In this chapter, we match technologies to the five projections described in Chapter 3 as well as identify no-regret technology choices that deliver benefits, whatever projection the future brings.
Adaptation is a highly local, multivariate, and multidisciplinary affair. Local contexts, such as weather systems, soil conditions, built-up areas and types, activities, natural resources, and geophysical conditions, vary enormously. Consequently, there are a wide range of adaptation solutions available. How they are configured and applied varies greatly between industries, regulatory environments, and geographies. (This study does not claim to be exhaustive when it comes to technology. We recommend exploring the “WIPO GREEN Database of Needs and Green Technologies” and the “WIPO Green Technology Book” to uncover the broadest possible set of technologies.)
TECHNOLOGIES FOR PROJECTIONS
Each of our featured projections have an identified range of technologies that are likely to flourish in these possible futures. Technology solutions are categorized under industry relevance, whether around source of materials, make / manufacturing, selling or protect. Choose the projection you wish to review by clicking on the projection, and explore the technologies by clicking on the relevant industry category and specific technologies.
All scenarios
Goal: Capturing and storing of rainwater for irrigation or groundwater recharge
Method: Shaping of the landscape to direct rainwater runoff into a collection area, such as a basin or reservoir, where it is stored for later use
Goal: Storing and managing freshwater and replenishing underground aquifers to sustain water availability and quality
Method: Implementation of Imhoff tanks, managed aquifer recharge integrating sensors and IoT for real-time monitoring and predictive modelling or smart injection techniques
Goal: Providing potable freshwater from saltwater to large populations and industrial areas
Method: Centralized facilities relying on traditional energy sources which use reverse osmosis where seawater is pressurized to separate salts from water molecules
Goal: Optimizing water usage in agriculture by delivering water based on specific crop needs
Method: Use of sensors for topography information and soil data maps, and GPS to precisely control the amount and timing of water application
Goal: Preventing water from seeping into the ground, making them ideal for water storage reservoirs, ponds, and irrigation channels
Method: Use of waterproof membranes, typically made from flexible and durable plastic materials such as polyethylene, polypropylene, or PVC, with high strength and chemical resistance
Goal: Providing water supply for crop growth and reducing the reliance on traditional irrigation systems, beneficial in arid regions where water scarcity is a challenge
Method: Use of standalone, closed-loop, solar-operated system that irrigates crops by condensing humidity in the air on the external surface of pipes containing coldrunningwater.
Why is it needed?
As climate change exacerbates water scarcity, low-capital and easily scalable solutions can revolutionize water management practices in agriculture and safeguard livelihoods in poor and vulnerable areas.
How does it work?
A simple rainwater infiltration and storage technology containing an underground unit that filters, injects, and stores excess farm or stormwater. The unit top consists of a cemented pit and is installed on land where there's a slight tilt. Connected to the cemented pit is a pipe descending to a depth of up to 100 m, allowing water to be stored in coarse sand soil layers, then pumped for irrigation during the dry season.
What is the impact?
Rainwater conservation systems help save crops from becoming waterlogged during monsoons and save/collect more than 2,000 million liters per year, benefiting 15,000 farmers in India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Rwanda, and Ghana and contributing to a more than 30% increase in farm productivity and a 22% increase in farm income.
Why is it needed?
As climate change exacerbates water scarcity, these plants provide a decentralized and renewable option to augment freshwater supplies. Unlike large plants often relying on public investment, these mini plants have the advantage of being privately owned by businesses.
How does it work?
The process utilizes reverse osmosis technology. By reusing residual energy from the brine, energy input and number of solar panels can be reduced. The desalination technology can also be modified to use solar or wind energy to pump seawater into a tank positioned high on a hill. This allows the system to use gravity to provide pressurized seawater for the reverse osmosis process.
What is the impact?
The solar-driven mini desalination plants are suitable for use in off-grid rural areas, remote islands, and deserts and are delivered in a container for speed and ease of installation and maintenance. Water production ranges from 5,300 to 500,000 liters a day.
Goal: Creating a controlled environment to optimize growing conditions for crops regardless of external weather fluctuations
Method: Trapping of solar radiation, control of humidity levels, and protection of crops from adverse weather conditions, pests, and diseases
Goal: Minimizing land use and resource consumption in agriculture while protecting crops from weather events
Method: Growth of crops in vertically stacked layers in controlled environment to provide optimal conditions: artificial lighting and climate control systems, aeroponics, hydroponics
Goal: Improving soil moisture retention and plant water uptake efficiency
Method: Absorption and storage of water, which is then slowly release to plant roots as needed, reducing irrigation frequency and water loss due to evaporation
Why is it needed?
As a result of climate change, more crops will be affected by severe climate events, such as heat waves, droughts, floodings, and increased pests and diseases, forcing farmers to adapt how they perform business.
How does it work?
CRISPR technology works by using a guide RNA to direct Cas9 protein to a specific gene in the plant's genome. Cas9 protein cuts the DNA, allowing researchers to introduce desired changes during repair process, ultimately creating plants with improved traits for adaptation to climate change and other challenges. (Read more about SynBio in the 2024 ADL Blue Shift Report: "The Brave New World of Synthetic Biology.").
What is the impact?
It enables development of crops that can better withstand changing environmental conditions, resist pests and diseases, and utilize resources more efficiently.
Goal: Introducing specific genetic modifications into crops to achieve desirable traits enhancing resilience, productivity or nutritional value of crops
Method: Using CRISPR proteins to target and edit plant DNA, providing farmers with new varieties of crops that require less resources to grow
Why is it needed?
Rice is the primary food staple for 50% of the world's population, and environmental stresses constrain rice production, affecting about 30% of the 700 million poor in Asia who live in rain-fed rice-growing areas. In the face of climate change, rice crops must be able to withstand extreme environments like drought, salinity, flood, and submergence. In the past, this type of initiative required public funding, but since the 1970s, the knowledge has been dispersed in emerging countries' communities.
How does it work?
The International Rice Research Institute and its partners are utilizing advanced breeding techniques, specifically marker-assisted breeding, to develop extreme climate event-tolerant rice varieties. Marker-assisted breeding allows breeders to incorporate specific desirable traits into new varieties with more accuracy and speed.
What is the impact?
More than 150 global stress-tolerant varieties have been released in countries like India, Philippines, and Nepal. The average yield increase is 0.8 to 1.2 tons per hectare under drought. Plant breeders have also developed flood-resistant rice through discovery and isolation of the SUB1 gene, which allows resistance to submergence for up to 14 days, leading to a yield increase of 1 to 3 tons for a 10-to 15-day flood.
Goal: Providing real-time data on crop condition (moisture levels, pest infestations, nutrient status)
Method: Aerial data collection and capturing of high-resolution images of crops and fields, with the use of drones
Goal: Providing real-time data analysis to help farmers make informed decisions and to predict future outcomes
Method: Analyzing data using image processing, AI & ML algorithms to identify indicators of crop health and stress
Goal: Precisely applying pesticides to targeted areas affected by pests or diseases while reducing the use of chemicals
Method: Integration of GPS-guided navigation systems to accurately fly over fields and apply pesticides using onboard sprayers or nozzles
Goal: Controlling pests and diseases in agriculture, forestry and public health
Method: Target of specific pests, weeds or pathogens by disrupting their reproduction, inhibiting feeding, or inducing mortality, while minimizing harm to non-target organisms
Goal: Enhancing resilience, productivity or nutritional value of crops
Method: Use of selective breeding and hybridization on successive generations of plants
Goal: Modifying environmental conditions to enhance agricultural yields and resilience
Method: Use of techniques such as cloud seeding to induce rainfall, reflective materials to reduce heat stress, or manipulation of atmospheric composition to optimize crop growth. These technique are largely disscussed
Goal: Enabling high-precision agriculture through connected tractors to maximizing crop yields
Method: Collecting and using data from sensors on tractors to improve productivity and optimize resource usage, including water, fertilizers, and pesticides
Goal:
Method:
Goal: Creating on-demand customized products and parts using alternative and sustainable materials
Method: Digitally design and layer of materials, such as recycled plastics or biodegradable polymers, to build three-dimensional objects
Goal: Enhancing sorting efficiency of recyclable materials and reducing reliance on virgin resources
Method: Use of sensors and cameras to classify materials based on their visual characteristics and AI & ML to enhance recognition accuracy and adapt to sorting requirements
Goal: Analyzing the chemical composition of materials by detecting their unique spectral signatures
Method: Integration of NIR sensors into sorting equipment allows for rapid material identification and sorting based on their composition
Goal: Converting organic waste materials into nutrient-rich fertilizer
Method: Anaerobically digestion of organic matter in a sealed environment, where bacteria break down the waste to produce soil amendment
Goal: TBD
Method: TBD
Goal: Ensuring food demand and safety, and minimizing dependencies of animals
Method: Use of animal stem cells in bioreactors to create muscle, fat, and connective tissue, to build meat products like steak or mincemeat
Goal: Identifying alternative materials more sustainable and resilient to reduce dependencies on scarce resources
Method: Development of ML algorithms to analyze vast datasets on material properties, environmental impacts, and performance requirements to recommend suitable substitutes for traditional materials
Goal: TBD
Method: TBD
Why is it needed?
With increasing disruptions on routes due to extreme weather events, businesses want to make their supply chain more trustworthy and transparent. Public blockchains can be leveraged as a solution for verifying asset location logs, movements, and transactions. Consumers also demand visibility to make informed purchasing decisions (e.g., ethical sourcing, protection of workers, compliance with regulations).
How does it work?
By integrating blockchain-enabled supply chain verification into existing ERP and product lifecycle management systems, firms can track the flow of materials and monitor social and environmental data in real time. Data is securely recorded on a public blockchain, making it virtually impervious to tampering and bolstering trust in the process. At product final stage, consumers can easily scan an NFC tag or QR code to access a comprehensive record of its journey, including the artisans who contributed to its creation and confirmation of their compensation. Using loT, this technology also showcases products' environmental footprint (water usage, carbon emitted, transportation).
What is the impact?
An ecosystem that captures the supply chain of a product from cradle to grave, in real time, incentivizing all members of the supply chain to be more transparent.
Goal: Providing supply chain visibility to minimize raw materials, inventory levels of parts, and finished goods while maintaining sufficient inventory available
Method: Use of AI and digital twin to get full visibility of inventory, lead time predications, dynamic response to supply and demand variabilities and to automatically reorder
Goal: Optimizing route planning, vehicle utilization, fuel consumption, and emissions to ensure timely and cost-effective delivery of goods
Method: Use of GPS, telematics, geospatial analytics, IoT sensors, real-time data processing, and predictive AI & ML algorithms to monitor and manage fleets of vehicles
Why is it needed?
Due to more severe climate events, such as droughts in canals and flooding of roads, there are increased risks of disrupted supply routes. Companies must invest in technologies that will enable enhanced decision-making and improved efficiency of supply chains.
How does it work?
Data from sources like loT sensors, GPS, ReiD tags, and barcones provide real-time information on goods' location and status. This data is integrated into a centralized system for easy access and analysis. Al then processes the data, generating a layer of information on top with insights for data-driven decisions, such as optimizing inventory and improving demand forecasting. Supply chain visibility fosters collaboration, proactive issue identification, and continuous performance monitoring, leading to enhanced efficiency, reduced costs, and increased customer satisfaction.
What is the impact?
Impacts include enhanced resilience to climate-related disruptions, better customer satisfaction, better decision-making of supply chain routes, improved efficiency and productivity, reduced emissions through optimized operations, and more.
Why is it needed?
As extreme weather event frequency and intensity increase, mini grids help secure energy supply in remote or underserved areas where traditional grid infrastructure is unreliable.
How does it work?
Mini grids consist of a network of localized power generation sources (e.g., solar panels, wind turbines) connected to distribution infrastructure to deliver electricity to nearby communities or facilities. Advanced technologies, including smart meters, energy storage systems, and grid management software, are often integrated to optimize energy production, distribution, and consumption.
What is the impact?
Mini grids provide an affordable, decentralized, and resilient energy solution that can operate independently or in conjunction with larger grids, reducing dependency on centralized fossil fuel-based power and sustaining operations even during extreme weather events.
Why is it needed?
Storm-related power outages are happening more often. These fluctuations in supply and grid system instability are causing business interruptions which negatively impact productivity and costs.
How does it work?
Smart grids are electricity networks that can intelligently integrate the actions of all users connected to them - generators, consumers and those that do both - in order to efficiently deliver sustainable, economically viable and secure electricity supplies. Smart grids can automatically collect and store power from renewable energy sources during the day for peak-time use or when the grid goes down. Smart grids can also tie together virtual power plants (VPPs), i.e. networks of decentralized medium-scale power generating units and storage systems.
What is the impact?
Smart grids enable industrial sites to automatically adapt to varying demand and power flows to support a more balanced network during both normal and emergency situations such as extreme weather events. During periods of disruption to the grid, VPPs can shift or shed loads, supplementing large-capacity energy sources.
Goal: Managing efficiently electricity demand during periods of high stress on supply
Method: Use of IoT sensors and analysis of real-time data to identify areas of excess demand and prioritize critical loads and of AI & ML to predict demand patterns and optimize load shedding strategies
Goal: Providing efficiently and cost-effectively heating, cooling and power for industrial processes
Method: Transfer of heat using a refrigerant fluid: in heating/cooling mode, it extracts/removes heat from the source (air, water, waste streams) and transfers it to the destination
Goal: Generating electricity by harnessing the osmotic pressure difference between two solutions of varying salinity
Method: Design of nano-scale membranes allowing water molecules to pass through while blocking ions, creating a pressure gradient that drives a turbine to produce electricity
Goal: Enabling real-time monitoring and management of utility consumption
Method: Use of IoT technology to collect and transmit data on energy & water usage to track consumption patterns, identify inefficiencies and optimize energy usage
Why is it needed?
As water scarcity becomes a pressing issue due to climate change, efficient wastewater treatment technologies help conserve water resources by producing high-quality effluent suitable for reuse.
How does it work?
MABR is a relatively new technology for aerobic wastewater treatment, meaning it promotes a high rate of oxygen transfer to the microbes, which break down pollutants in wastewater. MABR uses a permeable membrane to transfer oxygen directly to these microorganisms, as opposed to the traditional method of pumping air and diffusing it in the form of bubbles. The process requires less energy and chemicals.
What is the impact?
MABR technology can be used for small and medium-sized installations, as well as the retrofitting of existing plants. MABR enables energy savings as high as 90% compared to conventional plants, making it suitable for use with alternative off-grid energy sources and decentralized treatment. MABR also allows for a 50% increase in biological treatment capacity, as well as a 50% reduction in sludge.
Goal: Improving the efficiency of water purification processes and optimizing consumption
Method: Use of IoT sensors to monitor water quality parameters in real-time and AI & ML to optimize filtration parameters such as flow rate, pressure and filtration media usage
Goal: Providing potable freshwater reducing water waste
Method: Traditional reverse osmosis system to which is added the recirculation of the concentrate stream back into the system
Goal: Ensuring the microbial safety of recycled water by deactivating harmful microorganisms and pathogens.
Method: Exposition of the recycled water to UV light, which damages the DNA of microorganisms, preventing them from reproducing without the need for chemicals
Goal: Ensuring the microbial safety of recycled water by removing contaminants and impurities from wastewater
Method: Use of an electric current to agglomerate suspended particles and pollutants in the water, forming larger flocs that can be easily separated from the water
Goal: Detecting temperature variations caused by escaping water, enabling early detection of leaks
Method: Deployment of sensors on drones to capture IR radiation emitted by objects incl. the surface of the ground above buried pipes
Why is it needed?
As climate change increases water scarcity, it becomes more important to protect and secure the water in our water supply systems. For businesses covering larger-scale areas, satellite-based leak-detection systems are a good solution for this compared to acoustic leak detection, which is used for smaller-scale areas.
How does it work?
Satellites capture raw images using SAR sensors. The sensors send out signals that react differently when they detect water mixed with soil. Data from the satellites is then analyzed and filtered. The location of each potential leak is overlaid onto a geographical map, allowing areas to be identified. Satellites can detect leakages up to 3 m below the surface.
What is the impact?
By offering large-scale monitoring, satellite-based leak-detection systems enable early identification of water leaks, reducing water waste. The systems improve resource management, saving costs on manual inspections and minimizing infrastructure damage. A 38% leak reduction in municipal water networks has been reported.
Why is it needed?
An estimated 30%-40% of water in large-scale water systems is lost to leaks. Water scarcity is increasing due to climate change, causing more extreme weather events like droughts and floods. Therefore, it becomes more important to protect and secure water in water supply systems.
How does it work?
