TESEO - CARBON

TESEO-CARBON was one of four special projects awarded by ESA in 2001 under the Treaty Enforcement Services Using Earth Observation (TESEO) programme, which aimed at exploring the potential of Earth Observation (EO) to support the implementation of international environmental treaties of European concern. The ultimate objective of TESEO-CARBON was to define and develop prototype products supporting the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC (1997), related to terrestrial carbon.

In addtion to imposing greenhouse gas emission limits the protocol obliges developed countries to report on the emissions, including information related to land use, land-use change and forestry. Additionally, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol enables developed countries to obtain emission reduction credits by implementing forestation projects in developing countries and documenting the net reduction in emissions due to the projects. TESEO Carbon identified this national reporting and the documentation of the forestation projects as the two main ares where EO can support, and demonstrated how this can be done. It concluded that EO data may be the only reasonable way to derive an estimate of national carbon storage for the protocol's reference year 1990,  as well as to monitor changes in biomass and land cover at continental to global scales.

The results of the study were extensively used by the DUP Kyoto Inventory project. It also helped establishing a long-lasting collaboration with the UNFCCC and the Italian Ministry of Environment.