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Call key data

Biodiversity, economics and finance: unlocking financial flows towards reversing of biodiversity loss

Funding ProgramHorizon Europe - Cluster 6 - Destination 1: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
Call numberHORIZON-CL6-2023-BIODIV-01-9
deadlinesOpening
22.12.2022		Deadline
28.03.2023 17:00
Funding rate100%
Call budget € 5,000,000.00
Estimated EU contribution per project€ 5,000,000.00
Link to the callec.europa.eu
Link to the submissionec.europa.eu

Call content

short description

The EU sustainable finance taxonomy and other similar initiatives are underway with the aim to help guide investments towards more sustainable outcomes, in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal. They constitute a unique opportunity for ramping up investments in natural capital and projects that substantially contribute to biodiversity, as well as to other challenges, such as nature-based solutions and ecosystem restoration contributing to climate mitigation and adaptation.

Call objectives

Nature provides all sorts of essential services to our societies: clean air and water, food, pollination, carbon sequestration and pollination, it sustains tourism and leisure activities, it contributes to mental and physical health and delivers many other functions. In many instances, nature is also the most effective insurance policy – protecting us from floods, landslides, fires, or extreme heat.

However, we are facing an unprecedented crisis of biodiversity loss, posing a serious threat to our future welfare. 75% of the land-based environment and about 66% of the marine environment have been significantly altered by human actions. Nearly 1 million species are at risk of extinction from human activities. The loss of clean air, drinkable water, pollinating insects, forests, and species pose as big a threat to species survival as climate change. The loss of biodiversity increases the challenge of limiting climate change, as healthy ecosystems naturally absorb carbon from the atmosphere.

At the same time, Research findings indicate that the conservation and effective management and guardianship of at least 30% of the planet in the most important places for biodiversity could protect up to 80% of plant and animal species, and secure 60% of the planet’s carbon stocks and 66% of the planet’s clean water. The latest IPCC report complements this statement: conservation of approximately 30% to 50% of the planet will also be key in maintaining the resilience of biodiversity and ecosystem services at a global scale. UNEP report on the State of Finance for Nature states that investments in NBS need to triple by 2030 and to quadruple by 2050 if the world is to meet its climate change, biodiversity and land restoration targets. As underlined in the same report, more research is needed on how private financing can be strengthened and what are the low-hanging investment opportunities.

Mobilising private investment, in particular to support the scaling up of NBS and the market for NBS in the European Union is key, in the context of a market characterised by smaller scale projects predominantly grants funded by the public sector.

The project(s) should:

  • Co-identify, analyse, and explore solutions to address potential barriers and hurdles in the implementation of the Taxonomy Regulation, for example related to the interpretation and the collection of data for biodiversity relevant technical screening criteria. The project(s) could address the technical criteria ‘Substantially Contribute’ to climate change mitigation and adaptation while following the ‘Do No Significantly Does Harm’ in terms of the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem; as well as the criteria ‘Substantially Contribute’ to the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem, especially for activities related to land management, restoration of ecosystems and remediation;
  • More particularly, identify for which criteria/sectors there are practical implementation barriers and gaps, for example through analysis of case studies, when collecting the remaining Research and Innovation gaps;
  • Building on the existing community's engagement in relevant Horizon 2020 and LIFE projects, engage the relevant stakeholders from the financial and biodiversity and NBS community involved in the implementation of the regulations in this analysis, and in the exploration and co-development of solutions in order to close the implementation gaps. This includes for example academics, regulatory bodies, financial institutions, civil society, industry and NGOs having co-developed relevant standards, protocols and certification schemes;
  • Analyse the investment landscape in relation to protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems, identifying best-practice case studies and evaluating the leverage potential of the EU taxonomy and its key success factors. Explore pathways for the future development of the taxonomy that could generate the most positive biodiversity outcomes;
  • Provide the necessary guidance, training, and tools both for financial entities and for entrepreneurs engaged in “nature positive” activities, for the interpretation and collection of data of the technical screening criteria for determining whether an economic activity substantially contribute (SC) to one or more objectives, as set in the Regulation. It should also guide the interpretation of the technical screening criteria for determining whether an economic activity does significant harm (in relation to the DNSH principle) to the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems, as set in the Regulations. This should support compliance with related reporting and disclosure regulations;
  • Identify potential skill gaps and propose a capacity building strategy to tackle them;
  • Provide economic actors such as investors including Investment Fund Managers, corporates and financial institutions with tools, guidance, and methodologies to gather reliable, consistent and standardised datato enable incorporation of biodiversity considerations into their investment decisions and risk management processes;
  • Involve actively and co-create with the end-users and stakeholders (non-financial corporations, financial institutions, governments etc.) to fully account for their respective views and needs;
  • Issue recommendations at EU as well as other levels on enabling conditions for biodiversity-focused sustainable finance and accounting principles, exploring synergies with other EU initiatives, such as the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, as well as with relevant ‘biodiversity-friendly’ labels and standards.

