Funding opportunity
This ‘Space supporting Environmental Claims’ opportunity offers funding to European teams interested in developing services that provide support and evidence for environmental claims and labelling. The European Space Agency (ESA) will provide funding for 6-month feasibility studies known as ‘Kick-Starts’, which can lead to larger-scale projects and pilots. Kick-Starts are funded at 75% by ESA, up to a maximum of €75K per contract. Proposed services must use satellite data or space-based technologies. Please see the ‘authorisation of funding’ section below to verify your team’s eligibility.
The challenge
As awareness of climate change grows, consumers are increasingly shifting towards ecofriendly products and sustainable alternatives. This shift has not gone unnoticed by companies, particularly leading global corporations. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles and sustainability, have become a major part of marketing strategies, helping companies differentiate themselves from competitors, attract customers and build positive brand reputations. While many businesses are genuinely pursuing these corporate social goals and adapting their offerings to be more sustainable, some enterprises have exploited these trends to mislead consumers.
Greenwashing has been described by the European Union as “the practice of giving false impression of the environmental impact or benefits of a product, which can mislead consumers”. The main drawback of greenwashing is that it obstructs tackling the climate crisis. By misleading consumers and investors, they might end up opting for a product, service or company harming the environment against their will. This delays concrete and credible actions to fight the climate crisis.
In March 2024, the European parliament approved the Green Claim Directive (GCD) to combat greenwashing and protect consumers. It mandates that environmental claims and labels must be reliable, comparable, and verifiable. Specifically, claims must be supported by"independent, peer-reviewed, widely recognised, robust and verifiable scientific evidence". Future performance claims must be time-bound with measurable and verifiable interim targets. For environmental labelling, the European Union (EU) requests a robust monitoring and evaluation system, applicable across all sectors and businesses trading in the EU, including e-commerce, with exceptions for microenterprises. EU member states have two years to implement the directive, with companies required to comply by 27 September 2026.
Therefore, under new laws in Europe:
- Generic environmental claims (like ‘eco’, ‘organic’, or ‘environmentally friendly’) and other misleading product information will be banned unless proven.
- Only sustainability labels from approved certification schemes or public authorities will be allowed.
- Claims of neutral, reduced, or positive environmental impact based on emissions offsetting schemes will be prohibited.
The UK, has introduced a similar anti-greenwashing rule. It required that sustainability claims about products or services must be “fair, clear and not misleading” and be consistent with the product's characteristics. Additionally, the statements need to be in line with the characteristics of the product or service. Claims must be accurate and substantiated. The greenwashing rule applies to any firm communicating with clients in the UK about their offering. Effective from the 31 May 2024 for the financial sector, the rule will be implemented in phases over two years , safeguarding sustainable investments from greenwashing.
Topics of relevance
Below are some relevant topics that have been identified for this kick-start.
Greener Value Chains
Supply chains contribute largely to environmental degradation making sustainability essential. Shifting to sustainable supply chains needs collaboration with partners and integrating environmental considerations across the entire value chain . Efficient supply chain management prevents greenwashing and ensures compliance with sustainability standards. However, managing greenwashing in the value chain is challenging, especially in global supply chains with geographically dispersed partners . Here, the misbehaviour of supply chain partners can damage a company’s reputation, financial performance, and stakeholder relationships. While some companies deliberately engage in greenwashing, others may lack control over their supply chains due to their complexity. It has therefore become more important to increase transparency and accountability across value chains by measuring and validating environmental claims.
New obligatory supply chain legislation is being introduced by governments and the European Union. In July 2024, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDD) or EU Supply Chain Law entered into force. It aims to foster sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour in companies’ operations and across their global value chains. The new rules will ensure that companies in scope identify and address adverse human rights and environmental impacts of their actions inside and outside Europe . It is important to note that the due diligence requirements of the EU law apply not only to an organisation’s own business activities or those of its subsidiaries but equally to direct and indirect suppliers if the business relationship is established or permanent.
Additionally, companies need to prove that they are implementing environmental policies in order be Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)-compliant. ESG compliance is an important aspect of corporate governance for publicly-traded companies since investors now more often opt for socially-responsible investing . Certifications recognising ESG compliance are legal assurance for regulatory bodies that a company adheres to ESG risk and compliance practices. Therefore, falsifying environmental claims can result in loss of ESG certification and financial losses. Furthermore, companies use certification schemes to demonstrate supply chain sustainability and ethical provenance to consumers. Companies will therefore have to trace each component, ingredient, or material from origin to endpoint in order to prove environmental claims, and space applications can support this.
