The Climate Change KPI measures the temperature deviation at a monitored site relative to the 1961--1990 WMO climatological baseline. The value is expressed as a delta in degrees Celsius: the difference between the mean temperature of the last three years and the 30-year reference period. It directly quantifies the local signal of global warming at the site level.
This KPI is inverted: a higher warming delta indicates worse ecological conditions. The Paris Agreement targets (+1.5 °C and +2.0 °C) provide the interpretation thresholds used to assign quality grades A through E.
ESRS alignment: E1-1, ESRS 2 IRO-1, AR 11.
The primary delta is computed as the difference between the site's recent mean temperature and the historical climatological average:
where = mean temperature over the most recent three years (°C), = mean temperature over the WMO 1961--1990 reference period (°C)
Three additional multi-window comparisons are displayed alongside the main value:
where = 3, 10, or 50 years
These deltas show the rate of change across different time horizons, revealing whether warming is accelerating.
Data are sourced from Open-Meteo Historical Weather (ERA5-Land) at approximately 10 km spatial resolution, covering the period from 1940 to the present.
Gauge. A semicircular arc gauge displaying the site's warming delta relative to the 1961--1990 baseline, color-coded by quality grade.
Purpose: Answers "How much has this site warmed compared to the pre-industrial reference?" and how that warming accelerates across three time horizons.
Description: The component is divided into two panels. The left panel shows three delta comparison rows -- change vs. 3 years ago, vs. 10 years ago, and vs. 50 years ago -- each with a colored badge indicating the delta magnitude. The right panel contains the circular gauge arc, which spans from 0 °C (A, excellent) on the left to 2.5 °C (E, critical) on the right. The current warming delta is displayed in large text at the center of the arc (e.g., "+2.7 °C"), and a quality grade badge (A--E) is shown above it. A data source badge ("Open-Meteo") and a tooltip with the full legend are accessible from the card header.
1.3°CClimate Change
How it's calculated: The gauge center value is the warming delta: current 3-year mean temperature minus the 1961--1990 baseline mean. The arc position and badge color are determined by mapping the absolute value of the delta to the quality ranges. Each delta row compares the current 3-year mean against the triennium centered 3, 10, or 50 years ago.
Note: This indicator is inverted -- lower values indicate better conditions.
Legend:
| Level | Range (°C delta) | Color | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| A (Excellent) | 0 -- 0.5 | ■ #00A67A | Negligible warming; climate substantially stable |
| B (Good) | 0.5 -- 1.0 | ■ #00DF80 | Mild warming, within natural variability |
| C (Moderate) | 1.0 -- 1.5 | ■ #FFD21E | Significant warming; approaching Paris 1.5 °C target |
| D (Poor) | 1.5 -- 2.0 | ■ #FF8B16 | Paris 1.5 °C target exceeded |
| E (Critical) | 2.0 -- 2.5 | ■ #FF367F | Beyond Paris 2.0 °C target; severe impacts expected |
Interpretation example:
If the gauge shows +1.3 °C (grade C, yellow) with delta rows of +0.2 °C vs 3 years, +0.5 °C vs 10 years, and +1.1 °C vs 50 years, the site is warming with acceleration -- the rate of change has increased over longer time horizons, indicating a sustained warming trend rather than a temporary anomaly.
Highlights Card. A compact risk card in the Highlights section showing the climate change score for the site (ROI) and its control area (CA) using a 1--5 icon scale.
Purpose: Provides a quick visual comparison of climate change pressure between the monitored site and its control area at a glance.
Description: The card displays the "E1 | Microclimate" topic label at the top, followed by the card title "Climate change". Two rows of up to five Climate Change icons (a custom SVG with a red filter for the "risk" category) represent the score: the first row for the site, the second for the control area. Filled icons correspond to the numeric score on the 1--5 scale.
How it's calculated: The site score (ROI) and control score (CA) are derived from the warming delta converted to the 1--5 scale. More icons filled = higher warming exposure.
Interpretation example:
If the site row shows 4 out of 5 icons filled and the control shows 2 out of 5, the site is experiencing significantly greater climate change pressure than its surrounding landscape context.
Highlights Card. A KPI counter card in the Overview Risk Overview slider that shows how many monitored sites exceed the 1.5 °C warming threshold.
Purpose: Gives portfolio managers an immediate view of how many sites are affected by above-average climate change impacts across their entire portfolio.
Description: The card displays the label "Number of sites with above-average climate change" and shows a count in the format "X / Y sites". A tooltip explains: "Number of sites located in areas experiencing climate change impacts more intense than the global average of 1.5 degrees Celsius."
How it's calculated: Each site is flagged if its warming delta exceeds the Paris Agreement 1.5 °C threshold. The counter sums all flagged sites across the portfolio.
Interpretation example:
If the card shows "5 / 12 sites", it means 5 out of 12 monitored sites are located in areas with warming that exceeds the 1.5 °C Paris Agreement target.
Highlights Card. A sub-component within the MSA (Mean Species Abundance) Featured breakdown that shows the MSA Climate Change pressure score for the site and control area.
