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The ocean-climate-biodiversity-people nexus: uncovering safe operating space for safeguarding the integrity and health of the global ocean
Funding Program
Horizon Europe: Cluster 6 - Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
Call number
HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-CLIMATE-02
deadlines
Opening
06.05.2025
Deadline
16.09.2025 17:00
Deadline - 2nd stage
Opening
18.05.2025
Funding rate
100%
Call budget
€ 19,500,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project
€ 6,500,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
In line with the European and global biodiversity and climate objectives, successful proposals should further the European efforts in achieving both climate–neutrality and ocean sustainability, by improving the scientific understanding of the short-, medium- and long-term ocean health and integrity at different emission scenarios, under the cumulative and cascading pressures of current and emerging threats, including ocean climate interventions, tipping points and passing of planetary boundaries, risks and impacts, speed and magnitude of change in deep-sea biodiversity and response measures guided by the precautionary principle and supporting decision-making at regional, European and global levels.
Expected effects and impacts
Actions should aim at developing innovative approaches to address only one of the following options:
A. Ocean integrity at different emission scenarios: extreme events, slow onset events, cascading and tipping elements and ocean inertia
The project is expected to:
- advance the science on ocean tipping elements at different GHG emission scenarios, lag times, opportunities and impacts at multi-decadal to multi-centennial timeframes, including the risk of irreversible changes in the carbon cycle and the risks under various overshoot pathways;
- advance the science on ocean changes and near term (∼2030), mid-term (2050–2060) and long-term (after ∼2060) climate actions;
- contribute to integrated prediction systems that combine Earth System, Ecosystem and Social System models; fully Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) and Earth System Models (ESMs) with Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) (ocean biochemistry, ecology, and biology); ability and/or sensitivity of global Earth System Models (ESM) to simulate tipping point crossings; integrated prediction systems that combine Earth System, Ecosystem and Social System models;
- elaborate on the policy implications of inertia (climate inertia and its thermal, ocean, ice sheet, carbon cycle feedbacks and marine ecological components) and develop recommendations for European policy making.
B. Ocean integrity and health: current and emerging anthropogenic threats
The project is expected to:
- advance the science of ocean emerging threats - identify emerging threats that are likely to have a significant impact on the health and functioning of the ocean over the next 5–10 years; 10-20 ys; 50-100 ys and more;
- exploratory research into short-, medium- and long-term impacts on ocean health and marine biodiversity arising from existing and emerging anthropogenic threats, such as (the list is purely informative): mining for critical materials, technologically enhanced ocean carbon uptake, ocean climate interventions, emerging marine renewable energy (wave, tidal, ocean current, offshore wind power, offshore solar energy, ocean floor geothermal energy), new hydrogen economy and leakages, ocean crops, marine engineering and oil drilling, untapped potential of marine collagens and their impacts on marine ecosystems, exploring marine genetic resources, impacts of expanding trade for fish swim bladders on target and non-target species, impacts of fishing for mesopelagic species on the biological ocean carbon pump, colocation of marine activities, floating marine cities, trace-element contamination compounded by the global transition to green technologies, emerging NIS (invasive species) and pathogens, novel and emerging chemical problems, nutrient and pesticide runoff from industrial agriculture, nanomaterials and micro and nanoplastics, potentially toxic effects of new biodegradable materials intended to replace plastics, emerging contaminants of concern, emerging applications of seaweeds, entanglement of marine mammals in mooring lines, cables and anchors, microalgae for biofuels, marine hydrates, seaweeds supply for human consumption and also raw materials for feeds, nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals;
- support improved risk assessment and management actions that can contribute to mitigate the impacts of these current and emerging stressors and inform public and policymakers to mitigate potentially negative impacts through precautionary principles before those effects become realized.
C. Ocean integrity and health: Ocean Acidification (OA), Planetary Boundaries and SDG14.3.1
Making appropriate use of the Guide to best practices for ocean acidification research and data reporting, the project is expected to:
- improve our understanding of trends, variability, drivers, and impacts (ecological, ecosystem services and human) of ocean acidification, in a context of multiple ocean stressors;
- better incorporate complex interactions between natural systems (e.g., climate-ocean coupling, shifting food webs), social systems (e.g., anthropogenic activities, marine pollution, overfishing), and their social, economic, and ecological impacts;
- fill gaps in space and time for ocean CO2 and ancillary physical and biogeochemical observations at the ocean surface and interior to reduce the biases and uncertainties in the variability and trends for air–sea fluxes and inventory changes, particularly for the Arctic and the Southern Ocean;
- improve our understanding of changes in water mass ventilation associated with climate change and variability to gain further insights into future trends in ocean acidification and deoxygenation in the ocean interior;
- better understand aerosol pH, including more direct measurements, and the process controlling the lability of iron, phosphorus, and other trace metals in atmospheric deposition, as well as the need for more direct measurements of the atmospheric deposition of these nutrients to the ocean, particularly in remote ocean regions such as the Southern Ocean;
- improve observations for the interplay between carbonate chemistry and a variety of biogeochemical and physical processes to increase the robustness of future assessments of ocean acidification; ensure better harmonised and tailored monitoring and data integration, improved models (both in term of spatial resolution and representation of the biological processes), and further integrate observations and model products;
- identify and monitor indicators of biological/ecosystem responses to ocean acidification coupled to support the assessment of ecosystem risk and consequences, and better inform management strategies at temporal and spatial scales relevant for organisms and their habitats;
- use models, forecasts, and predictions as tools to facilitate management strategies and design decision-support tools for prioritising the development of climate adaptation strategies, develop innovative tools to monitor and mitigate changing ocean chemistry locally, explore the potential opportunities and risks associated with the research findings, aligned with policy governance, including the different spatial-temporal scales that are ecologically and socio-economically relevant and politically applicable, propose actionable innovative solutions and policy recommendations.