Ensuring Carbon Credit Integrity
Carbon credits align business objectives with environmental conservation by representing one tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission saved or offset. Businesses earn these credits by investing in sustainable projects like reforestation or renewable energy. Acting as financial incentives, carbon credits encourage greener operations and provide an alternative for companies unable to directly reduce emissions. With stricter carbon targets on the horizon, their demand and value are expected to rise.
The system’s success hinges on reliable data to ensure offset claims reflect genuine emission reductions. Satellite applications are indispensable for validating these claims, offering unparalleled reach and consistent data capture .
Authenticating Green Finance
Green finance uses financial instruments to support projects or initiatives with environmental benefits, aiming to drive sustainable development and green economic transformation. These instruments span investment, banking and insurance. However, green projects often have higher risks of return, due to reliance on new technologies with harder-to-access performance. Additionally, a lack of transparency makes it challenging to evaluate their positive impacts. With lower short-term returns, these projects struggle to secure funding as financial institutions tend to favour, low-risk, transparent investments with quick returns. In contrast, green finance priorities long-term returns, access to innovation and social and environmental benefits, making it crucial for the green transition.
Unfortunately, the financial sector is not immune to greenwashing. In 2023, greenwashing cases by European banks and financial services increased by 70% compared to 2022. This happens when financial institutions, knowingly or unknowingly, claim to invest and support unsustainable projects. Consequently, there is a need for financial institution to investigate and confirm the ESG performance of projects they endorse. Tracking the environmental impact is crucial for ensuring transparency and accountability in green financial mechanisms.
Value of space
Proposed services must use one or more space assets. Some examples of space assets are provided below.
Satellite Earth Observation (SatEO)
SatEO can measure and monitor greenhouse gas emissions at scale across complex supply chains. Real-time operational data from remote sensing - such as water usage on farms – can be an invaluable input on platforms, which track goods from origin to endpoint.
SatEO provides a holistic view of vast landscapes, sometimes in near-real-time, which can support the monitoring and quantification of a variety of environmental parameters e.g., methane emissions, water pollution, nitrogen dioxide emissions etc. This can help companies to validate their sustainability labels and can help a focal company detect unsustainable activities from partners in the value chain. This is also relevant for financial institutions to verify claims made by companies they invest in.
SatEO can be used to identify and predict potential adverse environmental impacts of a company’s activity, helping them to comply with the new EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and ESG policies.
SatEO can provide a high degree of accuracy in capturing carbon sequestration rates and deforestation activities. The expansive view and precision that SatEO provides make them ideal for validating claims in the carbon credit market.
For green finance, SatEO can detect illegal activities – like illegal logging, piracy, and illegal mining – that could be linked to a project or company. This way financial institution can track the projects they invest in.
Satellite Communications (SatCom)
Satcom can be used to increase a supply chain network’s robustness and resilience. It enables seamless connectivity to supply chain actors when terrestrial communications are not available or unreliable. Since supply chains can be complex, satcom enables data transfer in scenarios where goods are being transported from remote regions or data transfer from in-situ sensors collecting environmental indicators (emissions, weather, water, soil health etc.).
Green projects can rely on SatCom for reporting and communicating their ESG performance. This is beneficial when they are based in a region where terrestrial communication is lacking.
Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
Satellite Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) are key to providing accurate positioning and to track and trace goods along a supply chain. This is key to understanding efficiencies and optimising routes for greener operations.
GNSS can help to pinpoint the precise location of polluting or illegal events in real-time, thereby highlighting greenwashing activities. This can be applied to support claims from green projects.
What we look for
Kick-Start activities explore the business opportunity and the technical viability of new applications and services that exploit one or more space assets (e.g. Satellite Communications, Satellite Navigation, Earth Observation, Human Spaceflight Technology).
This call for Kick-Start activities is dedicated to the theme “Space supporting Environmental Claims” means that the call is open to companies that intend to develop space-enabled applications and services providing support and evidence to environmental claims and labelling.
What we offer
We offer funding and support to companies, both for business case assessment and for the development of new, space-based services.
Our offer includes:
- Technical & commercial guidance
- Access to our network and partners
- Use of the ESA brand for your service
- Zero-equity funding
Each selected activity will receive 75% funding by the European Space Agency of up to 75 kEUR.
How to apply
- Register your team on esa-star registration today.
- When the Kick-Start opens on 3rd of February 2025 visit esa-star publication and search for this Space supporting Environmental Claims opportunity to download the official competition documents.
- Use the official documents to prepare your proposal.
- Reach out to your National Delegate (if applicable) to request a Letter of Authorisation. Contact details of each National Delegate can be found here.
- Submit your proposal via esa-star Tendering before the deadline on 14 March 2025.
Authorisation of funding
ESA Space Solutions can provide funding to perform Kick-Start activities to any company (economic operator) residing in the following Member States: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.