From satellite mapping to artificial intelligence, tech tools for climate crisis are no longer on the sidelines of the climate conversation, but at the very heart of it.
As the climate crisis intensifies, the role of technology in protecting the planet has become both urgent and transformative. These innovations are empowering climate advocates with the precision and scale needed to meet this defining challenge.
Below, Techparley’s Quadri Adejumo explores ten of the most impactful tech tools for climate crisis that are transforming how we fight, adapt to, and ultimately survive.
1. Google Earth Engine
Google Earth Engine is a cloud-based geospatial analysis tool used by climate scientists and researchers to visualise environmental change at both local and planetary scales. The platform integrates petabytes of satellite imagery with global datasets to enable real-time tracking of issues like deforestation, glacial retreat, desertification, and sea level rise.
Users can create maps, run time-lapse visualisations, and perform climate modelling using Google’s powerful processing infrastructure. The tool also supports urban planning for climate adaptation, such as identifying heat islands or flood-prone zones. Its open access and robust developer community have made it a go-to platform for environmental innovation globally.
2. Climate TRACE
Climate TRACE (Tracking Real-time Atmospheric Carbon Emissions) is one of the best tech tools for climate crisis that uses satellites, sensors, and machine learning algorithms to track greenhouse gas emissions across the globe. Previously, most emissions reporting relied heavily on self-disclosure and outdated inventories, but Climate TRACE bypasses this by relying on independent data sources, offering more transparency.
Since its launch, Climate TRACE has become a vital asset for governments and environmental organisations seeking real-time data to enforce climate accountability. For instance, its ability to identify emissions from oil refineries or steel mills helps inform enforcement action, policy reforms, or funding decisions.
3. Copernicus Climate Data Store (CDS)
The Climate Data Store (CDS) is a free, open-access platform that houses extensive datasets on climate variables like temperature, precipitation, wind, and sea ice. It serves as a backbone for climate research, offering scientists, governments, and businesses the information needed to model future climate scenarios and design policy responses.
CDS provides both historical records and seasonal forecasts based on climate simulations. What makes CDS particularly powerful is its user-friendly interface and the ability to create custom workflows through its built-in Climate Data Toolbox. Urban planners can model future heatwaves, insurers can assess flood risk, and researchers can project crop yields under changing rainfall patterns.
4. Satelligence
Satelligence is a satellite-powered platform that delivers real-time environmental monitoring, with a particular focus on forests, carbon stocks, and biodiversity. It uses advanced algorithms and high-resolution imagery to help businesses, NGOs, and governments track deforestation, land-use changes, and carbon emissions within supply chains.
The platform is especially useful for companies trying to comply with zero-deforestation pledges or ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) benchmarks. By monitoring areas such as palm oil plantations or mining zones, Satelligence can alert stakeholders about illegal activities or environmental degradation early enough for action to be taken. Its services are widely used in sectors like cocoa, soy, and timber, where transparency across vast terrains is traditionally difficult.
5. OpenAQ
OpenAQ is an open-source platform that aggregates air quality data from government stations, researchers, and low-cost sensors across more than 100 countries. It standardises and visualises this data in an accessible format, allowing advocates, policymakers, and journalists to spot pollution trends and push for cleaner air. It provides granular insights into air pollution’s real-time and long-term impacts on human health and the environment.
OpenAQ has helped highlight the alarming levels of PM2.5 pollution. Civil society organisations have used this data to demand government action and push for clean transport initiatives. By decentralising access to environmental data, OpenAQ democratises climate advocacy and holds polluters to account.
6. PLEXOS
PLEXOS is an advanced energy simulation tool used by power system planners, researchers, and governments to optimise energy systems for decarbonisation. It allows users to build detailed models of electricity, gas, and water systems to test how changes, such as adding solar power or retiring coal plants will affect reliability, cost, and emissions.
PLEXOS is commonly used to model long-term energy transition strategies and assess grid integration of renewables. In regions where power infrastructure is ageing or underdeveloped, such as parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, PLEXOS helps assess the viability of expanding renewable energy systems while ensuring grid stability.
7. Microsoft Planetary Computer
The Microsoft Planetary Computer offers a scalable, cloud-based platform that hosts large environmental datasets integrated with AI tools for analysis. The goal is to help researchers and organisations make more informed decisions about conservation and climate action.
With its open-source APIs and strong computing power, it enables detailed analysis at the scale of entire ecosystems. The tool is also being adopted by African conservation groups to assess habitat destruction and species threats in forest reserves. Its ability to analyse both satellite and ground-collected data sets it apart from traditional GIS tools.
8. IBM Green Horizon
IBM’s Green Horizon project combines AI, climate modelling, and big data to forecast pollution levels and optimise energy use in cities. Originally deployed in Beijing to help tackle smog, the tool uses real-time environmental data and machine learning to predict air quality hours or even days in advance.
It also helps city officials design low-carbon energy strategies, from power generation to transportation. The AI engine continuously learns and improves, integrating factors like weather, emissions sources, and traffic data. It has proven especially effective in mitigating heatwave-related energy spikes and forecasting hazardous air quality episodes.
9. Risklayer Explorer
Risklayer Explorer is a risk visualisation platform that maps natural hazards, climate vulnerabilities, and socioeconomic exposure in near real time. Developed by researchers in Germany, it’s used by disaster managers, humanitarian agencies, and researchers to predict and respond to extreme climate events like floods, wildfires, and cyclones.
The tool integrates data from dozens of global sources, including UN agencies and local weather systems. Its strength lies in layering climate hazards over population density, infrastructure, and poverty maps, revealing who is most at risk. As extreme weather becomes more frequent, tools like Risklayer Explorer are critical for preparedness and equitable disaster response.
10. Climate Central’s Coastal Risk Screening Tool
Climate Central’s Coastal Risk Screening Tool provides high-resolution maps that visualise how rising sea levels and storm surges could inundate coastal regions in the coming decades. The tool combines digital elevation models with sea-level rise projections to show which areas are most at risk, down to individual city blocks in many regions.
It’s especially powerful in vulnerable coastal nations where urban growth is colliding with climate vulnerability. Urban planners, insurers, and policymakers use the tool to assess long-term infrastructure risks and develop climate adaptation strategies. By clearly visualising potential future impacts, the Coastal Risk Screening Tool supports evidence-based action to protect lives, properties, and critical infrastructure in low-lying areas.
