Swiss Re’s recently acquired, UK-based provider of water risk intelligence and flood models, Fathom, has strategically teamed up with The World Bank to offer its flood data for non-commercial use, free of charge, to 16 countries.
The new agreement targets regions that often struggle with limited data resources and are among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Countries eligible under this agreement include Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Federal State of Micronesia, Somalia, Burundi, Djibouti, Mozambique, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Honduras, Pakistan, Timor-Leste, Chad, Madagascar , Papua New Guinea, and the Republic of Yemen.
The agreement is a component of The World Bank’s license of Fathom’s Global Flood Map, primarily funded by the Bank-managed Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the Global Shield Financing Facility.
Stuart Whitfield, Chief Executive Officer, Fathom, commented, “Awareness is pivotal for managing and mitigating the devastating effects of flooding. We’re incredibly proud to be offering insights into flood risk not previously available for these data-scarce countries, to help support future planning and resilience to water risk.”
This strategic collaboration represents a significant step in increasing data accessibility for all countries involved, some of which are in fragile and conflict-affected situations.
This initiative is in alignment with The World Bank’s growing focus on utilizing data and knowledge to benefit broader communities, setting a precedent in the data industry, and emphasizing the vital importance of making data readily available.
The data from Fathom’s Global Flood Map includes both inland (rainfall and river) and coastal flood risk data for the current climate, in addition to intelligence for several climate change scenarios.
To assist with future-proofing, users can analyze the flood risk for each climate change scenario at different time horizons, with forecasting data for the years 2030, 2050 and 2080 also included in the offering.