Acoustic leak detection works by using sensitive microphones or sensors capable of monitoring the sounds of water leaks in pipelines underground, along with advanced signal processing algorithms to filter out background noise. The data is then analyzed to pinpoint the leak location, allowing for efficient repairs and water conservation.
What is the impact?
By finding and fixing water leaks more efficiently, acoustic leak detection helps save water, reduce waste, and ensure there is sufficient clean water.
Goal: Conducting visual inspections and gather data on the condition of pipelines, detecting leaks, corrosion, or other damage
Method: Use of cameras and sensors to capture images and data from the pipeline's surface as well as sonar, acoustic sensors, or magnetic flux leakage sensors to detect anomalies or defects
Goal: Providing a durable and efficient solution that can fill and seal small cracks and holes in the pipe material
Method: Application of nanoparticle, suspended in a liquid carrier solution, to the damaged area of the pipe to fill in the gaps and form a tight seal upon curing
Goal: Repairing of difficult-to-reach pipelines with specialized tools and equipment such as welding, coating or applying repair materials to the pipeline surface
Method: Use of advanced navigation systems and stabilizing mechanisms to ensure precise positioning and maneuverability during repair operations.
Goal: Converting organic waste materials into electricity and fuel
Method: Anaerobically digestion of organic matter in a sealed environment, where bacteria break down the waste to produce electricity, heat and fuel
Goal: Streamlining the construction process and centralizing all relevant project information (architectural designs, engineering data, material specifications)
Method: Development of software allowing 3D building plans visualization and scenario simulation and use of IoT sensors and AI & ML to collect data, optimize building performance and energy efficiency
Why is it needed?
Climate change is leading to scarcity of critical resources, resulting in the increasing need to enable more sustainable and efficient design to reduce waste and resource consumption and to enhance energy efficiency.
How does it work?
Digital twin technology works by creating a virtual replica of a physical object or system (e.g., factories, buildings, and products). It is bidirectionally connected through sensors to transmit data from the real-world counterpart. Together with Al and advanced algorithms, data is then structured in a virtual model that can be used for simulation, analysis, and real-time monitoring, providing valuable insights that can be used to automatically optimize performance, reduce waste, and so on. (Read more about digital twins in the 2023 ADL Blue Shift Report:"The Industrial Metaverse.")
What is the impact?
Digital twins are helping businesses analyze, optimize, and reduce energy consumption, manage waste data, enable proactive maintenance, and evaluate building resilience to climate risks. Future development to cover entire supply and manufacturing chains could significantly improve business resilience.
Goal: Reducing the amount of material waste and machining time in manufacturing processes
Method: Shaping of materials as closely as possible to the final product, using advanced manufacturing technologies such as additive manufacturing (3D printing) or precision machining
Goal: TBD
Method: TBD
Goal: Anticipating and preventing equipment failures before they occur to minimize downtime
Method: Analysis of real-time data from IoT sensors installed on machinery and use of AI & ML algorithms to identify patterns or anomalies and generate alerts to guide maintenance activities
Why is it needed?
As climate change disrupts business operations (e.g., material scarcity, delivery delays), production costs are increasing, making it more expensive for end customers. Consisting of distinct components, modular products are considered an important enabler for delivering customized products competitively and extending their lifecycle by enabling second-hand sales through customization.
How does it work?
Modular design is a design strategy that splits a system into smaller modules that can be independently developed, modified, replaced, or exchanged. Each modular component is designed to be easy to assemble/disassemble due to fewer number of parts, the incorporation of fasteners to eliminate the need for screws and bolts, and standardized and interchangeable components.
What is the impact?
Modular products allow companies to offer customers a wide range of options without hindering production efficiency. For instance, the MQB platform enables Volkswagen to offer various powertrain options, including petrol, diesel, CNG, electric, and plug in hybrid systems within the same model from Polo to SUV.
Goal: Reducing ambient temperatures in indoor or outdoor environments
Method: Emission of thermal radiation from a surface towards the cold outer space, allowing heat to escape and lowering the temperature of the surroundings
Goal: Maintaining optimal comfort levels and optimizing energy consumption
Method: Continuously monitoring of indoor temperature via sensors to adjust HVAC1 settings accordingly and use of IoT to enable remote monitoring and control
Goal: Providing timely alerts in case of risk of extreme weather events allowing for proactive measures
Method: Use of a combination of technologies, including IoT sensors, AI algorithms, and data analytics to monitor environmental conditions, detect anomalies, and issue warnings
Goal: Protecting coastal regions from erosion and floodings and capturing carbon while supporting biodiversity
Method: Their dense root systems act as natural barriers against storm surges and rising sea levels
Goal: Protecting coastal regions from erosion and floodings and filtering water while supporting biodiversity
Method: Their vegetation and soil act as natural buffers against flooding and purify water
Goal: Reforesting large areas by autonomously dropping seeds in precise locations, especially in remote and challenging terrains
Method: Use of drones to scan terrains, develop 3D maps, create planting algorithms and dispense seed pods at precise locations
Why is it needed?
As climate change leads to more frequent and severe weather events, such as heavy rainfall and storms, the risk of flooding has increased. Bio-dikes offer a sustainable and low-cost alternative to mitigate these risks and protect communities.
How does it work?
Bio-dikes are constructed using locally sourced materials, such as sand, rocks, soil, shrubs, and bamboo. Principles include maintaining an adequate riverbank slope and building a dike along that slope and length of the river using bamboo. The dike is then filled with sandbags and covered with fertile soil to provide a basis for vegetation.
What is the impact?
By acting as natural barriers, bio-dikes help absorb wave energy, stabilize shorelines, and reduce the risk of flooding and property damage.
Goal: Enhancing coastal resilience and providing habitat for marine life
Method: Use of innovative casting techniques and materials to create structures imitating natural reefs and eco-friendly withstanding harsh marine conditions and promote biodiversity
Why is it needed?
Raisable floodgates provide a way to protect coastal areas from flooding due to sea level rise and extreme weather events. As sea levels continue to rise, coastal areas are becoming more vulnerable to flooding, which can cause significant damage to infrastructure and communities.
How does it work?
There are different types of floodgates, some of which provide a barrier, directly in the sea, that prevents water from entering coastal areas during high tides or storm surges. The floodgates are designed to be raised and lowered as needed, allowing water to flow through when it is safe to do so and providing a barrier when necessary. The floodgates can be operated manually or automatically, depending on the design.
What is the impact?
Raisable floodgates protect infrastructure and communities from damage, reducing economic and social costs of climate change impacts as well as improving resilience of coastal areas.
Goal: Enhancing the resilience of industrial assets against climate-related hazards (extreme weather events, corrosion, degradation) and reducing maintenance costs
Method: Engineered polymers and composites offering superior strength, durability and corrosion resistance (FRP1, self-healing concrete, insulating concrete)
Goal: Enhance durability, energy efficiency, and resilience against increasing environmental challenges
Method: Use of nanotechnology, chemical formulations, and surface treatments, to create protective barriers, reflect or absorb solar radiation, repel water, and resist corrosion
Goal: Providing versatile and mobile protection against climate events such as shading areas heavily exposed to sun and without vegetation or protecting crops
Method: Use of inflatable structures that can be rapidly deployed and retractable
Goal: Stabilizing soil and preventing erosion on slopes and disturbed landscapes, particularly in areas prone to heavy rainfall or flooding
Method: Blanket made of biodegradable or synthetic materials which is placed directly onto the soil surface and can also incorporate seeds and fertilizers
Why is it needed?
Climate change will accelerate sea level rise and extreme precipitation events, which will increase the risk of flooding in areas with assets and infrastructure. Mobile flood barrier components are much lighter (about 1% of the weight) than corresponding sandbag dikes and faster to deploy.
How does it work?
A mobile flood barrier is a temporary mobile barrier made of materials such as plastic that can be rapidly deployed to protect vital infrastructure, commercial properties, and homes. Designed to be free-standing, lightweight, and easy to handle without the need for tools, it is anchored in place by utilizing only the weight of the floodwater itself.
What is the impact?
Mobile flood barriers allow individuals to plan for and deal with low-level flooding, reducing damages and loss. They offer cost-effective solutions, faster response times, and minimal environmental impact, enhancing community resilience against climate change and extreme weather events.
Why is it needed?
Climate change is triggering an increased frequency of natural disasters (e.g., seismic events, heat waves) that could severely damage infrastructures. SMA can help enhance structural resilience and adaptability by integrating self-repairing capabilities into infrastructures and thermal comfort by dynamically adjusting a building's configuration in response to temperatures changes.
How does it work?
SMA uses a phenomenon called the "shape memory effect," where it can undergo reversible deformation when subjected to temperature changes. At temperatures below the transformation temperature (martensite form), SMA can be deformed. When heated above this temperature, SMA can return to its original shape, "remembering" its initial (austenite) form.
What is the impact?
SMA offers a material-driven design approach that contributes to sustainable building practices and reduces the energy consumption required for climatization. Examples of SMAs include nickel-titanium, copper-aluminum-nickel, and iron-manganese-silicon.
Goal: Reducing stormwater runoff and flooding, replenishing groundwater, and improving water quality through natural filtration processes
Method: Infiltration of water through the surface into underlying layers of soil or aggregate, where it is stored or gradually released into the ground or nearby drainage systems
Why is it needed?
Climate change poses significant challenges to agriculture worldwide, with Asian and African farmers being particularly vulnerable. From erratic weather patterns to severe events like floods, droughts, and storms, farmers face multiple challenges in safeguarding their livelihoods.
How does it work?
Traditional insurance models often fall short in adequately addressing the unique risks farmers face. High operational costs (partly due to in-farm nature of assessing damages) often lead to unaffordable premium rates and drawn-out claims assessment processes. Parametric insurance models offer an alternative approach that delivers swift payouts based on predefined triggers, such as rainfall levels or wind speeds, eliminating the need for time-consuming claims assessments.
What is the impact?
By providing rapid payouts, parametric insurance helps farmers bounce back from weather-related losses and invest in resilient farming practices. It has the potential to act as a catalyst for increasing access to finance and could act as a de-risking instrument for crop loans and make the small-scale farmer segment more attractive for financial institutions.
Goal: Providing financial protection to issuers against the risks associated with extreme weather events
Method: Transfer of the risk of specified catastrophic events from the issuer to investors in the capital markets
Goal: Providing reliable, sustainable and clean energy in disaster-affected areas
Method: Integration of renewable energy sources along with advanced battery storage systems to be able to distribute electricity when needed
Goal: Providing essential communication services to affected areas where terrestrial infrastructure has been disrupted
Method: Use of radio frequency technology to transmit signals between ground stations and satellite terminals, allowing users to access voice, data, and internet services
Why is it needed?
Beach nourishment vessels help replenish sand on eroded beaches, providing protection against storm surges and preserving coastal ecosystems and infrastructure.
How does it work?
Dredgers collect sand from the seabed and deposit it either through floating and submerged pipelines, rainbowing, or offloading through the vessel bottom.
What is the impact?
By maintaining healthy beaches and protecting coastal communities from erosion and storm damage, beach nourishment vessels contribute to the preservation of valuable coastal assets and attractions. This, in turn, supports property values along the coast as well as local economies dependent on tourism.
Why is it needed?
As climate change events, such as floods, sea level rise, and heat waves, affect areas where companies have their production and/or manufacturing sites, there is a growing need for companies to make informed decisions about where to relocate assets and infrastructure to be less vulnerable to climate change events.
How does it work?
GIS works by collecting, storing, analyzing, and visualizing spatial data. The data is collected from a variety of sources, including satellite imagery, aerial photography, and ground-based sensors. GIS software allows users to overlay different layers of data, such as land use, population density, and climate projections, to identify patterns and relationships that can inform decision-making. GIS capabilities are now significantly augmented by computer vision for image analysis and machine learning for pattern recognition across a broad range of variables.
What is the impact?
By using GIS technology, companies can make better-informed decisions about where to relocate assets and infrastructure, reducing the risk of damage from climate change impacts. GIS can also help identify areas that are vulnerable to climate change, allowing for targeted adaptation measures to be implemented.
Why is it needed?
As climate change becomes a top concern for consumers globally, there is a growing expectation for brands to demonstrate their commitment to environmental responsibility by developing innovative products and services.
How does it work?
Al social listening tools utilize advanced algorithms and NLP techniques to monitor social media platforms and interpret consumer conversations, comments, and feedback. By identifying keywords, sentiments, and trends, Al social listening tools can provide real-time insights into consumer attitudes.
What is the impact?
By staying ahead of trends and understanding consumer sentiment, businesses can tailor strategy to improve competitive advantage and market positioning by enabling them to develop innovative and differentiated products.
Why is it needed?
In the face of climate change and evolving consumer preferences, the strategic deployment of Al-enabled generative design solutions is a pivotal tool for companies seeking to drive sustainable innovation and remain responsive to the changing market landscape. GenAl can drive innovation, especially by considering multiple adjacent combinations or unusual design options at low cost and high speed.
How does it work?
GenAl utilizes advanced algorithms and ML techniques to generate new content, such as images, text, or product designs. It involves analyzing large data sets of consumer preferences, market trends, and product attributes to identify patterns and develop sophisticated algorithms generating new designs or features. Feedback from consumers and stakeholders is incorporated into the generative Al system to refine and improve the generated products over time. (Read more about digital twins in the 2023 ADL Blue Shift Report, "Generative Artificial Intelligence: Toward a New Civilization?")
What is the impact?
It helps businesses be more agile and enables the development of new and differentiated products to position them as leaders in the transition.
Goal: Promoting circular economy principles by extending the lifespan of products, reducing waste, and minimizing the demand for new resources
Method: Design of online marketplaces leveraging e-commerce platforms, mobile apps, and data analytics to facilitate transactions, streamline inventory management, and connect buyers with sellers
Goal: Reducing waste and supporting transition towards a circular economy
Method: Development of techniques such as bioplastic films, edible or mushrooms packaging, biodegradable coatings, nanotechnologies...
Goal: Enhancing the shopping experience by allowing customers to visualize & personalize products (clothing, furniture placement...)
Method: Overlay of digital information using cameras and sensors in smartphones or AR glasses onto the real world, allowing customers to visualize and interact products in their environment
Goal: Creating immersive experiences that allow customers to browse products, interact with sellers, participate in demonstrations without the need for physical interactions and travel
Method: Generation of realistic 3D environments (offices, stores...) that users can navigate and interact with using specialized headsets, controllers, and motion tracking systems
Goal: Providing a decentralized and reliable financing solutions for money transfers across borders and securing the transparency & traceability of transactions
Method: Use of biometric authentication, PIN codes to allow transaction and integration of blockchain that can be pre-loaded onto mobile wallets or wearable devices
Goal: Providing transparency and accountability for end customers throughout the entire supply chain, to track their orders, monitor delivery status, and receive alerts about potential disruptions
Method: Use of RFID tags, barcodes, and GPS tracking, to collect and transmit data about the materials origin, production, movement, status...
Goal: Optimizing delivery routes and schedules for efficient and reliable transportation of goods
Method: Deployment of AI, sensor technologies, and connectivity solutions to interpret sensor data, make real-time decisions, and communicate with other vehicles and infrastructure elements
Why is it needed?
In the aftermath of a natural disaster, traditional banking services or transportation networks can be disrupted. Digital payment technologies can enhance the resilience of communities and businesses by offering a reliable means of transferring funds even when physical infrastructure is damaged or in the case of limited mobility or to reduce physical contact due to epidemics.
How does it work?
During and after disaster events, mobile wallets can be used to pay those affected and response workers. Due to limited opportunities to carry out physical identification verification, unique identification numbers can be created through interagency coordination to provide users access to the digital wallets and funds. Payment cards can be issued at a later date and integrated with the digital wallets.
What is the impact?
During the Ebola crisis, digitization reduced payment times from over one month to less than a week, ending payment-related strikes from response workers with the use of apps like MoMo and infrastructure provided by Africell. Cost savings result from the elimination of double payments, payment-related identity fraud, and reduction of costs associated with physical cash transportation and security.
Green communities
Goal: Capturing and storing of rainwater for irrigation or groundwater recharge
Method: Shaping of the landscape to direct rainwater runoff into a collection area, such as a basin or reservoir, where it is stored for later use
Why is it needed?
As climate change exacerbates water scarcity, these plants provide a decentralized and renewable option to augment freshwater supplies. Unlike large plants often relying on public investment, these mini plants have the advantage of being privately owned by businesses.
How does it work?
The process utilizes reverse osmosis technology. By reusing residual energy from the brine, energy input and number of solar panels can be reduced. The desalination technology can also be modified to use solar or wind energy to pump seawater into a tank positioned high on a hill. This allows the system to use gravity to provide pressurized seawater for the reverse osmosis process.
What is the impact?
