Overview

This page outlines the 28 EU policies areas we have initially identified. For each of these some of the needs and potential benefits or main existing applications of Earth Observation are recalled. The list is intended as a very broad and generic overview, it may be expanded in the future and it will be the starting point for further EO uptake analysis of KCEO. 

Agriculture

Several areas of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) benefit from Copernicus data and services. These span from monitoring of agricultural market, the CAP control systems, environmental monitoring and farmer level support. Specific examples include improvement in environmental performance of farms, the Land Parcel Identification System, on-demand EO data, along with high resolution data to monitor agricultural practices, integration with modelling for yield forecasting and identifying exceptional circumstances which can support both environmental compliance measures and on-farm agronomic practices. 

Food security

Considering the impact and consequences of weather events, conflict, and economic shocks on food security, it is crucial to establish international frameworks and response mechanisms to address these challenges. Earth observation (EO), particularly through remote sensing and meteorological data, can contribute to both providing short-term humanitarian responses to food crises and supporting the establishment of longer-term development cooperation to improve food security and enhance the sustainability of food systems. EO, including remote sensing and meteorological data, plays a vital role in developing early warning systems to prevent food crises and inform rural development. This data can effectively detect, monitor, and prevent disruptions in food production, thereby contributing to increased resilience in countries affected by food crises. Furthermore, EO can inform natural resources management, promoting longer-term development, protecting biodiversity, and ensuring the sustainability of food systems to reduce the risk of food insecurity. 

Forestry

At EU level, forests are not ruled by a dedicated policy, however the forest sector is significantly affected by a number of related EU measures such as for example in the areas of rural development, climate and energy, plant health, biodiversity, bioeconomy. Furthermore, a new EU forest strategy is expected to be adopted by the European Commission in 2021. In this context, Earth Observation offers key status and temporal trend data on forest cover and composition, forest biomass and carbon stock, forest condition, forest disturbances, deforestation and forest degradation in Europe and the rest of the world. Additional key products EO offers in this domain support emergency management with respect to natural hazards affecting EU forests. 

Biodiversity 

To preserve and support the restoration of biodiversity, the European Union has put forward its ambitious Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 with long-term plans and commitments to protect nature and ecosystems and aiming to set Europe’s biodiversity on a path to recovery by 2030. Remote sensing and the services offered by the Copernicus programme, in particular the Land Monitoring Service (CLMS), the Climate Change Service (C3S) and the Marine Service (CMEMS) have come to play an increasingly important role in support of biodiversity conservation and restoration. Find out more information here.  

Plant Health 

The EU Plant Health Regulation states the need for reinforced and harmonised provisions for better prevention, detection and control of the increasing threat of plant pests, mainly driven by globalisation of plant trade and the effects of climate change. Information derived from Earth Observation data can support multiple stages of the pest management cycle and development of plant health policies. It can help understand the risk of pest outbreaks, while also mapping and tracking the spread of pests and the damage it causes. Additionally, plant health policies development could also benefit from next generation vegetation type and status maps derived from Earth Observation. 

Soils 

In absence of a dedicated legislative framework, EU soil protection policy is shaped by the EU Soil Thematic Strategy and provisions in a number of other policy instruments, for instance, the Industrial Emissions Directive, the Environmental Liability Directive, the EU Biodiversity Strategy, the EU Forest Strategy and the Common Agricultural Policy. The wider needs in this policy area are for harmonised methodologies for the continuous monitoring of soil properties and changes. Most importantly, building long-time series of data on soils is at stake for climate change monitoring purposes and assessment of environmental policies. 

Raw materials

To mitigate the EU’s dependence on the extraction, processing and recycling of critical raw materials, the European Critical Raw Materials (CRM) Act (add link European Critical Raw Materials Act - European Commission (europa.eu) has been launched (DG GROW). The EU’s Action Plan on Raw Materials, a precursor to the CRM Act, specifically proposes deploying EO programmes and remote sensing for resource exploration and mining operations and their environmental impact. EO data provided by the Copernicus Programme can be applied across all stages of mining operations, from prospecting activities for mineral deposits to environmental monitoring at the closure of mining sites. Notably, CAMS offers near real-time detection of unwanted methane leaks over fossil fuel production sites and basins.