For all three options (A, B & C), actions funded under this topic should have a strong collaboration mechanism and should include a dedicated task, appropriate resources, and a plan on how they will collaborate with one another.
The actions should build on existing observing platforms, e.g. in the context of the Copernicus programme, and strengthen and expand the current capacities in an inter and multidisciplinary and ecosystem-based approach. The research carried out should also include SSH perspectives and gender, and the research on desirability, benefits and disbenefits should also be done in relation to desirability for whom, benefits and disbenefits for whom, adding a comprehensive justice perspective on the call, including intergenerational.
International cooperation is encouraged, especially with AAORIA partner countries. A strong linkage should be ensured with the ongoing activities under the UN Decade of Ocean Science, including where relevant the Decade Programme of the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network GOA-ON.
Actions under this topic will build upon and link with sister Horizon projects, the Copernicus marine service (CMEMS), GOOS, the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS), MBON of GEOBON, ICOS, GCOS, and other relevant international Ocean Observing Initiatives. All in-situ data collected through actions funded from this call should follow INSPIRE principles and be available through open access repositories supported by the European Commission (Copernicus, and EMODnet). Synergies with the Horizon Europe Mission Restore our Ocean and waters is encouraged; the projects outputs may contribute to the European Digital Twin of the Ocean and the Destination Earth initiative and outline specific plans to this effect.
This topic is part of a coordination initiative between ESA and the European Commission on Earth System Science and should towards this end include sufficient means and resources for effective coordination. Projects should leverage the data and services available through European Research Infrastructures federated under the European Open Science Cloud, Copernicus, as well as data from relevant data spaces in the data-driven analyses. Projects could additionally benefit from access to infrastructure and relevant FAIR data by collaborating with projects funded under the topics HORIZON-INFRA-2022-EOSC-01-03: FAIR and open data sharing in support of healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters and HORIZON-INFRA-2024- EOSC-01-01: FAIR and open data sharing in support of the mission adaptation to climate change. Collaboration with the relevant existing European Research Infrastructures such as those prioritised by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) is encouraged.
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Expected results
Project results are expected to contribute to several of the following expected outcomes:
- further improved understanding of the limits to ocean integrity at different emission scenarios; ocean changes and near term (∼2030), mid-term (2050–2060) and long-term (after ∼2060) climate actions and policy making under climate inertia, guided by the precautionary approach;
- further advanced science regarding ocean existing and emerging threats and the associated risks and impacts for the next 5–10 years; 10-20 ys; 50-100 ys and more; and uncovering possible response measures guided by the precautionary principle;
- improved understanding of trends, variability, drivers, and social and ecological impacts of ocean acidification (as an integral part of a multi-stressor and cascading problem, alongside ocean warming, deoxygenation, eutrophication, stratification, etc.); more harmonised and tailored ocean acidification monitoring (both chemical and biological), modelling, observation, data integration and prediction capabilities and mitigation activities;
- important contributions made to key ocean monitoring indicators, Essential Climate Variables (ECVs from GCOS), Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs from GOOS) in compliance with international programmes (IPCC, WOA, IPBES, CMIP, CLIVAR, Ocean Health Index, UN Decade, ARGO) that support international global assessments and foster the development of a regional approach to ocean climate monitoring and reporting, overcoming current limitations and gaps;
- further improved Earth System Models (ESMs) representing key physical, biogeochemical, and biological processes in the ocean with reduced uncertainty of climate change projections at regional scales, and reduced biases (i.e., in the WCRP Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP7) models for ocean and polar regions);
- enabled evidence-based regional, European, and global decision–making on ocean governance; sustained European leadership in ocean–climate–biodiversity science nexus supporting EU programmes; significant contribution to global scientific assessments, such as the IPCC, IPBES and WOA, as well as to the UNFCCC Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue, UN Decade of Ocean Science and UN SDGs 13 and 14.
