Climate Data Gap Threatens Global Safety Net

Governments and businesses lack a shared system to track climate risks, and experts warn this gap leaves the world unprepared for worsening disasters. Climate risk intelligence is data and analysis that shows where and when climate hazards—such as floods, heatwaves, and storms—are likely to strike, and who will be affected. Today, this information is scattered. Wealthy countries collect detailed data. Poorer nations often do not. Companies guard their own findings. No single global system connects the pieces. The result: decision-makers act on incomplete pictures. Insurers misprice risk. Cities build in dangerous zones. Aid groups arrive late. Experts say a global safety net for climate-risk intelligence is urgently needed. Such a network would share data across borders, standardize how risks are measured, and give every country access to the same basic warnings. Without it, they warn, the costs of climate change will keep rising—and the most vulnerable will pay the highest price.