Copernicus for Insurance – Risk Quantification of Extreme Weather Events
A proof-of-concept (PoC) shows how Copernicus data coupled with AI can help European insurance companies to better assess flood risks, supporting regulatory compliance.
Tackling Climate-related risks with Copernicus Data
“The collaboration with Eoliann allowed us to explore new frontiers in extreme climate events risk assessment. Eoliann’s platform, leveraging satellite data and advanced proprietary artificial intelligence models, proved to be a valuable tool in supporting our underwriting activities by offering a high granularity and quantitative view of risk. A concrete example of how innovation can strengthen the resilience of the insurance sector and of the NatCat market.” - Sandro Senaldi,Chief Underwriting Officer.
The Italian Budget Law 2024 (law n.213/2023) introduced the obligation for Italian companies to take out insurance contracts to cover property damage caused by natural disasters and catastrophic events. The obligation considered climate risks such as landslides, floods and earthquakes.
In this context, the Italian insurance company Vittoria Assicurazioni sought a more accurate and comprehensive solution to incorporate climate data into its underwriting processes with a focus on flood risk exposure of its customers’ corporate assets. The goal was to assess risks more accurately, streamline operations, and ensure compliance with the new law. To do this, Vittoria Assicurazioni collaborated with the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) and Italian company Eoliann to develop in this PoC a solution exploring how Earth Observation (EO) data from the EU’s Copernicus programme could make insurance processes more precise, responsive and innovative.
An easy to use solution for Flood Risk Assessment
In this PoC, a solution combining Copernicus climate data with artificial intelligence to quantify flood risk across Italy was developed. Eoliann’s platform software pulled from multiple datasets—including the Copernicus Climate Data Store—to deliver highly localized insights into flood exposure at the asset level. The developed tool analyses every property based on location-specific flood risk indicators, past events, and projected future climate scenarios. More specifically, the platform delivers results with high precision, enabling underwriters to spot risks that may go unnoticed in standard models, via a user-friendly flood risk index on a 0–10 scale, making complex data easy to understand for insurance teams in the field. It includes three core modules:
- Location exposure: Identifies how intense and likely a flood event could be in a given area.
- Vulnerability assessment: Measures how exposed specific asset types are to those hazards.
- Forward-looking analysis: Projects flood risks up to 2050.
The PoC-developed tool outperforms the current solution in use, Geosafe, in terms of both geographical coverage (continental vs Italy partial coverage) and spatial resolution (30m vs 200m). While Geosafe relies on open-source maps updated every six years, the PoC tool’s maps are refreshed quarterly, ensuring timely reflection of morphological and urban changes. Furthermore, in the comparison on the identification of actual positive cases in flood-affected areas of the last 10 years, the PoC tool correctly identified 78% of cases, while Geosafe identified 67%. Finally, the tool incorporates forward-looking climate scenarios extending to 2050, also considering the impact of climate change, while Geosafe provides analysis only on historical data.
This flexible and scalable approach has the potential to help not only Vittoria Assicurazioni but also the broader insurance sector adapt to climate uncertainty.
Looking ahead
The PoC has demonstrated major improvements in underwriting processes by increasing both the granularity and interpretability of flood risk data. For companies like Vittoria, these insights can translate directly into faster assessments, smarter pricing, and reduced regulatory risk.
The successful outcome of the PoC has led to plans for a further commercial collaboration between Eoliann and Vittoria Assicurazioni to more broadly integrate the solution into the company’s workflows. The PoC outome is a strong example of how Copernicus data, when paired with smart software and business insight, can make the insurance sector more resilient and innovative.
“The partnership between Eoliann and Vittoria Hub represents a tangible example of how open innovation can accelerate the development of cutting-edge solutions in the insurance sector. This partnership reflects our shared commitment to innovation, sustainability, and the evolution of the Insurtech landscape” - Nicolò Soresina, CEO of Vittoria Hub.
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