• Conduct a comprehensive audit of the current observing system, including its governance and financial arrangements, establish a function for annual reporting, and identify the barriers preventing the system from operating at the required level.
• Scan the horizon for next-generation technologies that can enable greenhouse gas monitoring value chains to operate at lower cost.
• Deliver tangible improvements to the current value chains, strengthening the links between observations, data synthesis, analysis and reporting.
• Devise comprehensive action plans for the longer-term transformation required, supported by a strategy to align these plans with available funding streams.

CMCC role
CMCC plays a key role in the JOHN project as a scientific and technical partner for the terrestrial component of the greenhouse gas observing system. Its contribution focuses on assessing the current state of land-related value chains, identifying weaknesses and barriers, and supporting their evolution towards more robust, accessible and cost-effective monitoring systems.

CMCC contributes to the analysis of existing observing capacities by examining how land observations are organised, processed and used within broader greenhouse gas monitoring and reporting chains. This includes attention to governance, operational constraints, costs and interoperability issues that may limit the capacity of the system to deliver reliable information for policy and decision-making.

A central part of CMCC’s role is the exploration of emerging technologies and digital solutions for terrestrial greenhouse gas flux observations. In particular, CMCC supports the development and mapping of land flux observation networks, with a focus on eddy covariance measurements and ecosystem information. This work helps define how future observing systems can become more efficient, better integrated and able to provide higher-quality data at lower operational cost.

CMCC also contributes to improving the quality, standardisation and usability of ecosystem and flux data. This includes the development of digital QA/QC approaches for metadata and ecosystem variables, as well as support to more accessible data flows for eddy covariance observations. Overall, CMCC strengthens the land component of JOHN by connecting scientific expertise on terrestrial carbon fluxes with practical solutions for data quality, interoperability and long-term transformation of greenhouse gas monitoring value chains.

Activities
The JOHN project addresses the need to strengthen the global information system on greenhouse gas sources and sinks, ensuring that data and knowledge are more reliable, accessible, interoperable and useful for climate decision-making. The project builds on existing carbon-cycle monitoring initiatives and supports the transformation expected through the WMO Global Greenhouse Gas Watch.

Its activities focus first on assessing the current state of the observing system, including the value chains that connect observations, data synthesis, analysis and reporting across land, ocean and atmosphere. This assessment considers not only scientific and technical aspects, but also governance, financial arrangements, operational constraints and the barriers that prevent the system from performing at the level required.

JOHN also explores emerging technologies and digital solutions that could make greenhouse gas monitoring more efficient and cost-effective. This includes identifying new observational approaches, improving the integration of existing networks, and evaluating tools that can support better data processing, quality control and system design.

A further part of the project is dedicated to delivering practical improvements to current value chains, with the aim of enhancing data quality, accessibility and usability. By improving data flows and strengthening links between observations and reporting, JOHN will help make greenhouse gas information more robust and policy-relevant.

Finally, the project will develop action plans for the long-term transformation of the observing system. These plans will be supported by a strategy designed to align future needs with available funding opportunities, helping to ensure that improvements can be sustained beyond the project lifetime.

Expected results
By the end of the project, JOHN is expected to deliver a clearer and more actionable understanding of the global greenhouse gas observing system and of the transformations needed to make it more effective. One of the main results will be a systems analysis of the current observing system, together with a methodology to audit its status on a regular basis. This will help identify strengths, gaps, costs, vulnerabilities and barriers across the value chains linking observations, data synthesis, analysis and reporting.

The project will also generate a better understanding of emerging technologies and digital solutions that could improve greenhouse gas monitoring by reducing costs, expanding observational capacity and addressing new scientific questions. In parallel, JOHN will provide guidance on how new observing assets can be optimally deployed to maximise both scientific value and financial returns, including through a prototype tool to support decision-making by observing communities.

Another expected result is the development of new governance mechanisms able to involve public and private actors, support international cooperation and enable countries to pool resources for shared investment decisions. JOHN will also contribute to a more resilient and efficient data system by implementing practical improvements to data flows, back-up systems, accessibility and interoperability.

Finally, the project will produce a roadmap of investment actions, co-designed with end users and funders, to guide the long-term transformation of the observing system in support of initiatives such as the WMO Global Greenhouse Gas Watch and the Global Carbon Project.

Partners
NORCE Research AS – NORCE, Norway
Integrated Carbon Observation System European Research Infrastructure Consortium – ICOS ERIC, Finland
World Meteorological Organization – WMO, Switzerland
Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines – UVSQ, France
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis – IIASA, Austria
Lund University – Sweden
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts – ECMWF, United Kingdom
Dalhousie University – Canada
Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee – VLIZ, Belgium
Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg – UHEI, Germany
Fondazione Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici – CMCC, Italy
University of East Anglia – UEA, United Kingdom
National Oceanography Centre – NOC, United Kingdom
Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science – MPG, Germany
Thomas Herbert Kaminski – iLAB, Germany
University of Exeter – UNEXE, United Kingdom
Joint Programming Initiative on Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans – JPI Oceans, Belgium