UK-based flood science specialist JBA Risk Management has extensively updated its global flood model, enhancing it with updated hazard maps and an expanded set of future climate events, while improving processing speed and risk classification.
These developments are designed to enable reinsurers, insurers, brokers, risk managers and asset managers to better map current and changing flood risk exposures and conduct transparent, fully auditable stress tests.
The model is based on the Oasis loss modeling framework and is accessible on multiple platforms including Oasis, Verisk Model Exchange and Elements from the Aon Impact Forecasting team, and can also be installed in-house or delivered as a custom portfolio analysis service by JBA flood experts.
The updated model includes maps for 17 major countries, including Hungary, Japan, China, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Poland, Slovakia, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, South Korea, and South Africa.
Additionally, the model incorporates newly available bare land digital terrain model data, updated hydrology consistent with JBA’s latest global methodology, updated land use information, and improved classification of riverine and surface water flood types, the company explained.
It also now includes eight CMIP6-based climate event sets, with a new 2080 timetable and two-hour clause, increasing flexibility in exploring how flood risk evolves. The model provides faster and more complete classification based on global building footprints and administrative boundary updates, illustrating evolving geopolitical changes.
When creating event sets for climate conditions, JBA’s scientifically robust approach applies change factors derived from global climate models to underlying hydrological time series to generate new events rather than scaling current events.
JBA says this approach varies event frequency, intensity and spatial consistency based on predicted climate signals, allowing a structured exploration of how flood risk evolves under different warming pathways.
The model’s new exposure decomposition framework improves placement within the building footprint, avoiding water bodies, parks and unsuitable land cover and enabling faster processing.
David Wood, Managing Director of Risk Management at JBA, commented: “The enhancements to our new global flood model, based on our market-leading flood maps, enable our clients around the world to fully understand their flood risk. They can now easily and quickly conduct ‘what if’ investigations based on their needs, understand the impact of various scenarios on their losses, and fully understand their personal and portfolio risk profiles.”
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