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Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
Moldova (Moldova), Albania (Shqipëria), Armenia (Հայաստան), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина), Canada, Faeroes (Føroyar / Færøerne), Georgia (საქართველო), Iceland (Ísland), Israel (ישראל / إِسْرَائِيل), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Montenegro (Црна Гора), New Zealand (Aotearoa), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Tunisia (تونس /Tūnis), Türkiye, Ukraine (Україна), United Kingdom
eligible entities
EU Body, Education and training institution, International organization, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Mandatory partnership
Yes
Project Partnership
To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions
- the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States
- countries associated to Horizon Europe - see list of particpating countries
Only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:
- at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and
- at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.
Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non-associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call topic.
A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
other eligibility criteria
Specific cases:
- Affiliated entities (i.e. entities with a legal or capital link to a beneficiary which participate in the action with similar rights and obligations to the beneficiaries, but which do not sign the grant agreement and therefore do not become beneficiaries themselves) are allowed, if they are eligible for participation and funding.
- Associated partners (i.e. entities which participate in the action without signing the grant agreement, and without the right to charge costs or claim contributions) are allowed, subject to any conditions regarding associated partners set out in the specific call conditions.
- Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees to protect the EU’s financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons.
- Legal entities created under EU law (EU bodies) including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act.
- International European research organisations are eligible to receive funding. International organisations with headquarters in a Member State or Associated Country are eligible to receive funding for ‘Training and mobility’ actions or when provided for in the specific call/topic conditions. Other international organisations are not eligible to receive funding, unless provided for in the specific call/topic conditions, or if their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority.
- Joint Research Centre (JRC)— Where provided for in the specific call conditions, applicants may include in their proposals the possible contribution of the JRC but the JRC will not participate in the preparation and submission of the proposal. Applicants will indicate the contribution that the JRC could bring to the project based on the scope of the topic text. After the evaluation process, the JRC and the consortium selected for funding may come to an agreement on the specific terms of the participation of the JRC. If an agreement is found, the JRC may accede to the grant agreement as beneficiary requesting zero funding or participate as an associated partner, and would accede to the consortium as a member.
- Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members (e.g. European research infrastructure consortia (ERICs)) may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. However, if the action is in practice implemented by the individual members, those members should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible.
- EU restrictive measures — Entities subject to EU restrictive measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) as well as Article 75 TFEU, are not eligible to participate in any capacity, including as beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, third parties giving in-kind contributions, subcontractors or recipients of financial support to third parties (if any).
- Legal entities established in Russia, Belarus, or in non-government controlled territories of Ukraine — Given the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the involvement of Belarus, there is currently no appropriate context allowing the implementation of the actions foreseen in this programme with legal entities established in Russia, Belarus, or in non-government controlled territories of Ukraine. Therefore, even where such entities are not subject to EU restrictive measures, such legal entities are not eligible to participate in any capacity. This includes participation as beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, third parties giving in-kind contributions, subcontractors or recipients of financial support to third parties (if any). Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis for justified reasons.
With specific regard to measures addressed to Russia, following the adoption of the Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1745 of 24 June 2024 (amending Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 of 31 July 2014) concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine, legal entities established outside Russia but whose proprietary rights are directly or indirectly owned for more than 50% by a legal person, entity or body established in Russia are also not eligible to participate in any capacity. - Measures for the protection of the Union budget against breaches of the principles of the rule of law in Hungary — Following the Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506, as of 16 December 2022, no legal commitments can be entered into with Hungarian public interest trusts established under the Hungarian Act IX of 2021 or any entity they maintain. Affected entities may continue to apply to calls for proposals and can participate without receiving EU funding, as associated partners, if allowed by the call conditions. However, as long as the Council measures are not lifted, such entities are not eligible to participate in any funded role (beneficiaries, affiliated entities, subcontractors, recipients of financial support to third parties, etc.).In case of multi-beneficiary grant calls, applicants will be invited to remove or replace that entity in any funded role and/or to change its status into associated partner. Tasks and budget may be redistributed accordingly.
Additional information
Topics
Relevance for EU Macro-Region
EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region
UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)
Additional Information
Applications must be submitted electronically via the Funders & Tenders Portal electronic submission system (accessible via the topic page in the Search Funding & Tenders section). Paper submissions are NOT possible.
Applications must be submitted using the forms provided inside the electronic submission system (not the templates available on the topic page, which are only for information). The structure and presentation must correspond to the instructions given in the forms.
Applications must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents.
The application form will have two parts:
- Part A (to be filled in directly online) contains administrative information about the applicant organisations (future coordinator and beneficiaries and affiliated entities), the summarised budget for the proposal and call-specific questions;
- Part B (to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system) contains the technical description of the project.
Annexes and supporting documents will be directly available in the submission system and must be uploaded as PDF files (or other formats allowed by the system).
The limit for a full application (Part B) is 45 pages.
All international organisations are exceptionally eligible for funding.
To ensure a balanced portfolio covering the topic, grants will be awarded to applications not only in order of ranking but at least also to those that are the highest ranked within each of the three options (A, B, C), provided that the proposals attain all thresholds.
Call documents
Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 Cluster 6 - Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and EnvironmentHorizon Europe Work Programme 2025 Cluster 6 - Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment(kB)
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