That is why EcoCyclus starts from the location of each asset, not from the country average. For each hazard it uses the closest data to the asset that exists (the point, the basin, a grid cell, the weather station or the nearest reference city); when only country data is available, it uses that and says so. In Latin America, where available data tends to be very coarse, that difference changes the conclusion.

Much as an insurer would, the platform estimates for each asset how much can be lost per year on average from each hazard (average annual loss). From that it assigns each hazard a rating from A to G.

For river and coastal flooding, the hazard is measured at the asset's point. For earthquake and wind, at the nearest reference city. For all four, damage is calculated with each asset's value, type and floor area.

For floods it also estimates how much would be lost in an extreme event, one with a 1 in 250 chance of occurring in any given year (probable maximum loss). When the available models disagree, the result shows that range instead of hiding it.

For extreme rainfall, there is still no reliable way to go from rainfall intensity to damage. Water stress, drought and wildfire, on the other hand, measure how exposed a place is, not how much damage it causes, and so they are not converted to money.

For both types of flooding, risk can also be compared with and without a protective structure, under the current climate. This is not available for earthquake and wind.

It also assesses transition risk (the impact of new regulations, carbon prices or market shifts) using the central banks' reference scenarios (NGFS). It is shown separately from physical risk, because adding them into a single number would produce a misleading figure.

On the same basis it runs a first-pass climate risk assessment of suppliers (an approximation, not an insurance calculation).

For projects pursuing LEED v5 certification, it produces the climate risk assessment report in the format the certifier requires. It covers part of the hazards LEED requires; the details are in How it works.

How risk is calculated, in “How it works”

It works like a bank statement: every balance is explained by its transactions, and an error is not erased, the correction is recorded. From any indicator you can reach the calculation, the factor used and the measured data. That lets an auditor, an investor or an external reviewer verify it.

In risk results, the platform states whether the model that produced them has been validated in that country; when it has not, it says so. A system that cannot show what is missing cannot prove what it has either.

• Correcting a data point does not delete the previous one. Both remain, and you can see which replaced which and when.
• If a formula changes, earlier results are still explained by the formula used at the time.
• A model validated in one country is not thereby validated in another, and the platform states this country by country.
• Each result states the method used to obtain it and the quality of its source data. Each organization's data is kept separate from everyone else's.

How traceability is built, in “How it works”

It calculates three groups of emissions: direct ones, such as what comes out of your stacks and vehicles (Scope 1); those from the electricity and energy you buy (Scope 2); and those from your value chain, such as what you buy from your suppliers (Scope 3; the inventory supports all 15 GHG Protocol categories). The same inventory is presented under the GHG Protocol or under ISO 14064-1, without redoing calculations.

Electricity emissions are calculated in two ways: based on the local power grid and based on the company's energy contract. Both are kept: the GHG Protocol requires reporting both, and other frameworks ask for one or the other.

From any number you can reach the calculation, the emission factor used (how much is emitted, for example, per liter of diesel or per kWh of electricity) and the measured data it came from.

The calculations do not use artificial intelligence: they work like a calculator. With the same data, the result is always the same and can be verified.

Standards, factors and inventory method, in “How it works”

It calculates a product's emissions from raw material extraction until it leaves the plant (“cradle to gate”), under ISO 14067. The footprint can be calculated from the same data as the company's inventory, and in that case the two numbers are consistent by design.

A supplier can publish its product's footprint and its customer can use it directly in its own calculation. If the supplier updates it, the customer sees that a new version is available.

It works like the nutrition label on a package: the customer sees the result, not the recipe. The customer never accesses the supplier's internal data, and the system guarantees this, not a usage rule.

For projects pursuing LEED v5 certification, it also calculates the emissions associated with the building's construction materials.

How the footprint network works, in “How it works”

Many companies must report under several standards: the European ones (ESRS), the most widely used global standard (GRI) and the international climate disclosure standard for investors (IFRS S2). The platform shows how much of each standard your report already covers and what is missing. Where ESRS and GRI ask for the same thing, the information is entered once and serves both.

The texts written for the report (policies, explanations) are stored with their change history and reused across standards.

It links indicators to the Sustainable Development Goals using GRI's official table, and assesses which activities could fall under the European Union's classification of sustainable activities (EU Taxonomy).

ESRS · GRI · IFRS S2 · EU Taxonomy Art. 8 · ISO 14064-1 · ISO 14067 · GRI 303 · ICMA GBP · EuGBS

How coverage is assessed, in “How it works”

Whoever starts measuring now arrives with a documented method before the rule is written.

Green bonds finance two kinds of projects. Mitigation projects reduce emissions, and established indicators already exist to measure them. Adaptation projects protect assets from the effects of climate (for example, flood defenses), and for them ICMA's impact reporting guidance does not yet set core indicators: it only gives examples.

If your company has or is going to issue a green bond, EcoCyclus records how each amount was used, links each project to the asset it protects and generates the reporting document for the investor or the external reviewer.

To measure impact, it compares the asset's risk with the project against the risk it would have without it, like comparing the same plant with and without a levee. That calculation comes from the risk model, based on the design level the company declares for the project, not from a manually entered number. Today this comparison is available for river and coastal flooding, under the current climate.

It works with the two most widely used green bond standards: ICMA's Green Bond Principles and the European Green Bond Standard (EuGBS). A single project can be declared as protection against several hazards.

Method of the with-and-without comparison, in “How it works”

A risk register with categories, assessment criteria and a risk matrix. Each risk is assessed in its own entry, and the register is reviewed in periodic cycles.

Risk register and administration, in “How it works”