The solar-driven mini desalination plants are suitable for use in off-grid rural areas, remote islands, and deserts and are delivered in a container for speed and ease of installation and maintenance. Water production ranges from 5,300 to 500,000 liters a day.
Goal: Preventing water from seeping into the ground, making them ideal for water storage reservoirs, ponds, and irrigation channels
Method: Use of waterproof membranes, typically made from flexible and durable plastic materials such as polyethylene, polypropylene, or PVC, with high strength and chemical resistance
Goal: Creating a controlled environment to optimize growing conditions for crops regardless of external weather fluctuations
Method: Trapping of solar radiation, control of humidity levels, and protection of crops from adverse weather conditions, pests, and diseases
Goal: Improving soil moisture retention and plant water uptake efficiency
Method: Absorption and storage of water, which is then slowly release to plant roots as needed, reducing irrigation frequency and water loss due to evaporation
Why is it needed?
Rice is the primary food staple for 50% of the world's population, and environmental stresses constrain rice production, affecting about 30% of the 700 million poor in Asia who live in rain-fed rice-growing areas. In the face of climate change, rice crops must be able to withstand extreme environments like drought, salinity, flood, and submergence. In the past, this type of initiative required public funding, but since the 1970s, the knowledge has been dispersed in emerging countries' communities.
How does it work?
The International Rice Research Institute and its partners are utilizing advanced breeding techniques, specifically marker-assisted breeding, to develop extreme climate event-tolerant rice varieties. Marker-assisted breeding allows breeders to incorporate specific desirable traits into new varieties with more accuracy and speed.
What is the impact?
More than 150 global stress-tolerant varieties have been released in countries like India, Philippines, and Nepal. The average yield increase is 0.8 to 1.2 tons per hectare under drought. Plant breeders have also developed flood-resistant rice through discovery and isolation of the SUB1 gene, which allows resistance to submergence for up to 14 days, leading to a yield increase of 1 to 3 tons for a 10-to 15-day flood.
Goal: Controlling pests and diseases in agriculture, forestry and public health
Method: Target of specific pests, weeds or pathogens by disrupting their reproduction, inhibiting feeding, or inducing mortality, while minimizing harm to non-target organisms
Goal: Enhancing resilience, productivity or nutritional value of crops
Method: Use of selective breeding and hybridization on successive generations of plants
Goal:
Method:
Goal: Enhancing sorting efficiency of recyclable materials and reducing reliance on virgin resources
Method: Use of sensors and cameras to classify materials based on their visual characteristics and AI & ML to enhance recognition accuracy and adapt to sorting requirements
Goal: Analyzing the chemical composition of materials by detecting their unique spectral signatures
Method: Integration of NIR sensors into sorting equipment allows for rapid material identification and sorting based on their composition
Goal: Converting organic waste materials into nutrient-rich fertilizer
Method: Anaerobically digestion of organic matter in a sealed environment, where bacteria break down the waste to produce soil amendment
Goal: Ensuring food demand and safety, and minimizing dependencies of animals
Method: Use of animal stem cells in bioreactors to create muscle, fat, and connective tissue, to build meat products like steak or mincemeat
Why is it needed?
As extreme weather event frequency and intensity increase, mini grids help secure energy supply in remote or underserved areas where traditional grid infrastructure is unreliable.
How does it work?
Mini grids consist of a network of localized power generation sources (e.g., solar panels, wind turbines) connected to distribution infrastructure to deliver electricity to nearby communities or facilities. Advanced technologies, including smart meters, energy storage systems, and grid management software, are often integrated to optimize energy production, distribution, and consumption.
What is the impact?
Mini grids provide an affordable, decentralized, and resilient energy solution that can operate independently or in conjunction with larger grids, reducing dependency on centralized fossil fuel-based power and sustaining operations even during extreme weather events.
Goal: Enabling real-time monitoring and management of utility consumption
Method: Use of IoT technology to collect and transmit data on energy & water usage to track consumption patterns, identify inefficiencies and optimize energy usage
Why is it needed?
An estimated 30%-40% of water in large-scale water systems is lost to leaks. Water scarcity is increasing due to climate change, causing more extreme weather events like droughts and floods. Therefore, it becomes more important to protect and secure water in water supply systems.
How does it work?
Acoustic leak detection works by using sensitive microphones or sensors capable of monitoring the sounds of water leaks in pipelines underground, along with advanced signal processing algorithms to filter out background noise. The data is then analyzed to pinpoint the leak location, allowing for efficient repairs and water conservation.
What is the impact?
By finding and fixing water leaks more efficiently, acoustic leak detection helps save water, reduce waste, and ensure there is sufficient clean water.
Goal: Converting organic waste materials into electricity and fuel
Method: Anaerobically digestion of organic matter in a sealed environment, where bacteria break down the waste to produce electricity, heat and fuel
Goal: Streamlining the construction process and centralizing all relevant project information (architectural designs, engineering data, material specifications)
Method: Development of software allowing 3D building plans visualization and scenario simulation and use of IoT sensors and AI & ML to collect data, optimize building performance and energy efficiency
Why is it needed?
As climate change disrupts business operations (e.g., material scarcity, delivery delays), production costs are increasing, making it more expensive for end customers. Consisting of distinct components, modular products are considered an important enabler for delivering customized products competitively and extending their lifecycle by enabling second-hand sales through customization.
How does it work?
Modular design is a design strategy that splits a system into smaller modules that can be independently developed, modified, replaced, or exchanged. Each modular component is designed to be easy to assemble/disassemble due to fewer number of parts, the incorporation of fasteners to eliminate the need for screws and bolts, and standardized and interchangeable components.
What is the impact?
Modular products allow companies to offer customers a wide range of options without hindering production efficiency. For instance, the MQB platform enables Volkswagen to offer various powertrain options, including petrol, diesel, CNG, electric, and plug in hybrid systems within the same model from Polo to SUV.
Goal: Maintaining optimal comfort levels and optimizing energy consumption
Method: Continuously monitoring of indoor temperature via sensors to adjust HVAC1 settings accordingly and use of IoT to enable remote monitoring and control
Goal: Providing timely alerts in case of risk of extreme weather events allowing for proactive measures
Method: Use of a combination of technologies, including IoT sensors, AI algorithms, and data analytics to monitor environmental conditions, detect anomalies, and issue warnings
Goal: Protecting coastal regions from erosion and floodings and capturing carbon while supporting biodiversity
Method: Their dense root systems act as natural barriers against storm surges and rising sea levels
Goal: Protecting coastal regions from erosion and floodings and filtering water while supporting biodiversity
Method: Their vegetation and soil act as natural buffers against flooding and purify water
Goal: Reforesting large areas by autonomously dropping seeds in precise locations, especially in remote and challenging terrains
Method: Use of drones to scan terrains, develop 3D maps, create planting algorithms and dispense seed pods at precise locations
Why is it needed?
As climate change leads to more frequent and severe weather events, such as heavy rainfall and storms, the risk of flooding has increased. Bio-dikes offer a sustainable and low-cost alternative to mitigate these risks and protect communities.
How does it work?
Bio-dikes are constructed using locally sourced materials, such as sand, rocks, soil, shrubs, and bamboo. Principles include maintaining an adequate riverbank slope and building a dike along that slope and length of the river using bamboo. The dike is then filled with sandbags and covered with fertile soil to provide a basis for vegetation.
What is the impact?
By acting as natural barriers, bio-dikes help absorb wave energy, stabilize shorelines, and reduce the risk of flooding and property damage.
Goal: Providing reliable, sustainable and clean energy in disaster-affected areas
Method: Integration of renewable energy sources along with advanced battery storage systems to be able to distribute electricity when needed
Goal: Providing essential communication services to affected areas where terrestrial infrastructure has been disrupted
Method: Use of radio frequency technology to transmit signals between ground stations and satellite terminals, allowing users to access voice, data, and internet services
Why is it needed?
Beach nourishment vessels help replenish sand on eroded beaches, providing protection against storm surges and preserving coastal ecosystems and infrastructure.
How does it work?
Dredgers collect sand from the seabed and deposit it either through floating and submerged pipelines, rainbowing, or offloading through the vessel bottom.
What is the impact?
By maintaining healthy beaches and protecting coastal communities from erosion and storm damage, beach nourishment vessels contribute to the preservation of valuable coastal assets and attractions. This, in turn, supports property values along the coast as well as local economies dependent on tourism.
Why is it needed?
As climate change events, such as floods, sea level rise, and heat waves, affect areas where companies have their production and/or manufacturing sites, there is a growing need for companies to make informed decisions about where to relocate assets and infrastructure to be less vulnerable to climate change events.
How does it work?
GIS works by collecting, storing, analyzing, and visualizing spatial data. The data is collected from a variety of sources, including satellite imagery, aerial photography, and ground-based sensors. GIS software allows users to overlay different layers of data, such as land use, population density, and climate projections, to identify patterns and relationships that can inform decision-making. GIS capabilities are now significantly augmented by computer vision for image analysis and machine learning for pattern recognition across a broad range of variables.
What is the impact?
By using GIS technology, companies can make better-informed decisions about where to relocate assets and infrastructure, reducing the risk of damage from climate change impacts. GIS can also help identify areas that are vulnerable to climate change, allowing for targeted adaptation measures to be implemented.
Why is it needed?
As climate change becomes a top concern for consumers globally, there is a growing expectation for brands to demonstrate their commitment to environmental responsibility by developing innovative products and services.
How does it work?
Al social listening tools utilize advanced algorithms and NLP techniques to monitor social media platforms and interpret consumer conversations, comments, and feedback. By identifying keywords, sentiments, and trends, Al social listening tools can provide real-time insights into consumer attitudes.
What is the impact?
By staying ahead of trends and understanding consumer sentiment, businesses can tailor strategy to improve competitive advantage and market positioning by enabling them to develop innovative and differentiated products.
Goal: Promoting circular economy principles by extending the lifespan of products, reducing waste, and minimizing the demand for new resources
Method: Design of online marketplaces leveraging e-commerce platforms, mobile apps, and data analytics to facilitate transactions, streamline inventory management, and connect buyers with sellers
Goal: Reducing waste and supporting transition towards a circular economy
Method: Development of techniques such as bioplastic films, edible or mushrooms packaging, biodegradable coatings, nanotechnologies...
Goal: Enhancing the shopping experience by allowing customers to visualize & personalize products (clothing, furniture placement...)
Method: Overlay of digital information using cameras and sensors in smartphones or AR glasses onto the real world, allowing customers to visualize and interact products in their environment
Goal: Providing transparency and accountability for end customers throughout the entire supply chain, to track their orders, monitor delivery status, and receive alerts about potential disruptions
Method: Use of RFID tags, barcodes, and GPS tracking, to collect and transmit data about the materials origin, production, movement, status...
Lonely at the top
Goal: Storing and managing freshwater and replenishing underground aquifers to sustain water availability and quality
Method: Implementation of Imhoff tanks, managed aquifer recharge integrating sensors and IoT for real-time monitoring and predictive modelling or smart injection techniques
Goal: Providing potable freshwater from saltwater to large populations and industrial areas
Method: Centralized facilities relying on traditional energy sources which use reverse osmosis where seawater is pressurized to separate salts from water molecules
Why is it needed?
As climate change exacerbates water scarcity, these plants provide a decentralized and renewable option to augment freshwater supplies. Unlike large plants often relying on public investment, these mini plants have the advantage of being privately owned by businesses.
How does it work?
The process utilizes reverse osmosis technology. By reusing residual energy from the brine, energy input and number of solar panels can be reduced. The desalination technology can also be modified to use solar or wind energy to pump seawater into a tank positioned high on a hill. This allows the system to use gravity to provide pressurized seawater for the reverse osmosis process.
What is the impact?
The solar-driven mini desalination plants are suitable for use in off-grid rural areas, remote islands, and deserts and are delivered in a container for speed and ease of installation and maintenance. Water production ranges from 5,300 to 500,000 liters a day.
Goal: Optimizing water usage in agriculture by delivering water based on specific crop needs
Method: Use of sensors for topography information and soil data maps, and GPS to precisely control the amount and timing of water application
Goal: Preventing water from seeping into the ground, making them ideal for water storage reservoirs, ponds, and irrigation channels
Method: Use of waterproof membranes, typically made from flexible and durable plastic materials such as polyethylene, polypropylene, or PVC, with high strength and chemical resistance
Why is it needed?
As climate change exacerbates water scarcity, low-capital and easily scalable solutions can revolutionize water management practices in agriculture and safeguard livelihoods in poor and vulnerable areas.
How does it work?
A simple rainwater infiltration and storage technology containing an underground unit that filters, injects, and stores excess farm or stormwater. The unit top consists of a cemented pit and is installed on land where there's a slight tilt. Connected to the cemented pit is a pipe descending to a depth of up to 100 m, allowing water to be stored in coarse sand soil layers, then pumped for irrigation during the dry season.
What is the impact?
Rainwater conservation systems help save crops from becoming waterlogged during monsoons and save/collect more than 2,000 million liters per year, benefiting 15,000 farmers in India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Rwanda, and Ghana and contributing to a more than 30% increase in farm productivity and a 22% increase in farm income.
Goal: Creating a controlled environment to optimize growing conditions for crops regardless of external weather fluctuations
Method: Trapping of solar radiation, control of humidity levels, and protection of crops from adverse weather conditions, pests, and diseases
Goal: Minimizing land use and resource consumption in agriculture while protecting crops from weather events
Method: Growth of crops in vertically stacked layers in controlled environment to provide optimal conditions: artificial lighting and climate control systems, aeroponics, hydroponics
Why is it needed?
As a result of climate change, more crops will be affected by severe climate events, such as heat waves, droughts, floodings, and increased pests and diseases, forcing farmers to adapt how they perform business.
How does it work?
CRISPR technology works by using a guide RNA to direct Cas9 protein to a specific gene in the plant's genome. Cas9 protein cuts the DNA, allowing researchers to introduce desired changes during repair process, ultimately creating plants with improved traits for adaptation to climate change and other challenges. (Read more about SynBio in the 2024 ADL Blue Shift Report: "The Brave New World of Synthetic Biology.").
What is the impact?
It enables development of crops that can better withstand changing environmental conditions, resist pests and diseases, and utilize resources more efficiently.
Goal: Introducing specific genetic modifications into crops to achieve desirable traits enhancing resilience, productivity or nutritional value of crops
Method: Using CRISPR proteins to target and edit plant DNA, providing farmers with new varieties of crops that require less resources to grow
Why is it needed?
Rice is the primary food staple for 50% of the world's population, and environmental stresses constrain rice production, affecting about 30% of the 700 million poor in Asia who live in rain-fed rice-growing areas. In the face of climate change, rice crops must be able to withstand extreme environments like drought, salinity, flood, and submergence. In the past, this type of initiative required public funding, but since the 1970s, the knowledge has been dispersed in emerging countries' communities.
How does it work?
The International Rice Research Institute and its partners are utilizing advanced breeding techniques, specifically marker-assisted breeding, to develop extreme climate event-tolerant rice varieties. Marker-assisted breeding allows breeders to incorporate specific desirable traits into new varieties with more accuracy and speed.
What is the impact?
More than 150 global stress-tolerant varieties have been released in countries like India, Philippines, and Nepal. The average yield increase is 0.8 to 1.2 tons per hectare under drought. Plant breeders have also developed flood-resistant rice through discovery and isolation of the SUB1 gene, which allows resistance to submergence for up to 14 days, leading to a yield increase of 1 to 3 tons for a 10-to 15-day flood.
Goal: Providing real-time data on crop condition (moisture levels, pest infestations, nutrient status)
Method: Aerial data collection and capturing of high-resolution images of crops and fields, with the use of drones
Goal: Providing real-time data analysis to help farmers make informed decisions and to predict future outcomes
Method: Analyzing data using image processing, AI & ML algorithms to identify indicators of crop health and stress
Goal: Precisely applying pesticides to targeted areas affected by pests or diseases while reducing the use of chemicals
Method: Integration of GPS-guided navigation systems to accurately fly over fields and apply pesticides using onboard sprayers or nozzles
Goal: Enabling high-precision agriculture through connected tractors to maximizing crop yields
Method: Collecting and using data from sensors on tractors to improve productivity and optimize resource usage, including water, fertilizers, and pesticides
Goal:
Method:
Goal: Creating on-demand customized products and parts using alternative and sustainable materials
Method: Digitally design and layer of materials, such as recycled plastics or biodegradable polymers, to build three-dimensional objects
Goal: Enhancing sorting efficiency of recyclable materials and reducing reliance on virgin resources
Method: Use of sensors and cameras to classify materials based on their visual characteristics and AI & ML to enhance recognition accuracy and adapt to sorting requirements
Goal: Identifying alternative materials more sustainable and resilient to reduce dependencies on scarce resources
Method: Development of ML algorithms to analyze vast datasets on material properties, environmental impacts, and performance requirements to recommend suitable substitutes for traditional materials
Goal: Providing supply chain visibility to minimize raw materials, inventory levels of parts, and finished goods while maintaining sufficient inventory available
Method: Use of AI and digital twin to get full visibility of inventory, lead time predications, dynamic response to supply and demand variabilities and to automatically reorder
Goal: Optimizing route planning, vehicle utilization, fuel consumption, and emissions to ensure timely and cost-effective delivery of goods
Method: Use of GPS, telematics, geospatial analytics, IoT sensors, real-time data processing, and predictive AI & ML algorithms to monitor and manage fleets of vehicles
Why is it needed?
