Telescope uses several terms from climate science, risk management, and EU regulation. This glossary explains the most important ones in plain language.
Climate risk terms
Climate-related hazard: A natural event or trend that could cause harm, such as floods, landslides, heat waves, or storms. Climate change can alter how often these events happen, how severe they are, and how long they last.
Exposure: Whether a property is located in an area that could be affected by a hazard. For example, a building near a river may be exposed to flooding. Exposure does not mean something will happen, only that it could under certain conditions.
Exposure level: Each hazard is shown with a level: not exposed, very low, low, medium, high, or very high. This reflects how much of the hazard zone overlaps with the property location based on available data.
Sensitivity: How strongly a property or system is affected by a hazard. Two buildings in the same flood zone may have different sensitivity depending on construction, elevation, or function.
Vulnerability: The combination of exposure and sensitivity. A property that is both highly exposed and highly sensitive is more vulnerable than one where only one factor is present.
Climate risk score: A number from 0 to 10 that summarizes the overall climate risk for a property. Higher scores mean greater exposure. The score weighs serious hazards more heavily and is grounded in historical insurance claim data.
Physical climate risk: The risk of financial loss or damage from climate-related natural hazards (flooding, storms, heat, landslides, and so on).
Transition risk: The risk of financial impact from the shift to a low-carbon economy. This includes regulatory changes, market shifts, and reputational factors related to sustainability.
Nature and biodiversity risk: Environmental risks that may affect property value or regulatory compliance, related to ecosystems and biodiversity.
Regulatory terms
EU Taxonomy: The EU classification system that defines which economic activities are considered environmentally sustainable. Telescope helps assess alignment with the taxonomy's climate adaptation criteria.
CRVA (climate risk and vulnerability assessment): A structured process for identifying, analyzing, and evaluating climate-related risks to a property. Required under the EU Taxonomy for climate adaptation.
DNSH (do no significant harm): A principle under the EU Taxonomy that requires an activity to not significantly harm any of the six environmental objectives while contributing to at least one.
EBA (European Banking Authority): Sets guidelines for how banks should manage and report on climate and environmental risks in their lending and investment portfolios.
CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive): EU directive that requires large companies to report on sustainability, including climate risk exposure.
PCAF (Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials): A global standard for financial institutions to measure and report the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their loans and investments.
Data terms
Matrikkel: The Norwegian property register. Each property has a unique matrikkel number consisting of municipality number, cadastral unit number (gårdsnummer), and title number (bruksnummer).
No data: When a screening result shows "no data" for a hazard, it means the external data source does not have coverage for that location or hazard. It does not mean there is no risk, only that the data is unavailable.
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