Exploring Earth Observation (EO) for the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation: Takeaways from the EO for MRV Workshop

In October, over 160 experts and 40 speakers gathered in Copenhagen at the joint European Environment Agency-European Space Agency event on Earth Observation (EO) for Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) to discuss the important role of EO for carbon removal and carbon markets. The discussions showcased how EO can improve carbon monitoring accuracy and scale, particularly under the EU’s Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) and the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulations.

EO data holds tremendous potential to establish verifiable baselines for carbon stocks and fluxes, setting clear benchmarks for additionality. However, creating operational tools that can meet policy standards for both CRCF and LULUCF will require collaborative efforts from national agencies, industry players, and the EO community. As a consequence, the need for harmonised datasets and data sharing across countries was highlighted during the Workshop as critical for effective, transparent reporting.

Key insights from the conference included the importance of integrating diverse EO data sources to achieve reliable, high-quality carbon inventories. In this sense, there is a need for more integration of ground and EO data to develop high-precision MRV models, ultimately supporting the scalability of carbon farming as an effective climate solution. Updated spatial and emission data, such as those from the Copernicus land monitoring service and Sentinel satellites, are essential for robust monitoring and supporting policy alignment across EU member states.

While EO provides a solid foundation for land-use monitoring, experts noted the challenges in achieving consistency and accuracy, especially for carbon stock data. Many regions lack the high-resolution data necessary for detailed MRV of forest biomass, wetlands, and organic soils. The accuracy of EO data at the pixel level and the availability of long-term, repeatable datasets were both identified as areas needing improvement. Proposals were made to create an EU-wide database for emission factors, which could streamline MRV efforts for carbon farming.

As carbon farming gains traction in the EU’s regulatory landscape, the discussions in Copenhagen underscored the growing role of EO in facilitating credible, transparent, and scalable carbon removal initiatives for farmers and stakeholders across Europe. Credible is working on these issues within one of its Focus Groups, and will showcase the potential and challenges of EO in the next European Carbon Farming Summit in Dublin in March 2025. For more information and to access the presentations, visit the event website here.