Why the EU supports research and innovation in environmental observation
The Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and landscapes are changing rapidly. Human activities are a major driver of these changes.
Monitoring and modelling these changes is critical to make informed decisions on the global challenges our society is facing. Vital information is gathered by land-, sea-, air- and space-based environmental observation systems.
This data is used to inform and improve decision-making in EU policies on environment, research, climate, energy and sustainable development. This knowledge helps protect people against natural disasters, respond to climate change, manage energy resources, or promote sustainable agriculture. The data also provides opportunities to European businesses to develop value-added services.
Governments and international organisations coordinate their environmental observation strategies and investment through the worldwide Group on Earth Observations (GEO). GEO co-produces user-driven Earth intelligence solutions that inform decisions and accelerate action on global, societal, and environmental challenges, leveraging its unique position as an established intergovernmental body with a strong and inclusive partnership.
EuroGEO is a regional initiative in GEO and it brings together European activities in Earth Observations, contributing to GEO. EuroGEO is geared towards delivering EO-based products and services to end-users.
With its research and innovation programmes, the EU is supporting EuroGEO and a range of global GEO initiatives as well as the GEO secretariat.
Artificial Intelligence technology plays an important role in harnessing the capacity of Earth Observations to support evidence-based decisions and improve sustainable performance in many economic sectors. In this publication, nineteen Horizon projects that use artificial intelligence technology in various research tasks, express their views on what is offered by AI, how they use the different AI tools, what are the benefits, the risks and the limitations. Finally, they express the research needed to facilitate the uptake and use, as well as maximize the benefit, of AI in research.
Funding opportunities
On this page you can find more information, the work programme and a link to calls related to environmental observation
A publication that presents funding opportunities in the field of EO in Horizon Europe (HE) work programme for 2024 in the context of the Earth System Science Initiative (ESSI) which was launched in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA). You will also find topics in support and coordination with the Group on Earth Observation (GEO), and other selected topics related to EO.
Projects and results
Our portfolio of EU-funded Earth Observations related projects, currently running or recently closed.
Stories of particularly successful EU-funded environmental observation research projects
The Commission's primary portal for the results of EU-funded research projects
Booklet providing an overview of EU-funded projects and how they contribute to global environmental observation
Thematic collection of innovative EU-funded research results (CORDIS) on Environmental Observations for informing citizens and supporting policymaking through innovative applications.
Thematic collection of innovative EU-funded research results (CORDIS) on how Earth intelligence paves the way for a climate-neutral future.
Latest news, interviews and features about thought-provoking environmental observation research projects funded by the EU
Platform where framework programme participants present their results for you to search, contact their owners, and form partnerships
Success stories
EU-funded BIPVBOOST project is tackling the cost of integrating photovoltaics into traditional building parts.
- Project locations
- Spain, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland
From solar energy beamed from space to genetic brain maps and live self-repairing bridges, research in 2025 is promising.
- Project locations
- Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden
Collaboration and jobs
Partnership of more than 100 national governments building a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)
The EU's Earth observation programme, managed by the Commission. It provides free and openly accessible data
The initiative aims to establish an effective alignment of selected scientific activities, in terms of goals, content and planning, to jointly advance Earth System Science and its contribution to respond to the global challenges that society is facing at the onset of this century.
Find partners for open EU calls for proposal
Researcher jobs in the field of earth observation
Scientific publications, tools and databases
Online library of EU publications on environmental observation
Scientific research publications on environmental observation published by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC)
A flagship initiative of the European Commission to develop a digital twin of the Earth on a global scale.
An open-source digital repository of open, authoritative and reproducible knowledge created by the Group on Earth Observations.
KCEO enables the uptake of state-of-the-art knowledge from Earth Observation for EU policies and better regulation.
Near-real time data from models, satellites and in-situ from Copernicus Atmosphere, Climate, Marine and Land services.
GEOSS is a set of coordinated, independent earth observation, information and processing systems that interact and provide access to diverse information for a broad range of users in both public and private sector.
An open ecosystem that provides free instant access to a wide range of data and services from the Copernicus Sentinel missions and more on our planet’s land, oceans and atmosphere.
Single point of access to open data produced by the EU institutions - all data free to use for commercial and non-commercial purposes
Environmental observation datasets free to download
Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe
You can access all scientific publications from Horizon 2020 via OpenAIRE
The European Open Science Cloud portal.
European Environment Information and Observation Network.
A list of active European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERICs).