Call: Health impacts of climate change, costs and benefits of action and inaction

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Programme

Horizon Europe - Cluster 1 - Destination 2: Living and working in a health-promoting environment

Acronym

HORIZON-HLTH-ENVHLTH

Type of Fund

Direct Management

Description of programme
"Horizon Europe - Cluster 1 - Destination 2: Living and working in a health-promoting environment"

Calls for proposals under this destination are directed towards the Key Strategic Orientation KSO-D ‘Creating a more resilient, inclusive and democratic European society’ of Horizon Europe’s Strategic Plan 2021-2024. Research and innovation supported under this destination should contribute to the impact area ‘A resilient EU prepared for emerging threats’ and in particular to the following expected impact, set out in the Strategic Plan for the health cluster: ‘living and working environments are health-promoting and sustainable thanks to better understanding of environmental, occupational, social and economic determinants of health’. In addition, research and innovation supported under this destination could also contribute to the following impact areas: ‘Good health and high quality accessible health care’, ‘Climate change mitigation and adaptation’, and ‘Clean and healthy air, water and soil’.

The environment we live and work in is a major determinant of our health and well-being. It has direct or indirect beneficial or adverse impact on our health and well-being. Environmental factors are estimated to account for almost 20% of all deaths in Europe. Opinion surveys have shown that European citizens are concerned about the impact of pollution on their health. The impacting factors on both physical and mental health and well-being are not all identified nor their effects comprehensively understood and accounted for to support evidence-based policy- and decision-making. Furthermore, agreed methodologies to estimate health-related costs of exposure to environmental stressors are lacking.

Therefore, Destination 2 aims at filling knowledge gaps in the understanding of the impacts on our health and well-being of those environmental, occupational and socio-economic risk factors that have the most significant or widespread societal impacts. In this work programme, Destination 2 focuses on indoor and outdoor air pollution, chemicals, non-ionizing radiation (electromagnetic fields), urbanisation, climate and other environmental changes, socio-economic inequalities, and changing working environments. Furthermore, under this work programme a topic is dedicated to the creation of a European partnership for the assessment of risks from chemicals, which should establish the EU as an internationally recognised driver of innovative chemical risk assessment for an optimal protection of human health and the environment. The results will support the EU’s environment and health policies and overarching policy frameworks such as the European Green Deal, the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability, the 8th Environment Action Programme, the EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work as well as the WHO European Environment and Health Process (EHP).

Strong collaborations across sectors and with other Horizon Europe clusters dealing with issues such as agriculture, food, environment, climate, mobility, security, urban planning, social inclusion and gender will be needed to ensure that maximal societal benefits are reached. Thus, in view of increasing the impact of EU investments under Horizon Europe, the European Commission welcomes and supports cooperation between EU-funded projects to enable cross-fertilisation and other synergies. This could range from networking to joint activities such as the participation in joint workshops, the exchange of knowledge, the development and adoption of best practices, or joint communication activities. Opportunities for potential synergies exist between projects funded under the same topic but also between other projects funded under another topic, cluster or pillar of Horizon Europe (but also with ongoing projects funded under Horizon 2020). In particular, this could involve projects related to European health research infrastructures (under pillar I of Horizon Europe), the EIC strategic challenges on health and EIT-KIC Health (under pillar III of Horizon Europe), or in areas cutting across the health and other clusters (under pillar II of Horizon Europe).

All topics are open to international collaboration to address global environment and health challenges.

