Overview
The ESA-funded EO in Support of Carbon Markets project is led by IABG GmbH (Germany), in partnership with Assimila (UK) and Planetek Italia (Italy). The project runs for two years, from January 2026 to January 2028.
At its core, the project is built on close collaboration between technical partners (who act as service providers, developing EO-based solutions) and Early Adopters (organisations directly involved in carbon removal activities, such as project developers, carbon removal operators, and conservation leaders),
Early Adopters play a central role in the project. They are not only involved throughout all phases of development, but also integrate the EO solutions into their operational workflows. In addition, they provide invaluable field data, which is essential for calibrating and validating the models developed within the project. This ensures that the resulting tools are both scientifically robust and practically applicable.
The collaboration is structured across three thematic areas:
Soil carbon in mineral soils and agroforestry
- Led by Planetek Italia, with Treedom (Italy) as their Early Adopter.
Afforestation on unused or severely degraded land
- Led by IABG GmbH, in collaboration with Cesefor (Spain) and Forliance (Germany) as Early Adopters.
Rewetting of peatlands
- Led by Assimila (UK), working with WWF-France as Early Adopters.
Mission
To provide a transparent, end-to-end, user-centred service that generates CRCF compliant carbon accounting products for three main activities:
- Soil carbon enhancement in mineral soils and agroforestry systems.
- Afforestation on unused or severely degraded lands.
- Rewetting of Peatland
Approach
The project couples multiple geospatial and Earth Observation data sources with physics based ecosystem models and AI/ML techniques. All algorithms are continuously calibrated against in situ measurements collected by the Early Adopter network and validated by an independent Advisory Board. Development is coordinated through regular biweekly meetings that support the rapid refinement and delivery of open-source processing tools, validated carbon stock datasets, and CRCF-ready reporting formats for ESA review.
Key Deliverables
- An on-demand cloud service for monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV), developed in line with FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reproducible).
- A publicly available open-source toolbox for carbon accounting in soil, forest and peatland applications.
- Collaboration with EU CRCF schemes and operators to support the future issuance of CRCF carbon removal units from pilot activities developed within the project.
Impact
The project helps connect satellite-based carbon monitoring with emerging carbon markets, supporting more transparent and credible carbon removal investments. It contributes to the implementation of the EU CRCF Regulation and supports Europe’s climate neutrality goals. At the same time, it demonstrates how ESA Earth Observation data can support reliable and scalable carbon farming and carbon removal activities.
