Explore CAST: 8 risks for industrial climate adaptation

The CAST (Climate Adaptation Support Tool) system was developed in the IRIS (Improve Resilience of Industry Sector) project, co-funded by the European LIFE program. The tool consists of a digital platform developed to respond to the growing need to address climate risks in a systematic and scientific manner, at a time when extreme events such as floods, heat waves, droughts and storms are becoming increasingly frequent and intense.

In particular, the project aims to improve industrial resilience through methods and solutions that can be transferred to all European Union (EU) countries thanks to its modular and flexible structure, promoting adaptation actions in synergy with environmental policies. Through concrete and operational support, IRIS aims to support companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which in recent years have been increasingly faced with extraordinary climate events that jeopardise production and facilities or compromise the functionality of local infrastructure.

Product functionality

CAST is a screening tool that helps companies assess their vulnerability to climate change risks and identify adaptation measures and evaluate their effectiveness. The main features of the tool include:

Geolocation of company production sites, with the option of associating the ATECO code and indicating membership of a specific cluster.
Collection of meteorological data for each site, based on historical events and forecasts obtained from the nearest weather station (ISPRA for Italy and IPCC for international stations). The parameters considered include temperatures (heat waves and cold spells), precipitation (floods, landslides, droughts) and wind speed.
Estimation of the probability of climate change-related meteorological events for each site, calculated using the IPCC’s “Significant Mitigation” RCP4.5 scenario.
Business risk assessment, CAST is able to consider the extent of the risk to company assets (integrity of assets, business continuity, etc.). The extent of the risk can be entered manually, imported from an external Excel file or pre-filled automatically based on the cluster to which it belongs or the ATECO code.
Visualisation of results using radar charts and other graphical representations that illustrate the current risk status for each company.
Management of adaptation actions, which can be entered manually, selected from a predefined list or pre-filled based on cluster membership.
Calculation of the effectiveness of adaptation actions, by comparing pre- and post-implementation results to assess the impact of the measures taken.
Data export and reporting, with the option to download a complete report in PDF format summarising all the risk analyses carried out, as well as exporting summary tables to Excel files.

CAST was tested in Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy, respectively at various companies in the provinces of Modena and Ferrara and by Carlsberg (beer supply chain) in the province of Varese. The tool is a web application capable of analysing risk by taking into account past weather events and future scenarios, allowing appropriate adaptation measures to be identified based on the company’s main vulnerabilities.

A climate change risk analysis was carried out for each cluster. Based on the risk analysis, a climate adaptation action plan was developed for each cluster. Financial/insurance mechanisms based on reward criteria for resilient companies or those belonging to resilient clusters were studied, and a web portal containing climate adaptation tools was created.

TerrAria was responsible for developing this tool and was also part of the Steering Committee.

Innovative features of the tool

In order to respond effectively and promptly to the challenges posed by climate change, it is essential to have rapid and reliable assessment tools. In this context, our tool stands out for a number of innovative features:

Rapid screening tool, which allows for quick assessment of risks and adaptation measures, supporting timely decisions and industrial resilience.
Broad coverage, CAST includes 5 extreme weather events, 8 categories of impact on commercial activities, 43 different sensitivity profiles by sector, 1 IPCC scenario and 3 time horizons.
High transferability, thanks to the use of global meteorological databases based on recognised sources such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the tool is applicable not only in Italy and Europe, but also worldwide.
Multilingual approach, the tool’s interface has been developed in both Italian and English in order to promote its dissemination and use in different countries.
Guided use: the user is guided step by step through the risk analysis process, meaning that the software can also be used by non-expert users.
Intuitive interfaces for both entering data to be processed and navigating results with tables, graphs, etc.
Open-source technologies, CAST’s development is based on open-source solutions, ensuring transparency, flexibility and the possibility of evolution over time.

Find out how the CAST tool can help you address the risks of climate change.

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👉 Write to us at: info@terraria.com