Due to more severe climate events, such as droughts in canals and flooding of roads, there are increased risks of disrupted supply routes. Companies must invest in technologies that will enable enhanced decision-making and improved efficiency of supply chains.
How does it work?
Data from sources like loT sensors, GPS, ReiD tags, and barcones provide real-time information on goods' location and status. This data is integrated into a centralized system for easy access and analysis. Al then processes the data, generating a layer of information on top with insights for data-driven decisions, such as optimizing inventory and improving demand forecasting. Supply chain visibility fosters collaboration, proactive issue identification, and continuous performance monitoring, leading to enhanced efficiency, reduced costs, and increased customer satisfaction.
What is the impact?
Impacts include enhanced resilience to climate-related disruptions, better customer satisfaction, better decision-making of supply chain routes, improved efficiency and productivity, reduced emissions through optimized operations, and more.
Why is it needed?
Storm-related power outages are happening more often. These fluctuations in supply and grid system instability are causing business interruptions which negatively impact productivity and costs.
How does it work?
Smart grids are electricity networks that can intelligently integrate the actions of all users connected to them - generators, consumers and those that do both - in order to efficiently deliver sustainable, economically viable and secure electricity supplies. Smart grids can automatically collect and store power from renewable energy sources during the day for peak-time use or when the grid goes down. Smart grids can also tie together virtual power plants (VPPs), i.e. networks of decentralized medium-scale power generating units and storage systems.
What is the impact?
Smart grids enable industrial sites to automatically adapt to varying demand and power flows to support a more balanced network during both normal and emergency situations such as extreme weather events. During periods of disruption to the grid, VPPs can shift or shed loads, supplementing large-capacity energy sources.
Goal: Managing efficiently electricity demand during periods of high stress on supply
Method: Use of IoT sensors and analysis of real-time data to identify areas of excess demand and prioritize critical loads and of AI & ML to predict demand patterns and optimize load shedding strategies
Goal: Providing efficiently and cost-effectively heating, cooling and power for industrial processes
Method: Transfer of heat using a refrigerant fluid: in heating/cooling mode, it extracts/removes heat from the source (air, water, waste streams) and transfers it to the destination
Goal: Generating electricity by harnessing the osmotic pressure difference between two solutions of varying salinity
Method: Design of nano-scale membranes allowing water molecules to pass through while blocking ions, creating a pressure gradient that drives a turbine to produce electricity
Why is it needed?
As water scarcity becomes a pressing issue due to climate change, efficient wastewater treatment technologies help conserve water resources by producing high-quality effluent suitable for reuse.
How does it work?
MABR is a relatively new technology for aerobic wastewater treatment, meaning it promotes a high rate of oxygen transfer to the microbes, which break down pollutants in wastewater. MABR uses a permeable membrane to transfer oxygen directly to these microorganisms, as opposed to the traditional method of pumping air and diffusing it in the form of bubbles. The process requires less energy and chemicals.
What is the impact?
MABR technology can be used for small and medium-sized installations, as well as the retrofitting of existing plants. MABR enables energy savings as high as 90% compared to conventional plants, making it suitable for use with alternative off-grid energy sources and decentralized treatment. MABR also allows for a 50% increase in biological treatment capacity, as well as a 50% reduction in sludge.
Goal: Providing potable freshwater reducing water waste
Method: Traditional reverse osmosis system to which is added the recirculation of the concentrate stream back into the system
Goal: Ensuring the microbial safety of recycled water by deactivating harmful microorganisms and pathogens.
Method: Exposition of the recycled water to UV light, which damages the DNA of microorganisms, preventing them from reproducing without the need for chemicals
Goal: Ensuring the microbial safety of recycled water by removing contaminants and impurities from wastewater
Method: Use of an electric current to agglomerate suspended particles and pollutants in the water, forming larger flocs that can be easily separated from the water
Why is it needed?
As climate change increases water scarcity, it becomes more important to protect and secure the water in our water supply systems. For businesses covering larger-scale areas, satellite-based leak-detection systems are a good solution for this compared to acoustic leak detection, which is used for smaller-scale areas.
How does it work?
Satellites capture raw images using SAR sensors. The sensors send out signals that react differently when they detect water mixed with soil. Data from the satellites is then analyzed and filtered. The location of each potential leak is overlaid onto a geographical map, allowing areas to be identified. Satellites can detect leakages up to 3 m below the surface.
What is the impact?
By offering large-scale monitoring, satellite-based leak-detection systems enable early identification of water leaks, reducing water waste. The systems improve resource management, saving costs on manual inspections and minimizing infrastructure damage. A 38% leak reduction in municipal water networks has been reported.
Goal: Repairing of difficult-to-reach pipelines with specialized tools and equipment such as welding, coating or applying repair materials to the pipeline surface
Method: Use of advanced navigation systems and stabilizing mechanisms to ensure precise positioning and maneuverability during repair operations.
Goal: Streamlining the construction process and centralizing all relevant project information (architectural designs, engineering data, material specifications)
Method: Development of software allowing 3D building plans visualization and scenario simulation and use of IoT sensors and AI & ML to collect data, optimize building performance and energy efficiency
Why is it needed?
Climate change is leading to scarcity of critical resources, resulting in the increasing need to enable more sustainable and efficient design to reduce waste and resource consumption and to enhance energy efficiency.
How does it work?
Digital twin technology works by creating a virtual replica of a physical object or system (e.g., factories, buildings, and products). It is bidirectionally connected through sensors to transmit data from the real-world counterpart. Together with Al and advanced algorithms, data is then structured in a virtual model that can be used for simulation, analysis, and real-time monitoring, providing valuable insights that can be used to automatically optimize performance, reduce waste, and so on. (Read more about digital twins in the 2023 ADL Blue Shift Report:"The Industrial Metaverse.")
What is the impact?
Digital twins are helping businesses analyze, optimize, and reduce energy consumption, manage waste data, enable proactive maintenance, and evaluate building resilience to climate risks. Future development to cover entire supply and manufacturing chains could significantly improve business resilience.
Goal: Reducing the amount of material waste and machining time in manufacturing processes
Method: Shaping of materials as closely as possible to the final product, using advanced manufacturing technologies such as additive manufacturing (3D printing) or precision machining
Goal: TBD
Method: TBD
Goal: Anticipating and preventing equipment failures before they occur to minimize downtime
Method: Analysis of real-time data from IoT sensors installed on machinery and use of AI & ML algorithms to identify patterns or anomalies and generate alerts to guide maintenance activities
Goal: Maintaining optimal comfort levels and optimizing energy consumption
Method: Continuously monitoring of indoor temperature via sensors to adjust HVAC1 settings accordingly and use of IoT to enable remote monitoring and control
Goal: Providing timely alerts in case of risk of extreme weather events allowing for proactive measures
Method: Use of a combination of technologies, including IoT sensors, AI algorithms, and data analytics to monitor environmental conditions, detect anomalies, and issue warnings
Why is it needed?
As climate change leads to more frequent and severe weather events, such as heavy rainfall and storms, the risk of flooding has increased. Bio-dikes offer a sustainable and low-cost alternative to mitigate these risks and protect communities.
How does it work?
Bio-dikes are constructed using locally sourced materials, such as sand, rocks, soil, shrubs, and bamboo. Principles include maintaining an adequate riverbank slope and building a dike along that slope and length of the river using bamboo. The dike is then filled with sandbags and covered with fertile soil to provide a basis for vegetation.
What is the impact?
By acting as natural barriers, bio-dikes help absorb wave energy, stabilize shorelines, and reduce the risk of flooding and property damage.
Why is it needed?
Raisable floodgates provide a way to protect coastal areas from flooding due to sea level rise and extreme weather events. As sea levels continue to rise, coastal areas are becoming more vulnerable to flooding, which can cause significant damage to infrastructure and communities.
How does it work?
There are different types of floodgates, some of which provide a barrier, directly in the sea, that prevents water from entering coastal areas during high tides or storm surges. The floodgates are designed to be raised and lowered as needed, allowing water to flow through when it is safe to do so and providing a barrier when necessary. The floodgates can be operated manually or automatically, depending on the design.
What is the impact?
Raisable floodgates protect infrastructure and communities from damage, reducing economic and social costs of climate change impacts as well as improving resilience of coastal areas.
Goal: Enhancing the resilience of industrial assets against climate-related hazards (extreme weather events, corrosion, degradation) and reducing maintenance costs
Method: Engineered polymers and composites offering superior strength, durability and corrosion resistance (FRP1, self-healing concrete, insulating concrete)
Goal: Enhance durability, energy efficiency, and resilience against increasing environmental challenges
Method: Use of nanotechnology, chemical formulations, and surface treatments, to create protective barriers, reflect or absorb solar radiation, repel water, and resist corrosion
Goal: Stabilizing soil and preventing erosion on slopes and disturbed landscapes, particularly in areas prone to heavy rainfall or flooding
Method: Blanket made of biodegradable or synthetic materials which is placed directly onto the soil surface and can also incorporate seeds and fertilizers
Why is it needed?
Climate change is triggering an increased frequency of natural disasters (e.g., seismic events, heat waves) that could severely damage infrastructures. SMA can help enhance structural resilience and adaptability by integrating self-repairing capabilities into infrastructures and thermal comfort by dynamically adjusting a building's configuration in response to temperatures changes.
How does it work?
SMA uses a phenomenon called the "shape memory effect," where it can undergo reversible deformation when subjected to temperature changes. At temperatures below the transformation temperature (martensite form), SMA can be deformed. When heated above this temperature, SMA can return to its original shape, "remembering" its initial (austenite) form.
What is the impact?
SMA offers a material-driven design approach that contributes to sustainable building practices and reduces the energy consumption required for climatization. Examples of SMAs include nickel-titanium, copper-aluminum-nickel, and iron-manganese-silicon.
Goal: Reducing stormwater runoff and flooding, replenishing groundwater, and improving water quality through natural filtration processes
Method: Infiltration of water through the surface into underlying layers of soil or aggregate, where it is stored or gradually released into the ground or nearby drainage systems
Why is it needed?
As climate change events, such as floods, sea level rise, and heat waves, affect areas where companies have their production and/or manufacturing sites, there is a growing need for companies to make informed decisions about where to relocate assets and infrastructure to be less vulnerable to climate change events.
How does it work?
GIS works by collecting, storing, analyzing, and visualizing spatial data. The data is collected from a variety of sources, including satellite imagery, aerial photography, and ground-based sensors. GIS software allows users to overlay different layers of data, such as land use, population density, and climate projections, to identify patterns and relationships that can inform decision-making. GIS capabilities are now significantly augmented by computer vision for image analysis and machine learning for pattern recognition across a broad range of variables.
What is the impact?
By using GIS technology, companies can make better-informed decisions about where to relocate assets and infrastructure, reducing the risk of damage from climate change impacts. GIS can also help identify areas that are vulnerable to climate change, allowing for targeted adaptation measures to be implemented.
Why is it needed?
In the face of climate change and evolving consumer preferences, the strategic deployment of Al-enabled generative design solutions is a pivotal tool for companies seeking to drive sustainable innovation and remain responsive to the changing market landscape. GenAl can drive innovation, especially by considering multiple adjacent combinations or unusual design options at low cost and high speed.
How does it work?
GenAl utilizes advanced algorithms and ML techniques to generate new content, such as images, text, or product designs. It involves analyzing large data sets of consumer preferences, market trends, and product attributes to identify patterns and develop sophisticated algorithms generating new designs or features. Feedback from consumers and stakeholders is incorporated into the generative Al system to refine and improve the generated products over time. (Read more about digital twins in the 2023 ADL Blue Shift Report, "Generative Artificial Intelligence: Toward a New Civilization?")
What is the impact?
It helps businesses be more agile and enables the development of new and differentiated products to position them as leaders in the transition.
Goal: Reducing waste and supporting transition towards a circular economy
Method: Development of techniques such as bioplastic films, edible or mushrooms packaging, biodegradable coatings, nanotechnologies...
Goal: Enhancing the shopping experience by allowing customers to visualize & personalize products (clothing, furniture placement...)
Method: Overlay of digital information using cameras and sensors in smartphones or AR glasses onto the real world, allowing customers to visualize and interact products in their environment
Goal: Creating immersive experiences that allow customers to browse products, interact with sellers, participate in demonstrations without the need for physical interactions and travel
Method: Generation of realistic 3D environments (offices, stores...) that users can navigate and interact with using specialized headsets, controllers, and motion tracking systems
Goal: Providing transparency and accountability for end customers throughout the entire supply chain, to track their orders, monitor delivery status, and receive alerts about potential disruptions
Method: Use of RFID tags, barcodes, and GPS tracking, to collect and transmit data about the materials origin, production, movement, status...
Goal: Optimizing delivery routes and schedules for efficient and reliable transportation of goods
Method: Deployment of AI, sensor technologies, and connectivity solutions to interpret sensor data, make real-time decisions, and communicate with other vehicles and infrastructure elements
Wild green west
Goal: Storing and managing freshwater and replenishing underground aquifers to sustain water availability and quality
Method: Implementation of Imhoff tanks, managed aquifer recharge integrating sensors and IoT for real-time monitoring and predictive modelling or smart injection techniques
Goal: Providing potable freshwater from saltwater to large populations and industrial areas
Method: Centralized facilities relying on traditional energy sources which use reverse osmosis where seawater is pressurized to separate salts from water molecules
Goal: Optimizing water usage in agriculture by delivering water based on specific crop needs
Method: Use of sensors for topography information and soil data maps, and GPS to precisely control the amount and timing of water application
Goal: Preventing water from seeping into the ground, making them ideal for water storage reservoirs, ponds, and irrigation channels
Method: Use of waterproof membranes, typically made from flexible and durable plastic materials such as polyethylene, polypropylene, or PVC, with high strength and chemical resistance
Goal: Providing water supply for crop growth and reducing the reliance on traditional irrigation systems, beneficial in arid regions where water scarcity is a challenge
Method: Use of standalone, closed-loop, solar-operated system that irrigates crops by condensing humidity in the air on the external surface of pipes containing coldrunningwater.
Why is it needed?
As climate change exacerbates water scarcity, low-capital and easily scalable solutions can revolutionize water management practices in agriculture and safeguard livelihoods in poor and vulnerable areas.
How does it work?
A simple rainwater infiltration and storage technology containing an underground unit that filters, injects, and stores excess farm or stormwater. The unit top consists of a cemented pit and is installed on land where there's a slight tilt. Connected to the cemented pit is a pipe descending to a depth of up to 100 m, allowing water to be stored in coarse sand soil layers, then pumped for irrigation during the dry season.
What is the impact?
Rainwater conservation systems help save crops from becoming waterlogged during monsoons and save/collect more than 2,000 million liters per year, benefiting 15,000 farmers in India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Rwanda, and Ghana and contributing to a more than 30% increase in farm productivity and a 22% increase in farm income.
Goal: Creating a controlled environment to optimize growing conditions for crops regardless of external weather fluctuations
Method: Trapping of solar radiation, control of humidity levels, and protection of crops from adverse weather conditions, pests, and diseases
Goal: Minimizing land use and resource consumption in agriculture while protecting crops from weather events
Method: Growth of crops in vertically stacked layers in controlled environment to provide optimal conditions: artificial lighting and climate control systems, aeroponics, hydroponics
Why is it needed?
As a result of climate change, more crops will be affected by severe climate events, such as heat waves, droughts, floodings, and increased pests and diseases, forcing farmers to adapt how they perform business.
How does it work?
CRISPR technology works by using a guide RNA to direct Cas9 protein to a specific gene in the plant's genome. Cas9 protein cuts the DNA, allowing researchers to introduce desired changes during repair process, ultimately creating plants with improved traits for adaptation to climate change and other challenges. (Read more about SynBio in the 2024 ADL Blue Shift Report: "The Brave New World of Synthetic Biology.").
What is the impact?
It enables development of crops that can better withstand changing environmental conditions, resist pests and diseases, and utilize resources more efficiently.
