New phase of collaboration announced between AXA Climate and satellite data firm

Planet Labs, a provider of data analytics, has extended its strategic cooperation with AXA Climate.

The collaboration provides satellite data-driven insights for the creation of parametric insurance products to help farmers protect themselves from the effects of drought.

Drought insurance from AXA Climate estimates crop productivity and losses. According to the companies, the parametric insurance product automatically triggers payouts within a few days of the conclusion of a risk period. Farmers, suppliers, processors, and other agricultural stakeholders can now receive compensation swiftly.

“With Planet’s unique satellite data, AXA Climate has been able to provide a high-quality index insurance coverage service for farmers and cooperatives,” AXA Climate CEO Antoine Denoix stated. “We can now act quickly to help farmers and stakeholders combat the major threat of drought to agriculture around the world.”

Planet Labs owns and manages the largest fleet of Earth observation satellites in the world, with about 200 currently in orbit. On an almost daily basis, the organization captures images of every land-based place on the planet, resulting in a large data set.

This is paired with publicly available satellite data to continually assess and quantify changes on the Earth’s surface, including soil moisture.

AXA Climate obtains a measurement of the volume of water contained in soil to a depth of around five centimeters via Planet’s Planetary Variables Soil Water Content data feed, according to Planet. This data assists AXA Climate in determining the risk of drought-related losses.

“These Planetary Variables provide accurate, daily, global measurements,” stated Will Marshall, CEO of Planet Labs. “AXA Climate is using our Soil Water Content variable to monitor soil moisture and then provide automatic payments if it falls below a certain percentage for a number of days.” This provides a significant service that can assist worldwide farmers in difficult situations. Abstracting essential measurables from satellite data enables our customers to achieve greater value, enabling new applications, and so enable more customers to benefit from Planet’s data.”

AXA Climate has added a new feature to its platform to help bridge ESG data gaps.Dan Bendavid was recently hired as AXA XL’s worldwide lead for innovation.