Expected impacts:

Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway to contributing to living and working in a health-promoting environment, and more specifically to one or several of the following impacts:

Policy-makers and regulators are aware and well informed about environmental, socio-economic and occupational risk factors as well as health-promoting factors across society;
Environmental, occupational, social, economic, fiscal and health policies and practices at the EU, national and regional level are sustainable and based on solid scientific evidence. These include overarching policy frameworks such as the European Green Deal, the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability, the 8th Environment Action Programme, the EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work and the European Environment and Health Process led by the World Health Organization;
The upstream determinants of disease - related to choices in energy generation, agricultural practices, industrial production, land use planning, built environment and construction - are known, understood and reduced;
The health threats and burden resulting from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination is reduced, so that the related number of deaths and illnesses is substantially reduced by 2030;
Living and working environments in European cities and regions are healthier, more inclusive, safer, resilient and sustainable;
The adaptive capacity and resilience of populations and health systems in the EU to climate and environmental change-related health risks is strengthened;
Citizens’ health and well-being is protected and promoted, and premature deaths, diseases and inequalities related to environmental pollution and degradation are prevented;
Citizens understand better complex environment and health issues, and effective measures to address them and support related policies and regulations.

Link

Link to Programme

Call

Health impacts of climate change, costs and benefits of action and inaction

Description of call
"Health impacts of climate change, costs and benefits of action and inaction"

Expected Outcome

This topic aims at supporting activities that are enabling or contributing to one or several expected impacts of destination 2 ‘Living and working in a health-promoting environment’. To that end, proposals under this topic should aim for delivering results that are directed, tailored towards and contributing to all of the following expected outcomes:

Global and EU climate policies, the EU Observatory for Climate and Health, and the Green Deal activities are supported with up-to-date scientific evidence;
Public authorities and surveillance organisations have access to predictive and early warning systems for direct and indirect health impacts caused by climate-change induced events and dispose of indicators for improved monitoring of policy actions;
Public authorities, employers and risk managers draw benefit from user-friendly tools for integrated risk assessments and cost-benefit analysis of climate change mitigation and adaptation actions to support decisions across policy sectors;
Public and private health authorities and care providers use guidelines and training materials produced to adapt and innovate health systems and practices to prevent and mitigate climate change related health risks in cost-efficient and effective ways.

Scope:

The European Green Deal refocused the European Commission’s commitment of tackling climate and environment-related challenges. It also aims to protect, conserve and enhance the EU's natural capital, and protect the health and well-being of citizens from environment-related risks and impacts. In addition to aiming for climate neutrality by 2050, the Commission adopted a more ambitious EU strategy on adaptation to climate change on 24 February 2021. This is essential, as climate change will continue to create significant stress in Europe in spite of the mitigation efforts.

The World Health Organization estimates that climate change will cause at least 250 000 additional deaths per year globally between 2030 and 2050. Climate change, together with other natural and man-made health stressors, can influence human health and disease patterns in numerous ways. Some existing health threats will intensify and new health threats will emerge, with variable impact on different socio-economic groups. Climate changes induce events such as changes in biodiversity, disruption of ecosystems, habitats and land use, global warming and heat waves, changes in UV exposure or flooding. These events are influencing globally the incidence and spread of infectious diseases and increasing pollution, thereby causing new threats to human health.

The aim of this topic is the identification, monitoring and quantification of direct and indirect impacts on human health, including in occupational settings, and related risk factors correlated to climate change, especially in vulnerable population groups such as children or in groups at risk such as workers. Innovative surveillance tools are further required to ensure a timely response to emerging threats, to feed and strengthen early warning systems, and to enable the design, monitoring and evaluation of interventions. This may include mathematical modelling with big data and artificial intelligence (AI), remote sensing, citizen science and biomarkers of exposure or virulence.

Proposals must choose and address one of the following areas of research:

Research on the relationships between changes in environmental hazards caused by climate change, the impacts on interrelated ecosystems and their influence on human health;
Climate induced emergence and transmission of pathogens and spread of zoonotic pathogens using Eco-health and One Health approaches.

Proposals should include all of the following activities:

Development of suitable indicators and monitoring mechanisms to assess the health-relevant outcomes of climate policies and actions;
Development of predictive models and early warning systems for exposure and health impacts of climate change based on transparent assumptions and architecture;
Development of tools for health impact and cost-benefit assessment of climate-change adaptation and mitigation measures;
Investigation of health co-benefits of adaptation and mitigation policy measures outside the health sector;
Demonstration of the validity of tools and methods developed in the above listed activities in policy-relevant case studies;
Determination of the societal implications of climate change on health systems, including occupational health, and development of adaptation measures;
Development of training materials and guidelines to educate relevant actors in citizens’ daily life on climate change health impacts and to facilitate adaptation of health systems and practices;
Delivery of FAIR data on positive and negative health impacts of climate change, including impact on groups at higher risk or vulnerability.

