[2025] EO for Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification of Carbon Removals
Summary
The second EEA-ESA conference on “Earth Observation for Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) of Carbon Removals” gathered more than 200 participants in the room (additionaly, 80 particiants followed online) from EU institutions, national agencies, research organisations, and industry to discuss the use of Earth Observation (EO) in support of EU climate and land monitoring policies.
Over four days, participants explored the role of EO in improving data quality, consistency, and transparency for Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) reporting, and the forthcoming EU Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming Regulation (CRCF). Sessions featured by 50 distinguished speakers representing Member States institutions, European Commission, national experts on greenhouse gas reporting, as well as representatives from the scientific community and private sector showcasing advances in spatially explicit monitoring, carbon estimation, and interoperability of EO-based systems.
The event combined policy updates, examples of implementation, and interactive breakout discussions on agriculture and agroforestry, tree planting, and peatland rewetting. It concluded with a panel on uncertainty, benchmarking, and emerging MRV tools provided by several projects' development.
For more information, please check the presentation’s slides available below.
The EEA and ESA warmly thank all speakers, the organizing committee, and attendees for their valuable contributions and rich engagement, which were instrumental in making the conference a success.
Photo gallery
Agenda
Link to the agenda
List of presentations
Session 1: Opening, Scientific Overview, EU Policy Landscape, Earth Observation in Support of LULUCF MRV Activities
- Opening remarks - Leena Ylä-Mononen (EEA), Inge Jonckheere (ESA)
- Scientific advice for an EU policy framework on carbon removals - Elsa Malika Malki (Secretariat to the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change)
- Developments in LULUCF and related policies - Ivan Martinez (DG CLIMA)
- Only what you measure gets done: LULUCF in the EU GHG inventories - Lucia Perugini, Peter Iversen, Linde Zuidema (EEA)
- Supporting EU Climate Goals through improved forest monitoring and modelling: a suggested research roadmap - Mirco Migliavacca (DG JRC)
- Monitoring of Agricultural land in practice, concepts, solution, and relevance for LULUCF - Philippe Loudjani (DG JRC)
- Geospatial and EO data usage for LULUCF monitoring and ongoing developments covering EU27 - Tobias Langanke (EEA)
- Aspects of interoperability in LULUCF - Rafal Zielinski (EEA)
8 October 2025
Session 2: EO and LULUCF MRV - Spatially Explicit Monitoring: Status, Examples, Good Practice, and Challenges
- Remote Sensing Solutions for Estonian Forest Monitoring: Forest Mask Development and Clear-Cut Detection for LULUCF MRV - Madis Raudsaar (Estonian Environment Agency)
- An evaluation of options to improve GHG emission estimates from forest fires in Sweden - Mattias Lundblad (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences/Swedish EPA)
- Completing the picture: Satellite-based mapping of agricultural land-use to gap-fill the Austria IACS geodatabase - Sebastian Boeck (Environment Agency Austria)
- Land monitoring in the LULUCF reporting - Poland - Agata Hościło and Marcin Żaczek (Institute of Environmental Protection, Poland)
- Spatial explicit land-use monitoring for LULUCF in Flanders - Guillaume Vandekerckhove (Department of Environment and Spatial Development of Flanders, Belgium)
- Spatially explicit land-use data for Italy: evaluation and comparison of sample-based and wall-to-wall methods using Collect Earth software and CLMS-derived data - Angela Fiore (ISPRA, Italy)
- EO-based MRV for Non-Forest Land Categories in Romania - Progress, Limitations, and Improvement Perspectives - Marius Constantinescu and Antoaneta Roman (ICSI, Romania)
- Updates and lessons learned from the French spatially explicit approach for LULUCF inventories - Melanie Juillard (CITEPA, France)
Session 3: EO-Derived Products in Support of MRV Activities
- On ESA missions and projects relevant to carbon monitoring - Inge Jonckheere (ESA)
- Copernicus land service to support carbon removal related policies - Usue Donezar (EEA)
- Earth observations for aboveground carbon estimation - Martin Herold (GFZ)
- EO-based monitoring of cropland management and soil carbon dynamics - Yue Zhou (Université catholique de Louvain)
- Pan-European forest structure maps and estimates integrating Sentinel-2 and National Forest Inventory data - Jukka Miettinen (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland)
9 October 2025
Session 4: Third Carbon Markets Forum
- Policy update on the EU Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming Regulation (CRCF) - Lucia Causey-Hugecova (DG CLIMA)
- Identifying hotspots of greenhouse gas emissions from drained peatlands in the European Union - Alexandra Barthelmes (GMC)
- Remote sensing-based forest biomass assessment for the European bioenergy sector - Janik Deutscher (JOANNEUM RESEARCH)
- An Earth-Observation framework for soil Carbon Sequestration Monitoring - A case study for the Netherlands - Wouter Meijninger (Wageningen University)
