Finance and insurance | ESA Space Solutions

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SPACE FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES

Space data solutions to advance financial decision-making

The financial sector is a key driver of the transition to a sustainable economy. However, unprecedented challenges around cyber security, access to climate and nature-related data, regulatory compliance and accessing under-served markets hinder progress.

Digital solutions which harness the power of space technology offer transformational potential in the face of such challenges. From delivering high-resolution and near real-time environmental intelligence to enabling transparent, traceable impact verification, space solutions are unlocking opportunities for new business models, reducing underwriting and investment risk and expanding access to finance where it is most needed.

ESA Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) is supporting innovations that drive transformational change for the financial services sector. We offer an enabling environment for building and piloting innovative solutions across different sectors and countries, facilitating the flow of capital to have an inclusive and sustainable impact for customers, end users and society.

Socio-economic Impact

Finance and insurance is forecasted to be the primary revenue segment of Earth observation value‑added services by 2030, with annual revenues of €900 million, representing 18% of the total market.(Compiled from EUSPA 2024 Downstream EO and GNSS market report).

Over the past ten years, BASS has been very active in these markets.

Challenges

ESA BASS is bringing significant benefit to the finance sector, supporting innovation since 2010. Activities are focused on the following areas:

Green Finance	ESG Reporting

Ensuring integrity of environmental credit and offset markets Verifying progress in line with sustainability-linked bond allocation Deforestation analysis, mitigation and restoration planning	Supporting framework and regulatory compliance Generating scoped emissions monitoring and reporting Verification of submitted disclosures
Climate Risk Assessment	Real Asset Monitoring

Modelling climate risks Future-proofing real asset investment Planning and implementation for climate resilience	Quantity surveying Increasing granularity of insurance pricing Portfolio mapping and visualisation
Commodity trading	Insurance

Stockpile estimation Activity and production monitoring Regional yield forecasting	Identifying damages post event Index production for parametric products Natural hazard modelling, including flood, drought and wind