The 2015 Paris Agreement marked a turning point in global climate action, setting a shared ambition to limit global warming to well below 2°C—and ideally to 1.5°C. Yet today, the trajectory of current policies and emissions suggests we are still heading beyond these thresholds, with far-reaching consequences for ecosystems, economies, and societies.
Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remains essential. But it is no longer enough on its own. To meet climate goals, we must also actively remove carbon from the atmosphere. Carbon removal is now emerging as a critical pillar of climate strategy.
Earth Observation for credible carbon removal
In response to this need, the European Union introduced the Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming (CRCF) framework in 2024. This voluntary certification scheme aims to bring greater transparency, credibility, and standardisation to carbon removal activities. It defines how carbon can be reliably quantified and verified across areas such as carbon farming, long-term storage, and carbon embedded in products. Among these, carbon farming plays a particularly important role, promoting land management practices that increase carbon sequestration in soils and biomass while reducing emissions from land use.
But for carbon removals to be credible, they need to be measured, monitored and verified in a way that is reliable, transparent and scalable.
This is where Earth Observation (EO) can make a difference.
EO in Support of Carbon Markets is an ESA-funded project developing practical EO-based solutions for the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) of carbon removals, with a focus on three CRCF activities:
- Soil carbon in mineral soils and agroforestry
- Afforestation on unused or severely degraded land
- Rewetting of peatlands
The project combines satellite and other EO data with field measurements, modelling and ML techniques to develop consistent and scalable approaches for carbon monitoring and accounting. The aim is not simply to develop new methods, but to turn them into tools that can be used in real carbon projects.
Built with Early Adopters
Early Adopters are at the heart of the project. They are involved throughout the project lifetime, working closely with the technical partners to shape, test and refine the EO solutions.
Their role goes beyond testing: they provide field data for calibration and validation, bring real operational requirements into the development process, and integrate the resulting solutions into their own workflows. This continuous interaction ensures that the services developed are both scientifically robust and fit for practical use.
From EO monitoring to certification
The project also addresses the link between EO-based MRV and CRCF certification. EO can provide consistent, spatially explicit evidence to support carbon quantification and monitoring, while helping make the overall certification process more transparent and scalable.
TÜV SÜD, acting as the project’s Certification Body, works alongside the consortium to assess the developed approaches against the requirements of the EU CRCF framework. This helps ensure that the solutions are not only technically sound, but also relevant to the requirements of future certification.
From development to operational use
The project brings together Planetek Italia, Assimila and IABG as technical partners, working with Early Adopters across the three application areas.
The result will include open-source algorithms and tools, validated datasets and an on-demand cloud service for MRV, developed according to FAIR principles. Together, these components aim to bridge the gap between satellite-based Earth Observation, operational carbon monitoring and the emerging European carbon removal market.
