Project Credible - Building momentum and trust to achieve credible soil carbon farming in the EU

Part of EU Open Research Repository
Published February 3, 2026 | Version v1
Report Open

Earth Observation (EO) for Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) of Carbon Farming (CF) - EO across the Carbon Value Chain

Authors/Creators

  • 1. European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC)
  • 2. BeZero
  • 3. Planet Labs PBC
  • 4. ROR icon European Agroforestry Federation
  • 5. ROR icon GeoVille (Austria)
  • 6. Esferico
  • 7. (European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC))

Description

Led by EARSC, this report from the CREDIBLE project Focus Group 3.3 explains how Earth Observation (EO) can make carbon farming MRV more trustworthy and easier to scale.
It follows the carbon value chain and shows where EO can help, from setting baselines to monitoring changes over time.
It describes, in simple terms, who uses EO and why: land managers, project developers, auditors, registries, rating agencies, banks, insurers and buyers.
It highlights that EO works best when combined with field measurements and models (hybrid MRV).
It points out what still blocks adoption, like different rules across standards, weak interoperability and limited benchmark datasets.
It suggests practical fixes: clearer metadata, more “analysis-ready” EO products and shared benchmarks to compare methods fairly.
The goal is to support high-level discussions and help move EO from pilots into routine MRV for carbon markets.
Produced within the EU-funded CREDIBLE project (Grant Agreement No. 101112951); the views expressed are those of the authors.

Files

FG 3.3 Milestone _EO Across the Carbon Value Chain_final.pdf

Files (942.6 kB)

Additional details

Funding

European Commission
CREDIBLE - Building momentum and trust to achieve credible soil carbon farming in the EU 101112951

Dates

Submitted
2026-02-03
This paper was produced through a dedicated Focus Group process, bringing together practitioners and stakeholders to consolidate insights on EO-enabled MRV for carbon farming. The content was subsequently reviewed by external experts to strengthen its technical quality, clarity, and relevance for operational and policy uptake.