Deloitte: AI will help Ireland avoid millions in climate-related infrastructure losses per year
As Europe experiences another summer of extreme heat at the height of fire season, experts warn that AI-driven resilience measures could be critical in protecting infrastructure and communities from escalating climate threats.
Deloitte report finds global infrastructure losses from natural disasters are projected to reach €425 billion per year by 2050 without stronger resilience measures.
AI-powered early warning systems could dramatically improve national preparedness for storms and flooding across Ireland.
Deloitte: “Technology and data are now as critical as physical flood defences in protecting against these extreme weather events.”
Stakeholders should work together to create infrastructure that can withstand both sudden shocks and gradual stresses using AI-powered predictive maintenance and targeted reinforcement to address vulnerabilities in critical systems ahead of time.
AI can address ongoing, non-disaster stresses on infrastructure, such as extreme temperature swings and prolonged droughts by allowing smarter resource allocation.
With increased frequency of floods, storms and other climate-related disasters, Ireland’s infrastructure, much of it built for a different era, is under growing threat. But a powerful set of AI tools are emerging that may help turn the tide.
According to a new Deloitte Global report, AI-enabled infrastructure resilience could help prevent around €65 billion in annual damages worldwide by 2050, or roughly 15% of projected global losses due to natural disasters.
The new report from Deloitte’s Centre for Sustainable Progress outlines how AI technologies can play a role at every stage of the infrastructure lifecycle, from planning and prevention to rapid post-event recovery.
In urban and regional planning, for example, AI-powered digital predictive models can support better land use via land elevation data, soil saturation and urban density. Machine learning can power early-warning systems for floods, helping authorities reduce human and economic impacts, while AI-enabled inspection tools can also speed up damage assessments and accelerate infrastructure repair, minimising costs and economic disruption.
The newly reviewed National Development Plan offers a one-in-a-generation opportunity to future proof Ireland’s infrastructure,
points out Stephen Prendiville, Deloitte Ireland’s Infrastructure and Sustainability Lead.
With €275 billion planned through to 2035, we now have the capital needed. We now need to move forward at pace, with smarter planning and data-driven decision making. AI is rapidly transitioning from being experimental to being an important part of the solution.
Leaders are recognising AI not just as a technical innovation, but one of the strategic tools that can be used to make infrastructure systems more resilient. The potential of AI is vast. With the right vision and ecosystem collaboration, it can help leaders build infrastructure that’s stronger, more efficient, more sustainable and future ready helping ensure that future disruptions are less severe or can be more easily mitigated.
Weathering the bill
From storm-related power outages to repeated flooding, Irish infrastructure is increasingly vulnerable to climate impacts. New stresses are now also emerging with more extreme temperatures being experienced as a rule in summer and winter.
Earlier this year, an Irish-focused Deloitte survey warned that climate change could cost the Irish insurance industry up to €1.5 billion over the next decade, driven by more frequent extreme weather events.
The survey gathered insights from over one hundred senior insurance professionals representing AIG, Allianz, Aviva, Axa, FBD, RedClick, RSA and Zurich and found that more than three-quarters (76%) believe the Government should make further investments in flood defences its top climate priority.
From Deloitte’s survey, we found that the availability and rising cost of reinsurance was one of the biggest challenges for Irish insurers offering flood-risk cover,
explains Noel Garvey, an Actuary in Deloitte Ireland and a leading voice on non-life insurance matters.
The importance of data-sharing was also a key factor. If AI, predictive analytics and shared climate intelligence can give governments, scientists, insurers and services the foresight to act earlier, respond faster and recover more effectively, it can turn what are often devastating losses into more manageable challenges, keep more people safe and costs down. Technology and data are now as critical as physical flood defences in protecting against these extreme weather events.
Recent figures show that damage caused by Storm Éowyn has resulted in insurance claims of over €301 million, making it the most expensive weather event in Ireland in 25 years. It left over 700,000 homes without power, 200,000 without water and over 1 million people without telecom services. The cascading impacts of persistent power failure, exacerbating the lack of water and telecom service during this time, must be a wakeup call for authorities when it comes to the resilience of our infrastructure.
The ESRI have also estimated that Ireland could see annual climate-related economic damages of around €2 billion by 2050, largely related to sea-level rises, river flooding, health impacts and reduced labour productivity.
Met Éireann has already set out its ambition to move beyond broad, country-wide weather alerts and towards more localised, geo-specific warning systems,” adds Prendiville. “With the integration of AI and enhanced D&A (data and analytics), these forecasts could be made far more precise, targeting not just regions but individual river basins and tributary systems. Such models could factor in real-time soil saturation levels and rainfall intensity, giving emergency planners and communities more accurate warnings for flood events.
AI for infrastructure resilience: Global report findings at a glance:
- Infrastructure serves as a backbone of communities and society. Deloitte’s global analysis shows the economic value of infrastructure could reach US$390 trillion by 2050, an 85% increase compared to 2022
- The annual average losses to infrastructure caused by natural hazards could more than double by 2050, reaching approximately US$460 billion
- Deloitte’s research finds that every year countries spend between 0.2% and 6% of their GDP in transportation infrastructure development alone, representing more than US$200 billion of annual investments
- Implementation of AI solutions for broad planning and timely response through real-time hazard detection and reaction can reduce the vulnerability of infrastructure systems, reducing the average losses caused by hazards by approximately US$70 billion per year in 2050, equivalent to approximately 15% of annual direct damage costs estimated
- The cost of deploying advanced AI solutions is decreasing. At the hardware level, costs have declined by 30% annually, while energy efficiency has improved by 40% each year.
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