Goal: Introducing specific genetic modifications into crops to achieve desirable traits enhancing resilience, productivity or nutritional value of crops
Method: Using CRISPR proteins to target and edit plant DNA, providing farmers with new varieties of crops that require less resources to grow
Why is it needed?
Rice is the primary food staple for 50% of the world's population, and environmental stresses constrain rice production, affecting about 30% of the 700 million poor in Asia who live in rain-fed rice-growing areas. In the face of climate change, rice crops must be able to withstand extreme environments like drought, salinity, flood, and submergence. In the past, this type of initiative required public funding, but since the 1970s, the knowledge has been dispersed in emerging countries' communities.
How does it work?
The International Rice Research Institute and its partners are utilizing advanced breeding techniques, specifically marker-assisted breeding, to develop extreme climate event-tolerant rice varieties. Marker-assisted breeding allows breeders to incorporate specific desirable traits into new varieties with more accuracy and speed.
What is the impact?
More than 150 global stress-tolerant varieties have been released in countries like India, Philippines, and Nepal. The average yield increase is 0.8 to 1.2 tons per hectare under drought. Plant breeders have also developed flood-resistant rice through discovery and isolation of the SUB1 gene, which allows resistance to submergence for up to 14 days, leading to a yield increase of 1 to 3 tons for a 10-to 15-day flood.
Goal: Providing real-time data on crop condition (moisture levels, pest infestations, nutrient status)
Method: Aerial data collection and capturing of high-resolution images of crops and fields, with the use of drones
Goal: Providing real-time data analysis to help farmers make informed decisions and to predict future outcomes
Method: Analyzing data using image processing, AI & ML algorithms to identify indicators of crop health and stress
Goal: Precisely applying pesticides to targeted areas affected by pests or diseases while reducing the use of chemicals
Method: Integration of GPS-guided navigation systems to accurately fly over fields and apply pesticides using onboard sprayers or nozzles
Goal: Modifying environmental conditions to enhance agricultural yields and resilience
Method: Use of techniques such as cloud seeding to induce rainfall, reflective materials to reduce heat stress, or manipulation of atmospheric composition to optimize crop growth. These technique are largely disscussed
Goal: Enabling high-precision agriculture through connected tractors to maximizing crop yields
Method: Collecting and using data from sensors on tractors to improve productivity and optimize resource usage, including water, fertilizers, and pesticides
Goal: Creating on-demand customized products and parts using alternative and sustainable materials
Method: Digitally design and layer of materials, such as recycled plastics or biodegradable polymers, to build three-dimensional objects
Goal: Ensuring food demand and safety, and minimizing dependencies of animals
Method: Use of animal stem cells in bioreactors to create muscle, fat, and connective tissue, to build meat products like steak or mincemeat
Why is it needed?
With increasing disruptions on routes due to extreme weather events, businesses want to make their supply chain more trustworthy and transparent. Public blockchains can be leveraged as a solution for verifying asset location logs, movements, and transactions. Consumers also demand visibility to make informed purchasing decisions (e.g., ethical sourcing, protection of workers, compliance with regulations).
How does it work?
By integrating blockchain-enabled supply chain verification into existing ERP and product lifecycle management systems, firms can track the flow of materials and monitor social and environmental data in real time. Data is securely recorded on a public blockchain, making it virtually impervious to tampering and bolstering trust in the process. At product final stage, consumers can easily scan an NFC tag or QR code to access a comprehensive record of its journey, including the artisans who contributed to its creation and confirmation of their compensation. Using loT, this technology also showcases products' environmental footprint (water usage, carbon emitted, transportation).
What is the impact?
An ecosystem that captures the supply chain of a product from cradle to grave, in real time, incentivizing all members of the supply chain to be more transparent.
Goal: Optimizing route planning, vehicle utilization, fuel consumption, and emissions to ensure timely and cost-effective delivery of goods
Method: Use of GPS, telematics, geospatial analytics, IoT sensors, real-time data processing, and predictive AI & ML algorithms to monitor and manage fleets of vehicles
Why is it needed?
Due to more severe climate events, such as droughts in canals and flooding of roads, there are increased risks of disrupted supply routes. Companies must invest in technologies that will enable enhanced decision-making and improved efficiency of supply chains.
How does it work?
Data from sources like loT sensors, GPS, ReiD tags, and barcones provide real-time information on goods' location and status. This data is integrated into a centralized system for easy access and analysis. Al then processes the data, generating a layer of information on top with insights for data-driven decisions, such as optimizing inventory and improving demand forecasting. Supply chain visibility fosters collaboration, proactive issue identification, and continuous performance monitoring, leading to enhanced efficiency, reduced costs, and increased customer satisfaction.
What is the impact?
Impacts include enhanced resilience to climate-related disruptions, better customer satisfaction, better decision-making of supply chain routes, improved efficiency and productivity, reduced emissions through optimized operations, and more.
Why is it needed?
Storm-related power outages are happening more often. These fluctuations in supply and grid system instability are causing business interruptions which negatively impact productivity and costs.
How does it work?
Smart grids are electricity networks that can intelligently integrate the actions of all users connected to them - generators, consumers and those that do both - in order to efficiently deliver sustainable, economically viable and secure electricity supplies. Smart grids can automatically collect and store power from renewable energy sources during the day for peak-time use or when the grid goes down. Smart grids can also tie together virtual power plants (VPPs), i.e. networks of decentralized medium-scale power generating units and storage systems.
What is the impact?
Smart grids enable industrial sites to automatically adapt to varying demand and power flows to support a more balanced network during both normal and emergency situations such as extreme weather events. During periods of disruption to the grid, VPPs can shift or shed loads, supplementing large-capacity energy sources.
Goal: Generating electricity by harnessing the osmotic pressure difference between two solutions of varying salinity
Method: Design of nano-scale membranes allowing water molecules to pass through while blocking ions, creating a pressure gradient that drives a turbine to produce electricity
Why is it needed?
As water scarcity becomes a pressing issue due to climate change, efficient wastewater treatment technologies help conserve water resources by producing high-quality effluent suitable for reuse.
How does it work?
MABR is a relatively new technology for aerobic wastewater treatment, meaning it promotes a high rate of oxygen transfer to the microbes, which break down pollutants in wastewater. MABR uses a permeable membrane to transfer oxygen directly to these microorganisms, as opposed to the traditional method of pumping air and diffusing it in the form of bubbles. The process requires less energy and chemicals.
What is the impact?
MABR technology can be used for small and medium-sized installations, as well as the retrofitting of existing plants. MABR enables energy savings as high as 90% compared to conventional plants, making it suitable for use with alternative off-grid energy sources and decentralized treatment. MABR also allows for a 50% increase in biological treatment capacity, as well as a 50% reduction in sludge.
Goal: Improving the efficiency of water purification processes and optimizing consumption
Method: Use of IoT sensors to monitor water quality parameters in real-time and AI & ML to optimize filtration parameters such as flow rate, pressure and filtration media usage
Goal: Providing potable freshwater reducing water waste
Method: Traditional reverse osmosis system to which is added the recirculation of the concentrate stream back into the system
Goal: Detecting temperature variations caused by escaping water, enabling early detection of leaks
Method: Deployment of sensors on drones to capture IR radiation emitted by objects incl. the surface of the ground above buried pipes
Why is it needed?
As climate change increases water scarcity, it becomes more important to protect and secure the water in our water supply systems. For businesses covering larger-scale areas, satellite-based leak-detection systems are a good solution for this compared to acoustic leak detection, which is used for smaller-scale areas.
How does it work?
Satellites capture raw images using SAR sensors. The sensors send out signals that react differently when they detect water mixed with soil. Data from the satellites is then analyzed and filtered. The location of each potential leak is overlaid onto a geographical map, allowing areas to be identified. Satellites can detect leakages up to 3 m below the surface.
What is the impact?
By offering large-scale monitoring, satellite-based leak-detection systems enable early identification of water leaks, reducing water waste. The systems improve resource management, saving costs on manual inspections and minimizing infrastructure damage. A 38% leak reduction in municipal water networks has been reported.
Goal: Providing a durable and efficient solution that can fill and seal small cracks and holes in the pipe material
Method: Application of nanoparticle, suspended in a liquid carrier solution, to the damaged area of the pipe to fill in the gaps and form a tight seal upon curing
Goal: Repairing of difficult-to-reach pipelines with specialized tools and equipment such as welding, coating or applying repair materials to the pipeline surface
Method: Use of advanced navigation systems and stabilizing mechanisms to ensure precise positioning and maneuverability during repair operations.
Goal: Streamlining the construction process and centralizing all relevant project information (architectural designs, engineering data, material specifications)
Method: Development of software allowing 3D building plans visualization and scenario simulation and use of IoT sensors and AI & ML to collect data, optimize building performance and energy efficiency
Why is it needed?
Climate change is leading to scarcity of critical resources, resulting in the increasing need to enable more sustainable and efficient design to reduce waste and resource consumption and to enhance energy efficiency.
How does it work?
Digital twin technology works by creating a virtual replica of a physical object or system (e.g., factories, buildings, and products). It is bidirectionally connected through sensors to transmit data from the real-world counterpart. Together with Al and advanced algorithms, data is then structured in a virtual model that can be used for simulation, analysis, and real-time monitoring, providing valuable insights that can be used to automatically optimize performance, reduce waste, and so on. (Read more about digital twins in the 2023 ADL Blue Shift Report:"The Industrial Metaverse.")
What is the impact?
Digital twins are helping businesses analyze, optimize, and reduce energy consumption, manage waste data, enable proactive maintenance, and evaluate building resilience to climate risks. Future development to cover entire supply and manufacturing chains could significantly improve business resilience.
Goal: Reducing the amount of material waste and machining time in manufacturing processes
Method: Shaping of materials as closely as possible to the final product, using advanced manufacturing technologies such as additive manufacturing (3D printing) or precision machining
Goal: TBD
Method: TBD
Goal: Anticipating and preventing equipment failures before they occur to minimize downtime
Method: Analysis of real-time data from IoT sensors installed on machinery and use of AI & ML algorithms to identify patterns or anomalies and generate alerts to guide maintenance activities
Goal: Reducing ambient temperatures in indoor or outdoor environments
Method: Emission of thermal radiation from a surface towards the cold outer space, allowing heat to escape and lowering the temperature of the surroundings
Goal: Maintaining optimal comfort levels and optimizing energy consumption
Method: Continuously monitoring of indoor temperature via sensors to adjust HVAC1 settings accordingly and use of IoT to enable remote monitoring and control
Goal: Providing timely alerts in case of risk of extreme weather events allowing for proactive measures
Method: Use of a combination of technologies, including IoT sensors, AI algorithms, and data analytics to monitor environmental conditions, detect anomalies, and issue warnings
Why is it needed?
As climate change leads to more frequent and severe weather events, such as heavy rainfall and storms, the risk of flooding has increased. Bio-dikes offer a sustainable and low-cost alternative to mitigate these risks and protect communities.
How does it work?
Bio-dikes are constructed using locally sourced materials, such as sand, rocks, soil, shrubs, and bamboo. Principles include maintaining an adequate riverbank slope and building a dike along that slope and length of the river using bamboo. The dike is then filled with sandbags and covered with fertile soil to provide a basis for vegetation.
What is the impact?
By acting as natural barriers, bio-dikes help absorb wave energy, stabilize shorelines, and reduce the risk of flooding and property damage.
Goal: Enhancing coastal resilience and providing habitat for marine life
Method: Use of innovative casting techniques and materials to create structures imitating natural reefs and eco-friendly withstanding harsh marine conditions and promote biodiversity
Why is it needed?
Raisable floodgates provide a way to protect coastal areas from flooding due to sea level rise and extreme weather events. As sea levels continue to rise, coastal areas are becoming more vulnerable to flooding, which can cause significant damage to infrastructure and communities.
How does it work?
There are different types of floodgates, some of which provide a barrier, directly in the sea, that prevents water from entering coastal areas during high tides or storm surges. The floodgates are designed to be raised and lowered as needed, allowing water to flow through when it is safe to do so and providing a barrier when necessary. The floodgates can be operated manually or automatically, depending on the design.
What is the impact?
Raisable floodgates protect infrastructure and communities from damage, reducing economic and social costs of climate change impacts as well as improving resilience of coastal areas.
Goal: Enhancing the resilience of industrial assets against climate-related hazards (extreme weather events, corrosion, degradation) and reducing maintenance costs
Method: Engineered polymers and composites offering superior strength, durability and corrosion resistance (FRP1, self-healing concrete, insulating concrete)
Goal: Enhance durability, energy efficiency, and resilience against increasing environmental challenges
Method: Use of nanotechnology, chemical formulations, and surface treatments, to create protective barriers, reflect or absorb solar radiation, repel water, and resist corrosion
Goal: Stabilizing soil and preventing erosion on slopes and disturbed landscapes, particularly in areas prone to heavy rainfall or flooding
Method: Blanket made of biodegradable or synthetic materials which is placed directly onto the soil surface and can also incorporate seeds and fertilizers
Why is it needed?
Climate change is triggering an increased frequency of natural disasters (e.g., seismic events, heat waves) that could severely damage infrastructures. SMA can help enhance structural resilience and adaptability by integrating self-repairing capabilities into infrastructures and thermal comfort by dynamically adjusting a building's configuration in response to temperatures changes.
How does it work?
SMA uses a phenomenon called the "shape memory effect," where it can undergo reversible deformation when subjected to temperature changes. At temperatures below the transformation temperature (martensite form), SMA can be deformed. When heated above this temperature, SMA can return to its original shape, "remembering" its initial (austenite) form.
What is the impact?
SMA offers a material-driven design approach that contributes to sustainable building practices and reduces the energy consumption required for climatization. Examples of SMAs include nickel-titanium, copper-aluminum-nickel, and iron-manganese-silicon.
Goal: Reducing stormwater runoff and flooding, replenishing groundwater, and improving water quality through natural filtration processes
Method: Infiltration of water through the surface into underlying layers of soil or aggregate, where it is stored or gradually released into the ground or nearby drainage systems
Why is it needed?
Climate change poses significant challenges to agriculture worldwide, with Asian and African farmers being particularly vulnerable. From erratic weather patterns to severe events like floods, droughts, and storms, farmers face multiple challenges in safeguarding their livelihoods.
How does it work?
Traditional insurance models often fall short in adequately addressing the unique risks farmers face. High operational costs (partly due to in-farm nature of assessing damages) often lead to unaffordable premium rates and drawn-out claims assessment processes. Parametric insurance models offer an alternative approach that delivers swift payouts based on predefined triggers, such as rainfall levels or wind speeds, eliminating the need for time-consuming claims assessments.
What is the impact?
By providing rapid payouts, parametric insurance helps farmers bounce back from weather-related losses and invest in resilient farming practices. It has the potential to act as a catalyst for increasing access to finance and could act as a de-risking instrument for crop loans and make the small-scale farmer segment more attractive for financial institutions.
Goal: Providing financial protection to issuers against the risks associated with extreme weather events
Method: Transfer of the risk of specified catastrophic events from the issuer to investors in the capital markets
Goal: Providing reliable, sustainable and clean energy in disaster-affected areas
Method: Integration of renewable energy sources along with advanced battery storage systems to be able to distribute electricity when needed
Why is it needed?
As climate change events, such as floods, sea level rise, and heat waves, affect areas where companies have their production and/or manufacturing sites, there is a growing need for companies to make informed decisions about where to relocate assets and infrastructure to be less vulnerable to climate change events.
How does it work?
GIS works by collecting, storing, analyzing, and visualizing spatial data. The data is collected from a variety of sources, including satellite imagery, aerial photography, and ground-based sensors. GIS software allows users to overlay different layers of data, such as land use, population density, and climate projections, to identify patterns and relationships that can inform decision-making. GIS capabilities are now significantly augmented by computer vision for image analysis and machine learning for pattern recognition across a broad range of variables.
What is the impact?
By using GIS technology, companies can make better-informed decisions about where to relocate assets and infrastructure, reducing the risk of damage from climate change impacts. GIS can also help identify areas that are vulnerable to climate change, allowing for targeted adaptation measures to be implemented.
Goal: Enhancing the shopping experience by allowing customers to visualize & personalize products (clothing, furniture placement...)
Method: Overlay of digital information using cameras and sensors in smartphones or AR glasses onto the real world, allowing customers to visualize and interact products in their environment
Goal: Creating immersive experiences that allow customers to browse products, interact with sellers, participate in demonstrations without the need for physical interactions and travel
Method: Generation of realistic 3D environments (offices, stores...) that users can navigate and interact with using specialized headsets, controllers, and motion tracking systems
Goal: Providing a decentralized and reliable financing solutions for money transfers across borders and securing the transparency & traceability of transactions
Method: Use of biometric authentication, PIN codes to allow transaction and integration of blockchain that can be pre-loaded onto mobile wallets or wearable devices
Goal: Optimizing delivery routes and schedules for efficient and reliable transportation of goods
Method: Deployment of AI, sensor technologies, and connectivity solutions to interpret sensor data, make real-time decisions, and communicate with other vehicles and infrastructure elements
Goal: Providing transparency and accountability for end customers throughout the entire supply chain, to track their orders, monitor delivery status, and receive alerts about potential disruptions
Method: Use of RFID tags, barcodes, and GPS tracking, to collect and transmit data about the materials origin, production, movement, status...
