The European Space Agency Greenhouse Gases Climate Change Initiative (GHG CCI) project is one of several projects of ESA's Climate Change Initiative (CCI), which will deliver various Essential Climate Variables (ECVs)

Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) are the two most important anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs) and a focus of international research activities related to a better understanding of the carbon cycle (see, for example, the Global Carbon Project (GCP)).

Within the GHG-CCI project the focus is on satellite data. Satellite observations combined with modelling can add important missing global information on regional CO2 and CH4 (surface) sources and sinks required for better climate prediction. The GHG CCI project started on the 1st September 2010.