Over the past few decades, there has been a growing emphasis on the need to build a resilient society, which is in harmony with the natural environment. Consequently, even energy systems need to widely reduce their environmental impacts, while contributing to human well-being and development in a sustainable manner. A close coupling between society, nature and the energy systems will be even more important when extreme events or local regime shifts (e.g. from a mild to a hot climate) occur. To plan and take action, the capacity to forecast not only climate variations but also energy demand and generation in order to create scenarios with a high level of accuracy and at different periods is key.
Climate-related risks are dynamic and changing. Weather and climate hazards like storms, cyclones, or droughts may increase in frequency and intensity in some areas, and be reduced in others. But with good planning, weather-proofing of infrastructure, capacity building and timely and efficient responses, both vulnerability and exposure can be reduced or at least be managed. Collecting data, at a certain location, to evaluate each of these components can be used to assess the future risk that is very context specific (UN-DRR, 2015).