International cooperation is encouraged with the specific aim to support international climate policies. If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, they must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).

Aspects such as gender, age, regional variations, socio-economics and culture should be considered, where appropriate.

All projects funded under this topic are strongly encouraged to participate in networking and joint activities, as appropriate. These networking and joint activities could, for example, involve the participation in joint workshops, the exchange of knowledge, the development and adoption of best practices, or joint communication activities. This could also involve networking and joint activities with projects funded under other clusters and pillars of Horizon Europe, or other EU programmes, as appropriate. Therefore, proposals are expected to include a budget for the attendance to regular joint meetings and may consider to cover the costs of any other potential joint activities without the prerequisite to detail concrete joint activities at this stage. The details of these joint activities will be defined during the grant agreement preparation phase. In this regard, the Commission may take on the role of facilitator for networking and exchanges, including with relevant stakeholders, if appropriate.

Cross-cutting Priorities:

Link

Link to Call

Thematic Focus

Clustering, Development Cooperation, Economic Cooperation, Research & Innovation, Technology Transfer & Exchange, Health, Social Affairs, Sports, Digitisation, ICT, Telecommunication, Capacity Building, Cooperation Networks, Institutional Cooperation, Children & Youth, Education & Training, Climate, Climate Change, Environment & Biodiversity

Funding area

EU Member States
Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs)
United States of America

Origin of Applicant

EU Member States
Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs)
United States of America

Eligible applicants

Education and Training Centres, Federal State / Region / City / Municipality / Local Authority, Research Institution, Lobby Group / Professional Association / Trade Union, International Organization, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, SMEs (between 10 and 249 employees), Microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees), NGO / NPO, Public Services, National Government, Other, Start Up Company, University, Enterprise (more than 250 employees or not defined), Association

Applicant details

eligible non-EU countries:

countries associated to Horizon Europe

At the date of the publication of the work programme, there are no countries associated to Horizon Europe. Considering the Union’s interest to retain, in principle, relations with the countries associated to Horizon 2020, most third countries associated to Horizon 2020 are expected to be associated to Horizon Europe with an intention to secure uninterrupted continuity between Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. In addition, other third countries can also become associated to Horizon Europe during the programme. For the purposes of the eligibility conditions, applicants established in Horizon 2020 Associated Countries or in other third countries negotiating association to Horizon Europe will be treated as entities established in an Associated Country, if the Horizon Europe association agreement with the third country concerned applies at the time of signature of the grant agreement.

low-and middle-income countries

Legal entities which are established in countries not listed above will be eligible for funding if provided for in the specific call conditions, or if their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority.

Specific cases:

Affiliated entities - Affiliated entities are eligible for funding if they are established in one of the countries listed above.
EU bodies - Legal entities created under EU law may also be eligible to receive funding, unless their basic act states otherwise.
International organisations - International European research organisations are eligible to receive funding. Unless their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority, other international organisations are not 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 and when provided for in the specific call conditions.

Project Partner

Yes

Project Partner Details

Unless otherwise provided for in the specific call conditions , legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes:

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.

Call opens

22.06.2021

Call closes

21.09.2021

Further info

Proposal page limits and layout:

The application form will have two parts:

Part A to be filled in directly online (administrative information, summarised budget, call-specific questions, etc.)
Part B to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system

Page limit of Part B: 45 pages

Type of Funding

Grants

Financial details

Expected EU contribution per project	The Commission estimates that an EU contribution of around EUR 10.00 million would allow these outcomes to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of a proposal requesting different amounts.
Indicative budget	The total indicative budget for the topic is EUR 60.00 million.
Typ of Action	Research and Innovation Actions (RIA)
Funding rate	100%

Submission

Proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System. Paper submissions are NOTpossible.