commodity prices, consumption patterns and import/export data. They sell the resulting information to corporate clients who are concerned about the impact of climate change on their ability to purchase goods and raw materials.

Here are several examples of startups and solutions that are working in this direction:

• ClimateAI, a startup founded in San Francisco in 2017, trained its model on the output of long-term climate simulations. The model generates short-term forecasts – useful for identifying risks for the coming year – and predicts how crops will fare in various regions in the future. The company, which raised $16 million, predicted that 2020 would bring above-average rainfall to part of Australia, helping one seed company increase sales by 5 to 10 percent.
• Gro Intelligence, a New York-based company that has raised $115 million since 2014, analyzes more than 40,000 data sources, including satellite imagery and rainfall reports, to predict the severity of future droughts, floods and other extreme weather events and their impacts on more than 15,000 farms. Commodities. Its clients include consumer goods giant Unilever (Ben & Jerry’s, Lipton, Knorr), fast food conglomerate Yum! Brands (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell) and European financial titan BNP Paribas.
• One Concern analyzes data sources including Google Street View and satellite imagery to help clients plan and execute disaster response plans, including those caused by climate change, on buildings, roads and other infrastructure. The Menlo Park, California-based company has raised $119 million since its founding in 2015.

The growing impact of global warming in many sectors

A 2021 survey of 8,098 companies worldwide estimates that climate change, deforestation and water scarcity will cost companies $120 billion over the next five years. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates publicly traded companies, plans to require companies to disclose known climate risks to investors.

This year’s string of record wildfires, floods and freezes is a preview of what to expect in a warmer world, according to the latest report from the International Panel on Climate Change. AI-based forecasts can help businesses protect their assets and revenues – and many experts are bracing for global warming to cause further complications.

Translated from Comment les start-up spécialisées dans l’analyse du climat déploient des solutions d’IA de gestion du réchauffement climatique