Purpose: Isolates the contribution of climate change as a pressure driver to the overall biodiversity impact score, enabling comparison between site and control.
Description: In the MSA breakdown chart, "Climate change" appears as one of several pressure categories (alongside land use, fragmentation, etc.). The sub-bar or card shows the MSA climate change value for the site and for the control. The label "Climate change" appears in the MSA breakdown legend.
How it's calculated: The MSA Climate Change score quantifies the reduction in mean species abundance attributable to climate change pressure at the site location, derived from global MSA model outputs. Values are displayed alongside benchmark references.
Interpretation example:
If the site MSA CC score is 0.82 and the control is 0.91, climate change pressure is reducing local biodiversity by approximately 18% compared to a fully intact reference, and more so than the control landscape.
Highlights Card. A risk tab card in the dedicated Climate Risks page that shows the projected climate change risk level for the site under multiple IPCC SSP emissions scenarios.
Purpose: Shows how the combined temperature and precipitation change trajectory at the site is projected to develop through 2100 under low, moderate, and high emissions scenarios.
Description: The tab contains a result card with an amber top-border accent and a "Climate Change" title. The card displays: a risk rank badge (Very Low to Very High), a numeric score ("X.X / 4"), and a heatmap grid with SSP scenarios as rows (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5/SSP3-7.0, SSP5-8.5) and projection years as columns (2030, 2050, 2070, 2100), where cells are colored by risk level. An expandable detail modal contains a half-circle gauge (0--4 scale), a timeline line chart with three scenario trajectories, and a variables table showing "Annual mean temperature" (°C) and "Precipitation anomaly" (%) sub-indicators.
How it's calculated: Risk levels are computed from Copernicus CMIP6 climate projections, combining temperature trend and precipitation anomaly into a compound risk index normalized to 0--4. This is a separate metric from the assessment KPI -- it uses CMIP6 model projections rather than Open-Meteo historical data.
Legend:
| Level | Range | Color | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| a (Very Low) | 0 -- 1 | ■ #34d399 | Minimal climate risk; conditions remain stable |
| b (Low) | 0 -- 1 | ■ #34d399 | Low risk trajectory across scenarios |
| c (Moderate) | 1 -- 2 | ■ #fbbf24 | Moderate risk; noticeable climate shifts expected |
| d (High) | 2 -- 3 | ■ #f97316 | High risk; significant temperature and/or precipitation changes |
| e (Very High) | 3 -- 4 | ■ #ef4444 | Very high risk; severe climate impacts projected |
Interpretation example:
If SSP5-8.5 shows level 3.2 by 2100 (red cell) with a temperature trend of +3.8 °C and precipitation anomaly of -18%, the site faces extreme combined climate risk under a high-emissions scenario, while SSP1-2.6 remains at level 1.5 (amber) -- a strong argument for emissions mitigation at portfolio level.
Highlights Card. The climate change risk tab within the Risks & Opportunities page, providing the same risk projection content (spider chart axis, result card, heatmap, detail modal) as the dedicated Risks > Climate page.
Purpose: Integrates climate change risk alongside other risk and opportunity dimensions in the consolidated assessment view.
Description: A tab trigger labeled "Climate change" activates a content panel identical to the risk card described in the Risks > Climate section above. The climate change axis also appears in the combined risk spider chart alongside other risk categories.
How it's calculated: Same methodology as the Risks > Climate card above (CMIP6 compound risk index).
Interpretation example:
If the spider chart shows the climate change axis extending further than other risk types, climate change is the dominant risk factor for the site relative to other assessed risks.
| Source | Provider | Coverage | Resolution | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open-Meteo Historical Weather (ERA5-Land) | Open-Meteo | Global | ~10 km | 1940 -- present |
| CMIP6 Climate Projections | Copernicus Climate Change Service / WCRP | Global | ~100 km | 2030--2100, SSP1-2.6 / SSP2-4.5 / SSP3-7.0 / SSP5-8.5 |
The warming delta is computed from ERA5-Land reanalysis data at ~9 km (0.1° x 0.1°) resolution. The pipeline retrieves the daily mean 2-meter temperature for the site coordinates, aggregates to annual means, and computes the 3-year running average for both the current period and the 1961--1990 baseline.
The primary delta is the arithmetic difference between the current 3-year mean and the 30-year baseline mean. Multi-window deltas (vs. 3, 10, 50 years) use the same 3-year averaging window centered on the comparison period.
Quality grades map the absolute delta to five bands: A (0--0.5 °C), B (0.5--1.0 °C), C (1.0--1.5 °C), D (1.5--2.0 °C), E (2.0--2.5 °C). These bands are aligned with the Paris Agreement thresholds.
The climate change risk metric (Risks pages) is a separate calculation using CMIP6 multi-model ensemble projections at ~100 km resolution. It combines temperature trend and precipitation anomaly into a compound risk index normalized to a 0--4 scale across four SSP scenarios and four time horizons (2030, 2050, 2070, 2100).