ICOS and ICOS Cities: measures at the heart of climate action

Behind all the grand declarations about the climate, one requirement is often overlooked: the reliability of data. In Europe, the ICOS network provides this scientific compass, essential for understanding, anticipating and acting on the climate crisis. Focus on this infrastructure and its urban extension, ICOS Cities.

ICOS: a scientific network serving the climate

The Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) is a European research infrastructure.

The mission: to continuously measure concentrations and fluxes of greenhouse gases (GHGs) – CO₂, CH₄, N₂O – and provide standardized data on the carbon cycle.

Present in 15 European countries, ICOS brings together more than 170 observation stations:

• Oceanic stations: they study the oceanic carbon cycle, at the ocean/atmosphere interface.
• Atmospheric stations: analyze GHG concentrations at various levels.
• Ecosystem stations: measure CO₂ exchanges between air, vegetation and soils.

ICOS France: a major contribution

In France, ICOS is run by a consortium of scientific institutions: CNRS, CEA, LSCE and several universities. The French network has stations spread all over the country, from the Landes forest to the Mediterranean and the French overseas departments and territories, and plays a central role in the European infrastructure.

ICOS data is :

• Public and freely accessible
• Compatible between countries thanks to harmonized standards
• Used for research, climate models (GIEC), and emissions verification in support of public policy.

ICOS Cities: tools for measuring urban emissions

While over 70% of the world’s CO₂ emissions come from cities, they still lack concrete means of assessing their efforts to reduce emissions. This is the challenge of the ICOS Cities project, launched by the EU as part of Horizon 2020.