Don't look up
Goal: Capturing and storing of rainwater for irrigation or groundwater recharge
Method: Shaping of the landscape to direct rainwater runoff into a collection area, such as a basin or reservoir, where it is stored for later use
Goal: Preventing water from seeping into the ground, making them ideal for water storage reservoirs, ponds, and irrigation channels
Method: Use of waterproof membranes, typically made from flexible and durable plastic materials such as polyethylene, polypropylene, or PVC, with high strength and chemical resistance
Goal: Creating a controlled environment to optimize growing conditions for crops regardless of external weather fluctuations
Method: Trapping of solar radiation, control of humidity levels, and protection of crops from adverse weather conditions, pests, and diseases
Goal: Improving soil moisture retention and plant water uptake efficiency
Method: Absorption and storage of water, which is then slowly release to plant roots as needed, reducing irrigation frequency and water loss due to evaporation
Goal: Enhancing resilience, productivity or nutritional value of crops
Method: Use of selective breeding and hybridization on successive generations of plants
Goal: Converting organic waste materials into nutrient-rich fertilizer
Method: Anaerobically digestion of organic matter in a sealed environment, where bacteria break down the waste to produce soil amendment
Why is it needed?
As extreme weather event frequency and intensity increase, mini grids help secure energy supply in remote or underserved areas where traditional grid infrastructure is unreliable.
How does it work?
Mini grids consist of a network of localized power generation sources (e.g., solar panels, wind turbines) connected to distribution infrastructure to deliver electricity to nearby communities or facilities. Advanced technologies, including smart meters, energy storage systems, and grid management software, are often integrated to optimize energy production, distribution, and consumption.
What is the impact?
Mini grids provide an affordable, decentralized, and resilient energy solution that can operate independently or in conjunction with larger grids, reducing dependency on centralized fossil fuel-based power and sustaining operations even during extreme weather events.
Goal: Providing efficiently and cost-effectively heating, cooling and power for industrial processes
Method: Transfer of heat using a refrigerant fluid: in heating/cooling mode, it extracts/removes heat from the source (air, water, waste streams) and transfers it to the destination
Goal: Enabling real-time monitoring and management of utility consumption
Method: Use of IoT technology to collect and transmit data on energy & water usage to track consumption patterns, identify inefficiencies and optimize energy usage
Goal: Ensuring the microbial safety of recycled water by deactivating harmful microorganisms and pathogens.
Method: Exposition of the recycled water to UV light, which damages the DNA of microorganisms, preventing them from reproducing without the need for chemicals
Goal: Ensuring the microbial safety of recycled water by removing contaminants and impurities from wastewater
Method: Use of an electric current to agglomerate suspended particles and pollutants in the water, forming larger flocs that can be easily separated from the water
Why is it needed?
An estimated 30%-40% of water in large-scale water systems is lost to leaks. Water scarcity is increasing due to climate change, causing more extreme weather events like droughts and floods. Therefore, it becomes more important to protect and secure water in water supply systems.
How does it work?
Acoustic leak detection works by using sensitive microphones or sensors capable of monitoring the sounds of water leaks in pipelines underground, along with advanced signal processing algorithms to filter out background noise. The data is then analyzed to pinpoint the leak location, allowing for efficient repairs and water conservation.
What is the impact?
By finding and fixing water leaks more efficiently, acoustic leak detection helps save water, reduce waste, and ensure there is sufficient clean water.
Goal: Providing a durable and efficient solution that can fill and seal small cracks and holes in the pipe material
Method: Application of nanoparticle, suspended in a liquid carrier solution, to the damaged area of the pipe to fill in the gaps and form a tight seal upon curing
Goal: Converting organic waste materials into electricity and fuel
Method: Anaerobically digestion of organic matter in a sealed environment, where bacteria break down the waste to produce electricity, heat and fuel
Goal: Streamlining the construction process and centralizing all relevant project information (architectural designs, engineering data, material specifications)
Method: Development of software allowing 3D building plans visualization and scenario simulation and use of IoT sensors and AI & ML to collect data, optimize building performance and energy efficiency
Goal: Maintaining optimal comfort levels and optimizing energy consumption
Method: Continuously monitoring of indoor temperature via sensors to adjust HVAC1 settings accordingly and use of IoT to enable remote monitoring and control
Goal: Providing timely alerts in case of risk of extreme weather events allowing for proactive measures
Method: Use of a combination of technologies, including IoT sensors, AI algorithms, and data analytics to monitor environmental conditions, detect anomalies, and issue warnings
Goal: Protecting coastal regions from erosion and floodings and capturing carbon while supporting biodiversity
Method: Their dense root systems act as natural barriers against storm surges and rising sea levels
Goal: Protecting coastal regions from erosion and floodings and filtering water while supporting biodiversity
Method: Their vegetation and soil act as natural buffers against flooding and purify water
Goal: Reforesting large areas by autonomously dropping seeds in precise locations, especially in remote and challenging terrains
Method: Use of drones to scan terrains, develop 3D maps, create planting algorithms and dispense seed pods at precise locations
Goal: Providing versatile and mobile protection against climate events such as shading areas heavily exposed to sun and without vegetation or protecting crops
Method: Use of inflatable structures that can be rapidly deployed and retractable
Goal: Providing reliable, sustainable and clean energy in disaster-affected areas
Method: Integration of renewable energy sources along with advanced battery storage systems to be able to distribute electricity when needed
Goal: Providing essential communication services to affected areas where terrestrial infrastructure has been disrupted
Method: Use of radio frequency technology to transmit signals between ground stations and satellite terminals, allowing users to access voice, data, and internet services
Why is it needed?
Beach nourishment vessels help replenish sand on eroded beaches, providing protection against storm surges and preserving coastal ecosystems and infrastructure.
How does it work?
Dredgers collect sand from the seabed and deposit it either through floating and submerged pipelines, rainbowing, or offloading through the vessel bottom.
What is the impact?
By maintaining healthy beaches and protecting coastal communities from erosion and storm damage, beach nourishment vessels contribute to the preservation of valuable coastal assets and attractions. This, in turn, supports property values along the coast as well as local economies dependent on tourism.
Why is it needed?
As climate change events, such as floods, sea level rise, and heat waves, affect areas where companies have their production and/or manufacturing sites, there is a growing need for companies to make informed decisions about where to relocate assets and infrastructure to be less vulnerable to climate change events.
How does it work?
GIS works by collecting, storing, analyzing, and visualizing spatial data. The data is collected from a variety of sources, including satellite imagery, aerial photography, and ground-based sensors. GIS software allows users to overlay different layers of data, such as land use, population density, and climate projections, to identify patterns and relationships that can inform decision-making. GIS capabilities are now significantly augmented by computer vision for image analysis and machine learning for pattern recognition across a broad range of variables.
What is the impact?
By using GIS technology, companies can make better-informed decisions about where to relocate assets and infrastructure, reducing the risk of damage from climate change impacts. GIS can also help identify areas that are vulnerable to climate change, allowing for targeted adaptation measures to be implemented.
Goal: Providing transparency and accountability for end customers throughout the entire supply chain, to track their orders, monitor delivery status, and receive alerts about potential disruptions
Method: Use of RFID tags, barcodes, and GPS tracking, to collect and transmit data about the materials origin, production, movement, status...
Why is it needed?
In the aftermath of a natural disaster, traditional banking services or transportation networks can be disrupted. Digital payment technologies can enhance the resilience of communities and businesses by offering a reliable means of transferring funds even when physical infrastructure is damaged or in the case of limited mobility or to reduce physical contact due to epidemics.
How does it work?
During and after disaster events, mobile wallets can be used to pay those affected and response workers. Due to limited opportunities to carry out physical identification verification, unique identification numbers can be created through interagency coordination to provide users access to the digital wallets and funds. Payment cards can be issued at a later date and integrated with the digital wallets.
What is the impact?
During the Ebola crisis, digitization reduced payment times from over one month to less than a week, ending payment-related strikes from response workers with the use of apps like MoMo and infrastructure provided by Africell. Cost savings result from the elimination of double payments, payment-related identity fraud, and reduction of costs associated with physical cash transportation and security.
Adaptation surge
Goal: Storing and managing freshwater and replenishing underground aquifers to sustain water availability and quality
Method: Implementation of Imhoff tanks, managed aquifer recharge integrating sensors and IoT for real-time monitoring and predictive modelling or smart injection techniques
Goal: Providing potable freshwater from saltwater to large populations and industrial areas
Method: Centralized facilities relying on traditional energy sources which use reverse osmosis where seawater is pressurized to separate salts from water molecules
Why is it needed?
As climate change exacerbates water scarcity, these plants provide a decentralized and renewable option to augment freshwater supplies. Unlike large plants often relying on public investment, these mini plants have the advantage of being privately owned by businesses.
How does it work?
The process utilizes reverse osmosis technology. By reusing residual energy from the brine, energy input and number of solar panels can be reduced. The desalination technology can also be modified to use solar or wind energy to pump seawater into a tank positioned high on a hill. This allows the system to use gravity to provide pressurized seawater for the reverse osmosis process.
What is the impact?
The solar-driven mini desalination plants are suitable for use in off-grid rural areas, remote islands, and deserts and are delivered in a container for speed and ease of installation and maintenance. Water production ranges from 5,300 to 500,000 liters a day.
Goal: Optimizing water usage in agriculture by delivering water based on specific crop needs
Method: Use of sensors for topography information and soil data maps, and GPS to precisely control the amount and timing of water application
Goal: Preventing water from seeping into the ground, making them ideal for water storage reservoirs, ponds, and irrigation channels
Method: Use of waterproof membranes, typically made from flexible and durable plastic materials such as polyethylene, polypropylene, or PVC, with high strength and chemical resistance
Goal: Providing water supply for crop growth and reducing the reliance on traditional irrigation systems, beneficial in arid regions where water scarcity is a challenge
Method: Use of standalone, closed-loop, solar-operated system that irrigates crops by condensing humidity in the air on the external surface of pipes containing coldrunningwater.
Why is it needed?
As climate change exacerbates water scarcity, low-capital and easily scalable solutions can revolutionize water management practices in agriculture and safeguard livelihoods in poor and vulnerable areas.
How does it work?
A simple rainwater infiltration and storage technology containing an underground unit that filters, injects, and stores excess farm or stormwater. The unit top consists of a cemented pit and is installed on land where there's a slight tilt. Connected to the cemented pit is a pipe descending to a depth of up to 100 m, allowing water to be stored in coarse sand soil layers, then pumped for irrigation during the dry season.
What is the impact?
Rainwater conservation systems help save crops from becoming waterlogged during monsoons and save/collect more than 2,000 million liters per year, benefiting 15,000 farmers in India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Rwanda, and Ghana and contributing to a more than 30% increase in farm productivity and a 22% increase in farm income.
Goal: Creating a controlled environment to optimize growing conditions for crops regardless of external weather fluctuations
Method: Trapping of solar radiation, control of humidity levels, and protection of crops from adverse weather conditions, pests, and diseases
Goal: Minimizing land use and resource consumption in agriculture while protecting crops from weather events
Method: Growth of crops in vertically stacked layers in controlled environment to provide optimal conditions: artificial lighting and climate control systems, aeroponics, hydroponics
Goal: Improving soil moisture retention and plant water uptake efficiency
Method: Absorption and storage of water, which is then slowly release to plant roots as needed, reducing irrigation frequency and water loss due to evaporation
Why is it needed?
As a result of climate change, more crops will be affected by severe climate events, such as heat waves, droughts, floodings, and increased pests and diseases, forcing farmers to adapt how they perform business.
How does it work?
CRISPR technology works by using a guide RNA to direct Cas9 protein to a specific gene in the plant's genome. Cas9 protein cuts the DNA, allowing researchers to introduce desired changes during repair process, ultimately creating plants with improved traits for adaptation to climate change and other challenges. (Read more about SynBio in the 2024 ADL Blue Shift Report: "The Brave New World of Synthetic Biology.").
What is the impact?
It enables development of crops that can better withstand changing environmental conditions, resist pests and diseases, and utilize resources more efficiently.
Goal: Introducing specific genetic modifications into crops to achieve desirable traits enhancing resilience, productivity or nutritional value of crops
Method: Using CRISPR proteins to target and edit plant DNA, providing farmers with new varieties of crops that require less resources to grow
Why is it needed?
Rice is the primary food staple for 50% of the world's population, and environmental stresses constrain rice production, affecting about 30% of the 700 million poor in Asia who live in rain-fed rice-growing areas. In the face of climate change, rice crops must be able to withstand extreme environments like drought, salinity, flood, and submergence. In the past, this type of initiative required public funding, but since the 1970s, the knowledge has been dispersed in emerging countries' communities.
How does it work?
The International Rice Research Institute and its partners are utilizing advanced breeding techniques, specifically marker-assisted breeding, to develop extreme climate event-tolerant rice varieties. Marker-assisted breeding allows breeders to incorporate specific desirable traits into new varieties with more accuracy and speed.
What is the impact?
More than 150 global stress-tolerant varieties have been released in countries like India, Philippines, and Nepal. The average yield increase is 0.8 to 1.2 tons per hectare under drought. Plant breeders have also developed flood-resistant rice through discovery and isolation of the SUB1 gene, which allows resistance to submergence for up to 14 days, leading to a yield increase of 1 to 3 tons for a 10-to 15-day flood.
Goal: Providing real-time data on crop condition (moisture levels, pest infestations, nutrient status)
Method: Aerial data collection and capturing of high-resolution images of crops and fields, with the use of drones
Goal: Providing real-time data analysis to help farmers make informed decisions and to predict future outcomes
Method: Analyzing data using image processing, AI & ML algorithms to identify indicators of crop health and stress
Goal: Precisely applying pesticides to targeted areas affected by pests or diseases while reducing the use of chemicals
Method: Integration of GPS-guided navigation systems to accurately fly over fields and apply pesticides using onboard sprayers or nozzles
Goal: Controlling pests and diseases in agriculture, forestry and public health
Method: Target of specific pests, weeds or pathogens by disrupting their reproduction, inhibiting feeding, or inducing mortality, while minimizing harm to non-target organisms
Goal: Modifying environmental conditions to enhance agricultural yields and resilience
Method: Use of techniques such as cloud seeding to induce rainfall, reflective materials to reduce heat stress, or manipulation of atmospheric composition to optimize crop growth. These technique are largely disscussed
Goal: Enabling high-precision agriculture through connected tractors to maximizing crop yields
Method: Collecting and using data from sensors on tractors to improve productivity and optimize resource usage, including water, fertilizers, and pesticides
Goal:
Method:
Goal: Creating on-demand customized products and parts using alternative and sustainable materials
Method: Digitally design and layer of materials, such as recycled plastics or biodegradable polymers, to build three-dimensional objects
Goal: Enhancing sorting efficiency of recyclable materials and reducing reliance on virgin resources
Method: Use of sensors and cameras to classify materials based on their visual characteristics and AI & ML to enhance recognition accuracy and adapt to sorting requirements
Goal: Analyzing the chemical composition of materials by detecting their unique spectral signatures
Method: Integration of NIR sensors into sorting equipment allows for rapid material identification and sorting based on their composition
Goal: TBD
Method: TBD
Goal: Ensuring food demand and safety, and minimizing dependencies of animals
Method: Use of animal stem cells in bioreactors to create muscle, fat, and connective tissue, to build meat products like steak or mincemeat
Goal: Identifying alternative materials more sustainable and resilient to reduce dependencies on scarce resources
Method: Development of ML algorithms to analyze vast datasets on material properties, environmental impacts, and performance requirements to recommend suitable substitutes for traditional materials
Goal: TBD
Method: TBD
Why is it needed?
With increasing disruptions on routes due to extreme weather events, businesses want to make their supply chain more trustworthy and transparent. Public blockchains can be leveraged as a solution for verifying asset location logs, movements, and transactions. Consumers also demand visibility to make informed purchasing decisions (e.g., ethical sourcing, protection of workers, compliance with regulations).
How does it work?
