Overview
Coordinated by IABG GmbH with technical partners Assimila (UK) and Planetek Italia (IT), the EO in Support of Carbon Markets project runs from July 2025 to June 2028 under ESA’s Climate‑Resilient‑Carbon‑Footprint (CRCF) programme. It creates a fully integrated Earth‑observation service chain that turns multi‑mission satellite data into verified carbon‑sequestration and emission‑avoidance metrics for nature‑based solutions.
Mission
To provide a transparent, end‑to‑end, user‑centred platform that generates CRCF‑compliant carbon‑accounting products for three complementary interventions:
- Soil‑carbon enhancement in mineral soils and agroforestry systems.
- Afforestation on unused or severely degraded lands.
- Peat‑land rewetting together with tropical‑forest biomass estimation.
Approach
The project couples optical, SAR and hyperspectral observations with physics‑based ecosystem models and AI/ML techniques (few‑shot learning, change‑detection, data‑fusion). All algorithms are continuously calibrated against in‑situ measurements collected by the Early‑Adopter network and validated by an independent Advisory Board. Development proceeds in four‑week sprints that deliver open‑source processing tools, validated carbon‑stock datasets and CRCF‑ready reporting formats, which feed directly into ESA’s certification workflow.
Key Deliverables
- An on‑demand cloud service for monitoring, reporting and verification that is FAIR‑compliant (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reproducible).
- A publicly available toolbox containing open‑source, certified carbon‑accounting algorithms for soil, forest and peatland applications.
- Best‑practice guidelines that enable scaling of nature‑based climate mitigation across the EU and beyond.
Impact
By linking satellite‑derived carbon metrics to market‑ready credits, the project accelerates trustworthy carbon‑removal investments, supports the EU CRCF Regulation, and contributes to Europe’s climate‑neutral objectives. It positions ESA’s Earth‑Observation assets as a cornerstone for transparent, scalable carbon‑farming and carbon‑removal markets.