Actions should bring together from the start multiple types of scientific expertise in social sciences and humanities, in particular in economics and finance, as well as scientific expertise in biodiversity and natural capital.

Actions should envisage clustering activities with the project(s) of the same topic and relevant topics on sustainable finance and valuation of ecosystem services. To this end proposals should foresee dedicated tasks and appropriate resources for coordination measures, foresee joint activities and joint deliverables.

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Expected results

In line with the European Green Deal priorities and in particular with the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 and the 2030 climate target plan, the successful proposal will help unlock financial flows needed for reversing biodiversity loss and help better implement the sustainable finance taxonomy, thus contributing to mainstream biodiversity, ecosystem services and natural capital in the society and economy and to build approaches for enabling transformative changes to face societal challenges, including through the deployment of nature-based solutions (NBS).

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

  • Mobilisation of mainstream finance to slow down, and reverse biodiversity loss in the broader context of environmentally sustainable development, by catalysing nature-positive investments such as nature-based solutions, and by promoting a more holistic approach that considers nature’s essential contributions to other objectives such as those related to climate, health, food, and water security;
  • New knowledge, methodologies, and tools to support the implementation of the EU strategy for financing the transition to a sustainable economy, with a view to reorienting financial flows towards activities that benefit protection, restoration and sustainable management and use of biodiversity and ecosystems, including information, tools, and metrics to better integrate biodiversity, ecosystem services and natural capital considerations in their decision-making processes;
  • Better awareness, understanding and know-how of economic actors, the financial community, and key institutions, public and private, about the opportunities and barriers (knowledge gaps, skills gaps, etc.) associated with the implementation of the sustainable finance taxonomy, including its technical screening criteria and ‘Do No Significant Harm’ (DNSH) principle in regard of the environmental objective focusing on the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems;
  • Contribution to the implementation of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 by helping to put Europe’s biodiversity on the path to recovery by 2030 for the benefit of people, climate, and the planet and by better measurement, monitoring, and management of biodiversity.

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Regions / countries for fundingEU Member States, Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT)
Moldova (Moldova), Albania (Shqipëria), Armenia (Հայաստան), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина), Faeroes (Føroyar / Færøerne), Georgia (საქართველო), Island (Ísland), Israel (ישראל / إِسْرَائِيل), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Montenegro (Црна Гора), Morocco (المغرب), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Tunisia (تونس /Tūnis), Türkiye, Ukraine (Україна), United Kingdom
eligible entitiesEU Body, Education and training institution, International organization, Natural Person, 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 partnershipYes
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
  • third 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.

Specific cases:

  • Affiliated entities — 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 — 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 without legal personality — 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.
  • EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act.
  • 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.

Additional information

Topics
Agriculture & Forestry, Fishery, Food, Soil quality, 
Air Quality, Biodiversity & Environment, Climate & Climate Change, Water quality & management, 
Competitiveness of Enterprises, Employment/Labour Market, SME & entrepreneurship
Relevance for EU Macro-RegionEUSAIR - 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

All proposals 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.

Proposals must be complete and contain all parts and mandatory annexes and supporting documents, e.g. plan for the exploitation and dissemination of the results including communication activities, etc.

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.

Call documents HE-Work Programme 2023-2024, Cluster 6, Destination 1 (kB)
ContactNational Contact Points for Horizon Europe
Website

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