By integrating blockchain-enabled supply chain verification into existing ERP and product lifecycle management systems, firms can track the flow of materials and monitor social and environmental data in real time. Data is securely recorded on a public blockchain, making it virtually impervious to tampering and bolstering trust in the process. At product final stage, consumers can easily scan an NFC tag or QR code to access a comprehensive record of its journey, including the artisans who contributed to its creation and confirmation of their compensation. Using loT, this technology also showcases products' environmental footprint (water usage, carbon emitted, transportation).
What is the impact?
An ecosystem that captures the supply chain of a product from cradle to grave, in real time, incentivizing all members of the supply chain to be more transparent.
Goal: Providing supply chain visibility to minimize raw materials, inventory levels of parts, and finished goods while maintaining sufficient inventory available
Method: Use of AI and digital twin to get full visibility of inventory, lead time predications, dynamic response to supply and demand variabilities and to automatically reorder
Goal: Optimizing route planning, vehicle utilization, fuel consumption, and emissions to ensure timely and cost-effective delivery of goods
Method: Use of GPS, telematics, geospatial analytics, IoT sensors, real-time data processing, and predictive AI & ML algorithms to monitor and manage fleets of vehicles
Why is it needed?
Due to more severe climate events, such as droughts in canals and flooding of roads, there are increased risks of disrupted supply routes. Companies must invest in technologies that will enable enhanced decision-making and improved efficiency of supply chains.
How does it work?
Data from sources like loT sensors, GPS, ReiD tags, and barcones provide real-time information on goods' location and status. This data is integrated into a centralized system for easy access and analysis. Al then processes the data, generating a layer of information on top with insights for data-driven decisions, such as optimizing inventory and improving demand forecasting. Supply chain visibility fosters collaboration, proactive issue identification, and continuous performance monitoring, leading to enhanced efficiency, reduced costs, and increased customer satisfaction.
What is the impact?
Impacts include enhanced resilience to climate-related disruptions, better customer satisfaction, better decision-making of supply chain routes, improved efficiency and productivity, reduced emissions through optimized operations, and more.
Why is it needed?
Storm-related power outages are happening more often. These fluctuations in supply and grid system instability are causing business interruptions which negatively impact productivity and costs.
How does it work?
Smart grids are electricity networks that can intelligently integrate the actions of all users connected to them - generators, consumers and those that do both - in order to efficiently deliver sustainable, economically viable and secure electricity supplies. Smart grids can automatically collect and store power from renewable energy sources during the day for peak-time use or when the grid goes down. Smart grids can also tie together virtual power plants (VPPs), i.e. networks of decentralized medium-scale power generating units and storage systems.
What is the impact?
Smart grids enable industrial sites to automatically adapt to varying demand and power flows to support a more balanced network during both normal and emergency situations such as extreme weather events. During periods of disruption to the grid, VPPs can shift or shed loads, supplementing large-capacity energy sources.
Goal: Managing efficiently electricity demand during periods of high stress on supply
Method: Use of IoT sensors and analysis of real-time data to identify areas of excess demand and prioritize critical loads and of AI & ML to predict demand patterns and optimize load shedding strategies
Goal: Generating electricity by harnessing the osmotic pressure difference between two solutions of varying salinity
Method: Design of nano-scale membranes allowing water molecules to pass through while blocking ions, creating a pressure gradient that drives a turbine to produce electricity
Why is it needed?
As water scarcity becomes a pressing issue due to climate change, efficient wastewater treatment technologies help conserve water resources by producing high-quality effluent suitable for reuse.
How does it work?
MABR is a relatively new technology for aerobic wastewater treatment, meaning it promotes a high rate of oxygen transfer to the microbes, which break down pollutants in wastewater. MABR uses a permeable membrane to transfer oxygen directly to these microorganisms, as opposed to the traditional method of pumping air and diffusing it in the form of bubbles. The process requires less energy and chemicals.
What is the impact?
MABR technology can be used for small and medium-sized installations, as well as the retrofitting of existing plants. MABR enables energy savings as high as 90% compared to conventional plants, making it suitable for use with alternative off-grid energy sources and decentralized treatment. MABR also allows for a 50% increase in biological treatment capacity, as well as a 50% reduction in sludge.
Goal: Improving the efficiency of water purification processes and optimizing consumption
Method: Use of IoT sensors to monitor water quality parameters in real-time and AI & ML to optimize filtration parameters such as flow rate, pressure and filtration media usage
Goal: Providing potable freshwater reducing water waste
Method: Traditional reverse osmosis system to which is added the recirculation of the concentrate stream back into the system
Goal: Ensuring the microbial safety of recycled water by deactivating harmful microorganisms and pathogens.
Method: Exposition of the recycled water to UV light, which damages the DNA of microorganisms, preventing them from reproducing without the need for chemicals
Goal: Ensuring the microbial safety of recycled water by removing contaminants and impurities from wastewater
Method: Use of an electric current to agglomerate suspended particles and pollutants in the water, forming larger flocs that can be easily separated from the water
Goal: Detecting temperature variations caused by escaping water, enabling early detection of leaks
Method: Deployment of sensors on drones to capture IR radiation emitted by objects incl. the surface of the ground above buried pipes
Why is it needed?
As climate change increases water scarcity, it becomes more important to protect and secure the water in our water supply systems. For businesses covering larger-scale areas, satellite-based leak-detection systems are a good solution for this compared to acoustic leak detection, which is used for smaller-scale areas.
How does it work?
Satellites capture raw images using SAR sensors. The sensors send out signals that react differently when they detect water mixed with soil. Data from the satellites is then analyzed and filtered. The location of each potential leak is overlaid onto a geographical map, allowing areas to be identified. Satellites can detect leakages up to 3 m below the surface.
What is the impact?
By offering large-scale monitoring, satellite-based leak-detection systems enable early identification of water leaks, reducing water waste. The systems improve resource management, saving costs on manual inspections and minimizing infrastructure damage. A 38% leak reduction in municipal water networks has been reported.
Goal: Repairing of difficult-to-reach pipelines with specialized tools and equipment such as welding, coating or applying repair materials to the pipeline surface
Method: Use of advanced navigation systems and stabilizing mechanisms to ensure precise positioning and maneuverability during repair operations.
Goal: Streamlining the construction process and centralizing all relevant project information (architectural designs, engineering data, material specifications)
Method: Development of software allowing 3D building plans visualization and scenario simulation and use of IoT sensors and AI & ML to collect data, optimize building performance and energy efficiency
Why is it needed?
Climate change is leading to scarcity of critical resources, resulting in the increasing need to enable more sustainable and efficient design to reduce waste and resource consumption and to enhance energy efficiency.
How does it work?
Digital twin technology works by creating a virtual replica of a physical object or system (e.g., factories, buildings, and products). It is bidirectionally connected through sensors to transmit data from the real-world counterpart. Together with Al and advanced algorithms, data is then structured in a virtual model that can be used for simulation, analysis, and real-time monitoring, providing valuable insights that can be used to automatically optimize performance, reduce waste, and so on. (Read more about digital twins in the 2023 ADL Blue Shift Report:"The Industrial Metaverse.")
What is the impact?
Digital twins are helping businesses analyze, optimize, and reduce energy consumption, manage waste data, enable proactive maintenance, and evaluate building resilience to climate risks. Future development to cover entire supply and manufacturing chains could significantly improve business resilience.
Goal: Reducing the amount of material waste and machining time in manufacturing processes
Method: Shaping of materials as closely as possible to the final product, using advanced manufacturing technologies such as additive manufacturing (3D printing) or precision machining
Goal: TBD
Method: TBD
Goal: Anticipating and preventing equipment failures before they occur to minimize downtime
Method: Analysis of real-time data from IoT sensors installed on machinery and use of AI & ML algorithms to identify patterns or anomalies and generate alerts to guide maintenance activities
Why is it needed?
As climate change disrupts business operations (e.g., material scarcity, delivery delays), production costs are increasing, making it more expensive for end customers. Consisting of distinct components, modular products are considered an important enabler for delivering customized products competitively and extending their lifecycle by enabling second-hand sales through customization.
How does it work?
Modular design is a design strategy that splits a system into smaller modules that can be independently developed, modified, replaced, or exchanged. Each modular component is designed to be easy to assemble/disassemble due to fewer number of parts, the incorporation of fasteners to eliminate the need for screws and bolts, and standardized and interchangeable components.
What is the impact?
Modular products allow companies to offer customers a wide range of options without hindering production efficiency. For instance, the MQB platform enables Volkswagen to offer various powertrain options, including petrol, diesel, CNG, electric, and plug in hybrid systems within the same model from Polo to SUV.
Goal: Reducing ambient temperatures in indoor or outdoor environments
Method: Emission of thermal radiation from a surface towards the cold outer space, allowing heat to escape and lowering the temperature of the surroundings
Goal: Maintaining optimal comfort levels and optimizing energy consumption
Method: Continuously monitoring of indoor temperature via sensors to adjust HVAC1 settings accordingly and use of IoT to enable remote monitoring and control
Goal: Providing timely alerts in case of risk of extreme weather events allowing for proactive measures
Method: Use of a combination of technologies, including IoT sensors, AI algorithms, and data analytics to monitor environmental conditions, detect anomalies, and issue warnings
Goal: Protecting coastal regions from erosion and floodings and capturing carbon while supporting biodiversity
Method: Their dense root systems act as natural barriers against storm surges and rising sea levels
Goal: Protecting coastal regions from erosion and floodings and filtering water while supporting biodiversity
Method: Their vegetation and soil act as natural buffers against flooding and purify water
Goal: Reforesting large areas by autonomously dropping seeds in precise locations, especially in remote and challenging terrains
Method: Use of drones to scan terrains, develop 3D maps, create planting algorithms and dispense seed pods at precise locations
Why is it needed?
As climate change leads to more frequent and severe weather events, such as heavy rainfall and storms, the risk of flooding has increased. Bio-dikes offer a sustainable and low-cost alternative to mitigate these risks and protect communities.
How does it work?
Bio-dikes are constructed using locally sourced materials, such as sand, rocks, soil, shrubs, and bamboo. Principles include maintaining an adequate riverbank slope and building a dike along that slope and length of the river using bamboo. The dike is then filled with sandbags and covered with fertile soil to provide a basis for vegetation.
What is the impact?
By acting as natural barriers, bio-dikes help absorb wave energy, stabilize shorelines, and reduce the risk of flooding and property damage.
Goal: Enhancing coastal resilience and providing habitat for marine life
Method: Use of innovative casting techniques and materials to create structures imitating natural reefs and eco-friendly withstanding harsh marine conditions and promote biodiversity
Why is it needed?
Raisable floodgates provide a way to protect coastal areas from flooding due to sea level rise and extreme weather events. As sea levels continue to rise, coastal areas are becoming more vulnerable to flooding, which can cause significant damage to infrastructure and communities.
How does it work?
There are different types of floodgates, some of which provide a barrier, directly in the sea, that prevents water from entering coastal areas during high tides or storm surges. The floodgates are designed to be raised and lowered as needed, allowing water to flow through when it is safe to do so and providing a barrier when necessary. The floodgates can be operated manually or automatically, depending on the design.
What is the impact?
Raisable floodgates protect infrastructure and communities from damage, reducing economic and social costs of climate change impacts as well as improving resilience of coastal areas.
Goal: Enhancing the resilience of industrial assets against climate-related hazards (extreme weather events, corrosion, degradation) and reducing maintenance costs
Method: Engineered polymers and composites offering superior strength, durability and corrosion resistance (FRP1, self-healing concrete, insulating concrete)
Goal: Enhance durability, energy efficiency, and resilience against increasing environmental challenges
Method: Use of nanotechnology, chemical formulations, and surface treatments, to create protective barriers, reflect or absorb solar radiation, repel water, and resist corrosion
Goal: Stabilizing soil and preventing erosion on slopes and disturbed landscapes, particularly in areas prone to heavy rainfall or flooding
Method: Blanket made of biodegradable or synthetic materials which is placed directly onto the soil surface and can also incorporate seeds and fertilizers
Why is it needed?
Climate change is triggering an increased frequency of natural disasters (e.g., seismic events, heat waves) that could severely damage infrastructures. SMA can help enhance structural resilience and adaptability by integrating self-repairing capabilities into infrastructures and thermal comfort by dynamically adjusting a building's configuration in response to temperatures changes.
How does it work?
SMA uses a phenomenon called the "shape memory effect," where it can undergo reversible deformation when subjected to temperature changes. At temperatures below the transformation temperature (martensite form), SMA can be deformed. When heated above this temperature, SMA can return to its original shape, "remembering" its initial (austenite) form.
What is the impact?
SMA offers a material-driven design approach that contributes to sustainable building practices and reduces the energy consumption required for climatization. Examples of SMAs include nickel-titanium, copper-aluminum-nickel, and iron-manganese-silicon.
Goal: Reducing stormwater runoff and flooding, replenishing groundwater, and improving water quality through natural filtration processes
Method: Infiltration of water through the surface into underlying layers of soil or aggregate, where it is stored or gradually released into the ground or nearby drainage systems
Why is it needed?
Climate change poses significant challenges to agriculture worldwide, with Asian and African farmers being particularly vulnerable. From erratic weather patterns to severe events like floods, droughts, and storms, farmers face multiple challenges in safeguarding their livelihoods.
How does it work?
Traditional insurance models often fall short in adequately addressing the unique risks farmers face. High operational costs (partly due to in-farm nature of assessing damages) often lead to unaffordable premium rates and drawn-out claims assessment processes. Parametric insurance models offer an alternative approach that delivers swift payouts based on predefined triggers, such as rainfall levels or wind speeds, eliminating the need for time-consuming claims assessments.
What is the impact?
By providing rapid payouts, parametric insurance helps farmers bounce back from weather-related losses and invest in resilient farming practices. It has the potential to act as a catalyst for increasing access to finance and could act as a de-risking instrument for crop loans and make the small-scale farmer segment more attractive for financial institutions.
Goal: Providing financial protection to issuers against the risks associated with extreme weather events
Method: Transfer of the risk of specified catastrophic events from the issuer to investors in the capital markets
Goal: Providing reliable, sustainable and clean energy in disaster-affected areas
Method: Integration of renewable energy sources along with advanced battery storage systems to be able to distribute electricity when needed
Goal: Providing essential communication services to affected areas where terrestrial infrastructure has been disrupted
Method: Use of radio frequency technology to transmit signals between ground stations and satellite terminals, allowing users to access voice, data, and internet services
Why is it needed?
Beach nourishment vessels help replenish sand on eroded beaches, providing protection against storm surges and preserving coastal ecosystems and infrastructure.
How does it work?
Dredgers collect sand from the seabed and deposit it either through floating and submerged pipelines, rainbowing, or offloading through the vessel bottom.
What is the impact?
By maintaining healthy beaches and protecting coastal communities from erosion and storm damage, beach nourishment vessels contribute to the preservation of valuable coastal assets and attractions. This, in turn, supports property values along the coast as well as local economies dependent on tourism.
Why is it needed?
As climate change events, such as floods, sea level rise, and heat waves, affect areas where companies have their production and/or manufacturing sites, there is a growing need for companies to make informed decisions about where to relocate assets and infrastructure to be less vulnerable to climate change events.
How does it work?
GIS works by collecting, storing, analyzing, and visualizing spatial data. The data is collected from a variety of sources, including satellite imagery, aerial photography, and ground-based sensors. GIS software allows users to overlay different layers of data, such as land use, population density, and climate projections, to identify patterns and relationships that can inform decision-making. GIS capabilities are now significantly augmented by computer vision for image analysis and machine learning for pattern recognition across a broad range of variables.
What is the impact?
By using GIS technology, companies can make better-informed decisions about where to relocate assets and infrastructure, reducing the risk of damage from climate change impacts. GIS can also help identify areas that are vulnerable to climate change, allowing for targeted adaptation measures to be implemented.
Goal: Understanding and anticipating evolving consumer preferences and behaviors
Method: Development of AI algorithms to analyze large volumes of social media data, identifying patterns, sentiments and emerging trends that can inform business
Why is it needed?
In the face of climate change and evolving consumer preferences, the strategic deployment of Al-enabled generative design solutions is a pivotal tool for companies seeking to drive sustainable innovation and remain responsive to the changing market landscape. GenAl can drive innovation, especially by considering multiple adjacent combinations or unusual design options at low cost and high speed.
How does it work?
GenAl utilizes advanced algorithms and ML techniques to generate new content, such as images, text, or product designs. It involves analyzing large data sets of consumer preferences, market trends, and product attributes to identify patterns and develop sophisticated algorithms generating new designs or features. Feedback from consumers and stakeholders is incorporated into the generative Al system to refine and improve the generated products over time. (Read more about digital twins in the 2023 ADL Blue Shift Report, "Generative Artificial Intelligence: Toward a New Civilization?")
What is the impact?
It helps businesses be more agile and enables the development of new and differentiated products to position them as leaders in the transition.