- Co-benefits of CRCF - Gerry Lawson (European Agroforestry Federation)
- The impact of Uncertainty - Agroforestry Carbon Projects - Mila Luleva (Rabobank)
- In-situ data needs and challenges in the context of CRCF - Jose Miguel Rubio Iglesias (EEA)
- Intergenerational Open Geospatial Carbon Registry (OGCR project) - Ichsani Wheeler (OpenGeoHub)
- Developing a parcel-level based monitoring and reporting system for Carbon Farming in Europe - CAFAMORE project - Jan Peter Lesschen (Wageningen University)
Session 5: CRCF Methodologies - Breakout Groups
Parallel sessions covering:
BOG 1 - Agriculture and agroforestry on mineral soils - Eric Ceschia (CESBIO), Emanuele Lugato (DG JRC)
- Which role the remote sensing would play in the mineral soil in agriculture and agroforestry CRCF EU certification? – Emanuele Lugato and Eric Ceschia
- Mapping crop residues cover presence, persistence and quantity with EO: solution with current Copernicus data and perspective of new missions for MRV – Monica Pepe
- Mapping soil organic carbon using UAV hyperspectral imagery and laboratory reflectance spectroscopy in Po valley region, Italy – Angela Righi
- MEO-Carbon: A Multi-Scale EO-Based Tool for Monitoring and Assessing Carbon Sequestration from Land Use Change and Farming Practices - Ezzeddine Abbessi
- How EO assimilation contributes to building a Transparent, Accurate, Consistent, Complete, & Comparable MRV for SOC – Ahmad Al Bitar
BOG 2 - Planting of trees - Eric Arets (Wageningen University), Joanne Nightingale (NPL)
- Draft planting of trees certification methodology – Eric Arets
- EO in support of quantifying Tree Planting – Jukka Miettinen
- Forest Observations for Carbon Market Integrity using Sentinels - Joanne Nightingale
- Satellite-based carbon removal estimates in regrowing forest: Examples from the tropics with potential for European Applications – Viola Heinrich (pre-recorded intervention)
BOG 3 - Rewetting of peatlands - Parvez Rana (LUKE), Lucia Causey-Hugecova (DG CLIMA)
- Peatland rewetting under CRCF - Lucia Causey-Hugecova
- Standardizing MRV for Peatland Restoration Projects: Status-quo and future prospects – Malte Schneider (pre-recorded intervention)
- Remote sensing-based monitoring of wetlands and their restoration – Parvez R. (material not available online)
10 October 2025
Session 6: Third Carbon Markets Forum
- Feedback from breakout discussions
- Earth Observation for MRV of Carbon Farming - Uncertainty and Benchmarking - Antonella Succurro (CinSOIL GmbH)
- Forest owners’ views on CRCF - Opportunities and Threats of EO - Alina Lehikoinen (Confederation of European Forest Owners)
- A Tool for Monitoring, Reporting and Verification of Carbon Farming as well as large-scale analyses on carbon sequestration - EO4CarbonFarming - Silke Migdall (VISTA)
- Closing remarks
Practical information
When: Tuesday 7 October, 13:00 – Friday 10 October 2025, 13:00
Where: DGI Byen Tietgensgade 65, 1704 København V
Who should attend: The event will bring together experts from across disciplines: scientific research, national GHG inventories, policy, and the private sector
Languages: The conference will be held in English only
Organisers: European Environment Agency (EEA) and European Space Agency (ESA)
Description
Building on the success of last year’s conference, this second edition will continue to advance the use of Earth Observation (EO) technologies for monitoring carbon fluxes in the land sector. EO provides critical, large-scale data that supports climate action and sustainable land management.
The event will bring together experts and stakeholders to explore EO’s role in implementing the EU LULUCF and CRCF Regulations, as well as related carbon market initiatives. Key themes will include improving data availability and accuracy, harmonizing methods, and strengthening collaboration across EO, science, and policy.
While LULUCF and CRCF have distinct requirements, both aim to enhance carbon removals. The conference will highlight opportunities to align their Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems through scalable EO solutions.
This platform fosters knowledge exchange and innovation, helping to shape the future of EO-based carbon monitoring and supports Europe’s climate goals.
Objectives of the conference
Policy Context and Developments:
Provide updates on recent EU climate policy developments, including the LULUCF Regulation, and the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Regulation.
Innovation in Earth Observation:
Highlight recent advances in satellite, in-situ, and hybrid EO technologies relevant to carbon flux estimation and land monitoring.
Regulatory Alignment and Implementation:
Discuss how EO can support the operational needs of the EU climate regulatory frameworks, including MRV systems.
Best Practices and Case Studies:
Showcase practical examples of EO-driven MRV systems, including national implementation and research initiatives.
Stakeholder Dialogue and Collaboration:
Promote dialogue and knowledge exchange among national inventory teams, scientists, policymakers, market actors, and other stakeholders.
Organization Committee
Contacts
Organisation: EEA and ESA
Email: EO4MRV@eea.europa.eu
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