Inland Water and pollution

Inland water pollution refers to the contamination or degradation of freshwater bodies such as lakes, rivers, and reservoirs, resulting from the introduction of harmful substances, pollutants, or excessive nutrients into these ecosystems.  Inland water pollution is a significant concern addressed within important EU policy frameworks such as the Water Framework Directive and the post-2020 Common Agriculture Policy. Monitoring of water resources through the implementation of specific indicators about water quality and quantity, and better understanding the inland water use, distribution, and changes are key evidence that strongly benefit from data and products from Copernicus. The Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (CLMS) Global Component provides maps of inland water quality for turbidity and trophic state for Europe and globally, these products are also used in support of SDG Indicator 6.6.1. The Global Surface Water Explorer (GSWE) is a virtual time machine that using Copernicus data maps the location and temporal distribution of water surfaces and provides statistics on their extent and change over time. 

Coastal Zones Management 

Coastal zones are key places of significant human activities while also being potentially vulnerable to many risks such as storm surges, flooding, erosion, pollution and eutrophication as well as climate change impacts such as sea level rise. Integrated coastal zone management has been a specific area of policy since 2002 and has been further developed through the existing Directives in force: i.e. The Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive, the coastal aspects of the Water Framework Directive, and the Common Fisheries Policy. Products from the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) supports a wide range of coastal and marine environment applications such as those on rising sea levels and sea surface temperature, but also with increasing emphasis on the “green” ocean aspects with products addressing coastal ecology, biogeochemistry and pollution/eutrophication. There have also been combined efforts between CMEMS and CLMS to develop targeted products for the coastal zone addressing needs in both the marine and terrestrial domains. 

Fisheries and aquaculture 

The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) Regulation has defined a set of harmonised provisions to ensure sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture in EU waters and for the EU fleet worldwide. The Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service provides input to the DG MARE information system for Marine Knowledge, which supports the Common Fisheries Policies and provides input the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet). For instance, by merging Ocean Colour Data with other Earth Observation data sets and Earth modelling, helps improve our understanding of aquatic ecosystems. 

Marine waters and pollution 

Marine Environment and Pollution encompasses the policy area dedicated to the conservation, management, and protection of the marine ecosystem and the prevention and control of pollution in marine environments. It addresses the complex challenges associated with maintaining the health and integrity of marine ecosystems, including oceans, seas, and coastal areas. This policy area focuses on understanding and mitigating the impacts of human activities, such as industrial discharges, shipping, offshore operations, and coastal development, to reduce pollution and preserve the biodiversity and ecological balance of marine habitats. It involves the implementation of regulations, monitoring programs, and sustainable practices to ensure the sustainable use of marine resources, safeguard the well-being of coastal communities, and promote the long-term health of the marine environment. 

Maritime Spatial Planning 

As the competition for space to establish renewable energy infrastructure, aquaculture and various other maritime space uses grows, the need to manage waters more consistently has also grown. In 2014, the Directive for Maritime Spatial Planning in Europe was adopted to reduce conflicts, encourage investments (blue economy), increase cross-border cooperation and protect the environment. Part of such environmental information is provided by Copernicus through long-time series of ocean products necessary to produce atlas (European Atlas of the Seas). However, there is a need for additional Earth Observation data to identify and monitor man-made activities like shipping lanes, fisheries and aquaculture grounds along with land-sea consistent data and information products for coastal management.   

Climate Change Mitigation 

A detailed and up to date evidence base is crucial for Climate Change mitigation. Important EU policy instruments in this context are the Regulation on the inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions and removals from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) into the 2030 climate and energy framework. This requires that estimates of emissions and removals from land should be based on spatially explicit datasets. The UNFCCC initiative on Reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries (REDD+) is also strongly supported by Earth Observation and the contribution of the Copernicus programme and the efforts to develop a Copernicus REDD+ service component are essential. 

