b'Volume #3 / 2024 33This improved monitoring will allow EU countries to design, employ and adjust the implementation of EURelevant EU legislation policies in a way that helps them meet their climate targets. On top of improving the inventories Up to 2021, under the Kyoto Protocol, much of theof its member states, observation-monitoring and reporting done by EU countries wasbased MRV systems have the based on aggregated statistics. EU countries are nowpotential to inform specific set to go further, by using digital mapping, remotelegislation in the European Union. sensing data and a combination of other geographically explicit datasets to create a quick and precise under- Regulation on land, land use change and standing of land management, even down to hectareforestry (LULUCF): This legislation sets out scale. how the land use sector contributes to the For example, from 2026 onward, EU countries willEUs climate goals. It has a separate land-enhance their basic estimates of removals by applyingbased net carbon removals target of 310 more detailed and locally relevant empirical data andmillion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030.input informationso-called Tier 2 (see glossary page 57) monitoring under IPCC. Directive on Soil Monitoring and Then, for future development,vulnerable types ofResilience: This proposed law aims to have all land cover and use, high carbon stock areas (such assoils in healthy condition by 2050. One stated peatlands, or dense, old forests) or places with adapta- method of achieving this is a comprehensive tion action plans should have estimates based onand coherent monitoring framework. An modelling methods (IPCC Tier 3) using a variety ofMRV system that incorporates accurate more detailed inputs, such as ground-based measure- observations would greatly help with tracking ments and remote sensing. the success of the soil management rules.Such data could help EU member states overcome a major stumbling block in policy implementation: delaysEU Carbon Removal Certification in getting high quality, timely data on forests and agri- Framework: The proposal aims to ensure cultural land. high quality carbon removals in the EU and establish a governance certification system Improving implementation to avoid greenwashing, by correctly applying of mitigation actions and enforcing the EU quality framework. An MRV system that incorporates observations To ensure the availability of high-quality data acrosshas the potential to greatly assist the the EU, and to complement mitigation action throughimplementation of verification checks by LULUCF policy implementation, like changing landindependent certification bodies.management, the Forest Monitoring Law, tabled in November 2023, foresees a way to compile standard- Forest Monitoring Law: Forests play a key ised Earth observation and ground-based measure- role in responding to climate change. So, ments for forest land use. it is crucial to have precise, complete and Monitoring data derived from satellite imagery -up-to-date information on European forests. combined with ground-based data to make sure it isThe regulation would provide open access to correctly capturing the reality of how soils anddetailed, accurate and timely information on managed lands are contributing to climate actions the status and trends of EU forests.will be crucial to ensuring that EU countries realise in time if the carbon capture potential of forests isBy May 2024, only the LULUCF regulation hasdeclining. It will also help keep track of natural distur- been adopted and is in force, the rest are in proposal bances, the frequency of which is expected to increasephase.as climate change worsens.'