The European Space Agency (ESA) is committed to advancing the monitoring of soils, which support plant growth, regulate exchanges of gases with the atmosphere, store water and nutrients, host an immense diversity of organisms, and are essential to ecosystem functioning and the production of food, fibre and timber.

In March 2024, ESA organised the first Symposium on Earth Observation for Soil Protection and Restoration, underscoring the growing role of Earth Observation (EO) in supporting soil protection, sustainable management and restoration.

In parallel, the EU Soil Monitoring Law (Soil Monitoring Directive) was finalised at European level and entered into force on 16 December 2025, explicitly recognising the value of Copernicus data for achieving its objectives. The EO science community is now called to develop concrete approaches that show how EO can support monitoring of the soil health indicators defined in the legislation. Satellite-based monitoring and mapping of soil organic carbon and other key soil properties will be a critical building block for robust and cost‑effective Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems for carbon capture and removal.