Furthermore, Copernicus delivers regular observations, forecasts, and climate records on the atmospheric composition along with land cover/ land use products to support the climate change mitigation policies. The European Commission has taken the initiative to set up an Operational Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) Emissions Monitoring & Verification Support (MVS) Capacity in the frame of the Copernicus Programme. 

Climate Change Adaptation 

Adapting to climate change requires data and information from all Earth system components: the atmosphere, the land, the cryosphere and oceans. As an example, in order to adhere to Covenant of Mayors Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) commitments, it is imperative to have both reference time series (data demonstrating of changes and trends) and climate change indicators that cover composite or specific economic sectors impacted by regional and international policies. 

Arctic and Polar Areas 

The Arctic’s fragile environment is a key indicator of climate change, which requires specific mitigation and adaptation actions as agreed with the global agreement at the COP-21 held in Paris in December 2015. To this end, the integrated EU Arctic policy has identified three priority areas: climate change and safeguarding the Arctic environment, sustainable development in and around the Arctic, and international cooperation on arctic issues. Copernicus addresses these policy areas with a dedicated Arctic Ocean monitoring and forecasting centres that maintain long-time series of changes in the Arctic and polar areas. Additionally, EO data for cryosphere monitoring, climate records on sea-ice and glaciers, and maritime surveillance services for Arctic fishing and shipping purposes also help shape action to safeguard the Arctic and polar areas. 

Air Quality 

The ‘Clean Air for all’ Communication from the EU Commission has reconfirmed the objective to achieve full compliance with existing air quality standards across the EU as soon as possible and set objectives for 2020 and 2030. Copernicus supports directives related to air pollution or greenhouse gas monitoring through its air quality products. However, air pollution needs to be understood in terms of geographical distribution of concentration, with identification of sources, origin of pollution and total quantity of emission per source. This is where Earth Observation data is greatly beneficial, by being able to monitor different gases, aerosols or pollutants at fine scale, both in total column and all along the vertical profile, at sampling points and also covering larger geographically regions. 

Environmental Compliance 

In 2018, the EU Commission issued a Communication on ‘EU actions to improve environmental compliance and governance’, which presents the concept of ‘Environmental Compliance Assurance’ and environmental impact assessment to mitigate the risk of negatively impacting the state of water, air, biodiversity, human health and the economy. A broad range of information are needed to support impact assessments, such as land cover/land cover change information, emission databases, the monitored gas emissions in the atmosphere, oil spills or other pollution into water. There is a strong demand for Copernicus to support the delivery of geospatial intelligence for compliance promotion, monitoring, inspections and enforcement actions. 

Transport 

The implementation of sustainable and innovative means of transport are integral to EU’s energy and climate objectives. Maritime transport has been addressed significantly more by Copernicus, as compared to other modes of transport like air, rail and inland. Evolving needs have shown that the sector has a need of Earth Observation data for a broad range of applications like topography (digital elevation models), geophysical and soil characteristics for civil engineering related to networks deployment, real-time monitoring and long-time records of known sites affected by ground motion or natural risks and more. 

Energy 

Energy is a promising sector of Copernicus uptake and many products such as fire radiative power, aerosols, ocean winds and waves, currents, are used for the development of solar and marine renewable energies solutions. For instance, the SAR Sentinel data and marine products are used by the oil and gas industry for exploration, safety of operations and pollution detection. While the private sector in energy is active in using Copernicus products to develop renewable energies, and for oil and gas operations, the full potential of this is not yet fully explored. However, the range of needs is vast and addresses different areas of expertise, depending on which source of energy (air, marine, land), and the type of policies are targeted. 