Goal: Promoting circular economy principles by extending the lifespan of products, reducing waste, and minimizing the demand for new resources
Method: Design of online marketplaces leveraging e-commerce platforms, mobile apps, and data analytics to facilitate transactions, streamline inventory management, and connect buyers with sellers
Goal: Reducing waste and supporting transition towards a circular economy
Method: Development of techniques such as bioplastic films, edible or mushrooms packaging, biodegradable coatings, nanotechnologies...
Goal: Enhancing the shopping experience by allowing customers to visualize & personalize products (clothing, furniture placement...)
Method: Overlay of digital information using cameras and sensors in smartphones or AR glasses onto the real world, allowing customers to visualize and interact products in their environment
Goal: Creating immersive experiences that allow customers to browse products, interact with sellers, participate in demonstrations without the need for physical interactions and travel
Method: Generation of realistic 3D environments (offices, stores...) that users can navigate and interact with using specialized headsets, controllers, and motion tracking systems
Goal: Providing a decentralized and reliable financing solutions for money transfers across borders and securing the transparency & traceability of transactions
Method: Use of biometric authentication, PIN codes to allow transaction and integration of blockchain that can be pre-loaded onto mobile wallets or wearable devices
Goal: Providing transparency and accountability for end customers throughout the entire supply chain, to track their orders, monitor delivery status, and receive alerts about potential disruptions
Method: Use of RFID tags, barcodes, and GPS tracking, to collect and transmit data about the materials origin, production, movement, status...
Goal: Optimizing delivery routes and schedules for efficient and reliable transportation of goods
Method: Deployment of AI, sensor technologies, and connectivity solutions to interpret sensor data, make real-time decisions, and communicate with other vehicles and infrastructure elements
Why is it needed?
In the aftermath of a natural disaster, traditional banking services or transportation networks can be disrupted. Digital payment technologies can enhance the resilience of communities and businesses by offering a reliable means of transferring funds even when physical infrastructure is damaged or in the case of limited mobility or to reduce physical contact due to epidemics.
How does it work?
During and after disaster events, mobile wallets can be used to pay those affected and response workers. Due to limited opportunities to carry out physical identification verification, unique identification numbers can be created through interagency coordination to provide users access to the digital wallets and funds. Payment cards can be issued at a later date and integrated with the digital wallets.
What is the impact?
During the Ebola crisis, digitization reduced payment times from over one month to less than a week, ending payment-related strikes from response workers with the use of apps like MoMo and infrastructure provided by Africell. Cost savings result from the elimination of double payments, payment-related identity fraud, and reduction of costs associated with physical cash transportation and security.
Green Communities
The Green Communities projection — with its high consumer behavior shift and limited financial mechanisms — lends itself to community-led initiatives and nature-based solutions, with a particular focus on the food and beverage supply chain (see Figure 7).
Functional expectations & technologies
Table 3 shows functional expectations for adaptation and potential technologies to deliver on requirements across the source/make/ protect/sell categories in the Green Communities projection.
Lonely at the Top
The Lonely at the Top projection — with no consumer behavior shift and high competitive pressure — prioritizes tech-heavy solutions that enable productivity gains in heavily concentrated industries (see Figure 8).
Wild Green West
In the Wild Green West projection (with abundant financing for adaptation and little regulation), the doors are open to experimentation of all kinds, leading to a focus on less mature solutions with high perceived ROI (see Figure 9).
Challenges for Asian farmers
Asia, home to a significant portion of the world’s population, is highly dependent on agriculture for food security and economic stability. However, climate change poses a formidable threat to this vital sector. According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the region is particularly vulnerable, with the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events on the rise.[1] For instance, in Southeast Asia, where agriculture employs a substantial portion of the workforce, changing precipitation patterns and rising temperatures are disrupting traditional farming practices. The IPCC warns that by 2050, Southeast Asia’s agricultural yield could decrease by up to 30%, exacerbating food insecurity in the region.[2] In addition to yield losses, climate change also amplifies financial risks for farmers. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), over the last 30 years, an estimated $3.8 trillion worth of crops and livestock production has been lost due to disaster events, corresponding to an average loss of $123 billion per year.[3]
Parametric insurance: A lifeline for farmers
Traditional insurance models often fall short of adequately addressing the unique risks faced by farmers. High operational costs (partly due to the in-farm nature of assessing damages) often lead to unaffordable premium rates and drawn-out claims assessment processes. Parametric insurance models offer an alternative approach that delivers swift payouts based on predefined triggers, such as rainfall levels or wind speeds, eliminating the need for time-consuming claims assessments. This innovative insurance mechanism holds immense promise for Asian farmers.[4] By providing rapid payouts, parametric insurance helps farmers bounce back from weatherrelated losses and invest in resilient farming practices. Parametric insurance has the potential to act as a catalyst for increasing access to finance for Asian farmers. It could act as a de-risking instrument for crop loans and make the small-scale farmer segment more attractive to financial institutions.
Example: Agtuall parametric insurance adoption
Agtuall, an agricultural insurtech firm, has designed a data platform that streamlines the design, distribution, and administration of parametric insurance, thus making it accessible to small-scale farmers across the world. The platform integrates weather data, satellite imagery, and ML algorithms to accurately assess climate risks and customizes insurance products to suit farmers’ needs. Such data-driven approaches enhance the precision of risk assessment and facilitate a quicker design process for actuaries, thereby reducing time to market. Such an approach also enables crucial partnerships with input providers (seeds, fertilizers) and financial institutions (banks and micro-finance institutions) that act as key distribution partners. These partnerships reduce distribution costs and ultimately result in more affordable products for farmers. Since its launch in 2022, the Agtuall platform has been used to design products that have protected almost 50,000 farmers in countries such as India, Zambia, Tanzania, and Sudan.
Vikram Sarbajna is founder and CEO of Agtuall BV, a Dutch insurtech company dedicated to providing affordable risk coverage for small-scale farmers worldwide. Previously, Mr. Sarbajna worked at Rabobank, a leading food and agriculture bank. He holds a master’s degree in computer science from the Technical University of Delft.
Notes
- “Climate Change Impacts Severely Impede SDGs, Says ADB-UN Report.” ADB, 20 February 2024.
- Parry, M.L., et al. (eds.). “Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.” Cambridge University Press, 2007.
- “The Impact of Disasters on Agricultural and Food Security.” FAO, 2023.
- “How Agricultural Index Insurance Can Promote Risk Management and Resilience in Developing Countries.” University of California, Davis Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Markets, Risk & Resilience (MRR), accessed May 2024.
Don’t Look Up
In the Don’t Look Up projection (characterized by limited financing for adaptation and no consumer behavior shift), technology development is constrained, focusing on cheap ways to cope and adapt (see Figure 10).
Adaptation Surge
The Adaptation Surge projection — with strong competitive pressure, strong regulation, abundant financing, and massive customer behavior shift — sees most adaptation technologies flourish, particularly ones that require investment and the coordination of stakeholders. These technologies then compete among themselves, as illustrated by the complexity shown in Figure 11.
No-regret technologies
While future projections for adaptation are difficult to predict, some no-regret moves apply across industries, no matter which projection comes to pass. Three major functional expectations recur across projections: (1) climate-proofing your footprint, (2) protecting the workforce, and (3) preserving productivity, including efficiency and optimization. These are best addressed by implementing a selection of solutions, themselves enabled by general technological bricks and key capabilities (see Figure 12).
Functional expectations
As mentioned, three major functional expectations recur across projections:
- Climate-proofing — involves minimizing impacts on operations across the entire value chain, protecting assets but also securing key suppliers and routes (relevant for the protect and source challenges).
- Protecting the workforce — almost always involves shielding employees from future heat waves (more rarely from cold) by controlling temperatures in working environments or by robotizing tasks. It also includes, more broadly, securing decent work conditions, expertise, and schedules despite rising temperatures and risks (relevant for the make challenge).
- Preserving productivity — often hinges on two key resources: power and water. Both must be used efficiently. While alternative energy sources and innovation in distribution may help maintain access to power, the lack of fresh water is much harder to remedy, hence the critical nature of waterefficiency systems. Soil health is also key for preserving agrifood productivity.
Capabilities
Meeting these functional expectations requires businesses to develop the necessary underlying capabilities to underpin climate adaptation:
- Data science. Deep learning expertise will be critical to accurately predicting local climate phenomena and quantifying their impact. - Design for scarcity. Because technology on its own rarely suffices to solve an adaptation challenge, the ability to design solutions in a resource-constrained environment is key (e.g., redesigning airflow within a building).
- Nimble risk assessment. Risk assessment for climate adaptation involves significant uncertainty, hence the importance of flexibility in risk assessment methodologies, including a focus on dynamic sensing and responding approaches. Data science and AI expertise are also highly relevant.
- Local partnerships. Responses to climate impacts require solutions tailored to the local environment, often best supplied by local providers. The ability to identify partners and contract locally is key to an effective, timely, and affordable response.
Enabling technological bricks
Sensing technologies, digital twin simulation, and deep learning are all key enabling technological bricks of no-regret solutions:
- Sensing technologies, including IoT and remote sensing, allow for the precise and granular measurements of key metrics (e.g., humidity, pressure, or smoke for advanced warning systems, leaks and water pressure for water efficiency)
- IoT
- Technology. Sensors collecting data on a hyper-local scale, including humidity, temperature, vibrations, and exposure to light and wind, provide a nuanced understanding of climate impacts and underpin a nuanced response. Growth of low-energy connectivity protocols (including long range [LoRa]) and 5G make IoT increasingly attractive.
- Maturity (TRL 9 — system proven in operational environment). Enables data collection for precision agriculture, including precision irrigation, monitoring of leaks in water distribution systems, and follow-up of geological risks to machines in factories. Also allows for productivity gains via the monitoring of resource spend in agriculture, manufacturing, and logistics.
- Future developments. Minimally intrusive sensors fully tailored to the data needs of specific uses (e.g., vineyards); affordable international connectivity.
- Remote sensing
- Technology. LiDAR is a method for detecting distant objects and determining their position, velocity, or other characteristics by analyzing pulsed laser light reflected from the object to the receiver.
- Maturity (TRL 9 — system proven in operational environment). LiDAR systems are particularly helpful in creating real-time, high-resolution 3D maps or point clouds of local environments, with multiple applications for climate adaptation, including forest monitoring and fire prevention, surveys of elevation and exposure in agriculture, or the generation of digital twins for construction sites.
- Future developments. Lower costs, higher resolution, and longer ranges are expected with the development of new iterations such as solid-state LiDAR and MEMS LiDAR.
- Digital twins enable a large range of simulation use cases by summarizing and visualizing (e.g., assessing climate impacts on a locality to help with asset localization, modeling of full industrial systems to calibrate the amount of resources needed, or prediction of possible paths of a storm)[22]
- Technology. Digital twins are 360-degree virtual models representing an end-to-end real-world industrial system, including variables outside the company.
- Maturity (TRL 8 — system complete and qualified). Enables supply chain optimization and firm-wide adaptation risk simulations. Also allows for productivity gains and non-climate risk mitigation.
- Future developments. GenAI and advances in computing power will allow systems to simulate more possible futures based on existing ones.
- Deep learning (specifically GNNs) enables a vast range of applications in meteorological prediction (e.g., real-time prediction), robotics (e.g., drone swarms), and more broadly a vast range of optimization problems (including resource efficiency)
- Technology. Traditional physics-based models, which solve the equations underlying meteorological phenomena, are proving slow and computationally intensive. Multilayered ML models are used to augment those, notably by correcting identified biases in physical models (e.g., the direction in which storms tend to move). Some GNNs, such as Google GraphCast, boast +90% prediction accuracy versus traditional approaches.
- Maturity (TRL 9 for DNN augmentation, TRL 6 for fully AI-powered forecasts). Enables real-time forecasting, localization of regional forecasts, and physics model bias correction.
- Future developments. Increasing computing power and AI-generated training data sets are expected to fuel improved performance.
- IoT
No-regret adaptation solutions
No-regret adaptation solutions are already available off-the-shelf, mature, or maturing fast and are likely to become broadly implemented. Among the many potential candidate technologies, we highlight advanced warning systems, GIS for asset location, thermal comfort systems, robots and drones, and water-efficiency systems as particularly important:
Advanced warning systems
- Sophisticated climate models, occasionally augmented by neural networks, to identify patterns and trends and predict future events
- Real-time monitoring of weather conditions, such as temperature, precipitation, and wind speed to provide up-to-date information on potential weather hazards (e.g., via IoT sensors)
- Communication and outreach efforts to inform the public and relevant stakeholders
GIS for asset location
- Climate risk and topography assessment, providing the ability to identify lower-risk areas by analyzing climate hazards, elevation, and topography data
- Infrastructure and land use analysis, evaluating infrastructure vulnerability and land-use patterns
- Integrated resource management (e.g., integrated coastal zone management, watershed management)
- Proximity and demographic insights, resource access, transportation networks, and local community impacts
- Scenario modeling and forecasting
“We now conduct much more in-depth climate risk analysis on our greenfield and brownfield developments.” — Head of Research & Innovation, Food and Beverage Group
Thermal comfort systems
- Designing buildings for optimal temperature, including exposure to light and airflow, aided by advanced materials (e.g., isolation and reflecting surfaces)
- Redesigning processes for heat, such as using electric power
- Cooling systems, including AC, cold/heat pumps, and cooling reservoirs, if energy efficient and based on renewable energy sources
- Nature-based solutions, such as trees in city centers to avoid heat islands, green walls, and so on
“We have AC cabins or AC workshops in place, but we are also considering adapting our times of operation and automating new parts of the process. Solutions will be decided locally, based on ‘good practices’ shared by the Group.” — Pascal Eveillard, Director of Sustainable Business Development, Saint-Gobain
Robots & drones
- Drones for aerial imaging and data collection
- Drones and autonomous marine vehicles (AMV) to perform large-scale agricultural tasks, including seeding forests and mangroves or distributing pesticides
- Drones and AMV to perform maintenance of hard-to-reach assets or in perilous climate conditions
- Automation/robotization of multiple manufacturing tasks to prevent worker exposure to heat and other climate-induced hazards
“I believe drones in agriculture and reforestation will be absolutely huge.” — Henri Seydoux, CEO, Parrot
Water-efficiency systems
- Closed-loop and semi-closed-loop water recycling systems
- Reverse osmosis–based filtering systems, particularly for making water fit for new uses within a plant (e.g., from reagent to cooling), are still the most effective industrial water cleaning method despite being energy-intensive, requiring high maintenance, and producing waste
- Nature-based solutions, such as wetlands for drinking water filtration
“In the context of our 2030 sustainability program, we have changed our processes to use more concentrated water solutions, and we also work on less water-consuming technologies like MVR as an example. In particular, we are looking to reuse purified water, including for cooling machines.” — Virginie Dubois, Executive Vice President Research & Development, Roquette
Capabilities
To support the above, businesses will need to develop, or have access to, some key underlying capabilities, including:
- Data science. Deep learning expertise will be critical to accurately predicting local climate phenomena and quantifying their impact.
- Design for scarcity. Because technology on its own rarely suffices to solve an adaptation challenge, the ability to design solutions in a resource-constrained environment is key (e.g., redesigning airflow within a building).
- Nimble risk assessment. Risk assessment for climate adaptation involves significant uncertainty, hence the importance of flexibility in risk assessment methodologies, including a focus on dynamic sensing and responding approaches. Data science and AI expertise are also highly relevant.
- Local partnerships. Responses to climate impacts require solutions tailored to the local environment and are often best supplied by local providers. The ability to identify partners and contract locally is key to an effective, timely, and affordable response.
- Understanding complex systems. A complex system is a system composed of many interacting units showing emergent properties that cannot be understood in terms of the properties of the individual isolated components. Ultimately, climate is a complex system, and modeling its impacts at the local level is critical to a nuanced and effective adaptation strategy. Neural networks have proven apt and fast at pattern identification and prediction among large arrays of data points and considerable complexity. Yet they are limited insofar as they can only learn from the past, and we have only one past to offer for training, which is insufficient. Moreover, the future climate impacts we seek to model are not contained in that past: there will likely be multiple butterfly effects and uncertainties in every possible future. Neural networks need to learn from a large array of plausible situations. Digital twins of a company, ecosystem, or city can be used, with GenAI, to simulate the multiple training representations needed for a comprehensive training set. Complex systems allow us to disentangle the relationships between seemingly contradictory goals, such as carbon neutrality objectives and profitability. In our view, this is perhaps the most fundamental capability of all if we are to address climate adaptation effectively.
“Complex systems are particularly suited to addressing supply chain disruptions due to unforeseen events, such as a halt to traffic in the Suez or Panama Canal.” — Michel Morvan, Cofounder & Executive Chairman, Cosmo Tech