Regional and Urban Policies 

The European Union’s regional and urban policies aim at supporting job creation, business competitiveness, economic growth, sustainable and low-carbon and climate resilient development to improve citizens’ quality of life. Earth observation data is utilised in various ways to help cater to these regional and urban policies. For instance, by using remote sensing together with other geospatial data, one can observe and map the land cover change, track urban development, get information on real-time transport and urban traffic for optimisation of public transport and traffic lights. Such data can help evidence-based urban and regional policymaking. 

Health 

European Commission initiatives are obliged to examine potential impacts on health and health systems in the policy design process, hence health is an integral part of most major EU initiative. Data from Copernicus can provide information and analysis on environmental factors affecting health like air and water quality, temperature, disease monitoring and more. Such data records and trends of information can support decision-making, prevention and early warning by international bodies like World Health Organization and even the national public authorities. Earth Observation is providing key support to public authorities during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Tourism 

The political framework for tourism policies in the EU aims at developing best practices for sustainable tourism, by taking into account the sector’s environmental impacts, social development indicators and climate change. Earth Observation data and information products could affect competitiveness and sustainability of tourist destinations in several ways. For instance, monitoring and analysis of snowy surfaces can help identify safe and appropriate places for winter sports, or assessing the long-term impact of tourism on flora and fauna through continuous data monitoring.  

Cultural Heritage 

Cultural heritage is recognised as a strategic asset for a sustainable and peaceful Europe, stimulating the interest of the European Union and its Member States in the development of data and information to support the conservation, monitoring and management of heritage. More than new types of space-based observations, the key challenge for the use of Earth Observation data and information for cultural heritage is the development of tailored products, with appropriate geospatial and temporal resolution to be able to monitor such heritage at local to regional scale, both on the European territory and worldwide.  

Support to Natural and Man-made Disasters 

The European Union has set up different mechanisms to help Member States prevent, prepare and better fight against natural hazards. This includes timely and up-to-date information on several areas like natural disasters, risk prevention and early warning systems, along with real-time observation of damages and crisis. Earth Observation data supports this through new technologies such as in-situ observations, drones, high-altitude platforms and an improved coordination with other international services using satellite data for emergency management.  

International Development and Cooperation 

The Directorate-General for International Partnership is responsible for designing European international cooperation and development policy and delivering aid globally. Copernicus already supports developing countries in cooperation with Commission services by providing regular land products on vegetation, cryosphere, water on pre-identified hotspots identified with the European public partners. Additionally, Copernicus data can also provide policy relevant information in the areas of rural development, food and water security.    

Sustainable Developmental Goals 

The 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) adopted by the United Nations gave a new impetus to global and European efforts for achieving sustainable development. Earth Observation data from Copernicus provides core information that can be used to support the production of many sustainability indicators such as global time series delivered to monitor the atmosphere and air quality, the ocean health, all climate records on the various components of land, air and seas, regular mapping of land use that give information of human settlements for example on sources of energy or water quality information. 

Migration and Home Affairs 

The Department of Migration and Home Affairs has a wide portfolio of activities in the domain of security, critical infrastructure protection and counterterrorism. While there is no significant use of Earth Observation-derived geospatial information in this Department at present, the Critical Infrastructure Protection policy area could potentially benefit from Copernicus data. Moving forward, Earth Observation data shows potential in having a more important role in designing policies that support the development of best practices in the domain of critical infrastructure protection and resilience for areas affected by major environmental and security crises, EU border surveillance and Police investigations.  

Security and Defence

The Copernicus Security Service supports EU policy by providing information in response to Europe's security challenges. It improves crisis prevention, preparedness and response in three key areas: maritime surveillance, border surveillance, and support to EU External Action. In the area of border surveillance, the main objectives are to reduce the death toll of illegal immigrants at sea, to increase the internal security of the European Union and to fight against cross-border crime. In the area of maritime surveillance, the aim is to support Europe's maritime security objectives and related activities such as safety of navigation, support to fisheries control, combatting marine pollution, and law enforcement at sea.  

In the context of the EU External Action support, EU can provide assistance to third countries in a situation of crisis or emerging crisis and help prevent global and trans-regional threats having a destabilising effect. 

Further readings