Call: Supporting and standardising climate services

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Programme

Horizon Europe - Cluster 5 - Destination 1: Climate sciences and responses for the transformation towards climate neutrality

Acronym

HE-CL5-D1

Type of Fund

Direct Management

Description of programme
"Horizon Europe - Cluster 5 - Destination 1: Climate sciences and responses for the transformation towards climate neutrality"

Europe has been at the forefront of climate science and should retain its leadership position to support EU policies as well as international efforts for a global uptake of climate action in line with the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including biodiversity objectives. Advancing climate science and further broadening and deepening the knowledge base is essential to inform the societal transition towards a climate neutral and climate resilient society by 2050, as well as towards a more ambitious greenhouse gas reduction target by 2030. It will involve research that furthers our understanding of past, present and expected future changes in climate and its implications on ecosystems and society, closing knowledge gaps, and develops the tools that support policy coherence and the implementation of effective mitigation and adaptation solutions. Due to the inherent international character of this subject, international collaboration is encouraged for topics under this destination.

The activities implemented under this section will enable the transition to a climate-neutral and resilient society and economy through improving the knowledge of the Earth system and the ability to predict and project its changes under different natural and socio-economic drivers, including a better understanding of society’s response and behavioural changes, and allowing a better estimation of the impacts of climate change and the design and evaluation of solutions and pathways for climate change mitigation and adaptation and related social transformation.

This Destination contributes directly to the Strategic Plan’s Key Strategic Orientation C ”Making Europe the first digitally enabled circular, climate-neutral and sustainable economy through the transformation of its mobility, energy, construction and production systems” and the impact area “Climate change mitigation and adaptation”.

In line with the Strategic Plan, the overall expected impact of this Destination is to contribute to the “Transition to a climate-neutral and resilient society and economy enabled through advanced climate science, pathways and responses to climate change (mitigation and adaptation) and behavioural transformations”, notably through:

Advancing knowledge and providing solutions in the any of following areas: Earth system science; pathways to climate neutrality; climate change adaptation including climate services; social science for climate action; and better understanding of climate-ecosystems interactions.
Contributing substantially to key international assessments such as those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) or the European Environment Agency (e.g. European environment state and outlook reports, SOER).
Strengthening the European Research Area on climate change.
Increasing the transparency, robustness, trustworthiness and practical usability of the knowledge base on climate change for use by policy makers, practitioners, other stakeholders and citizens.

Coordination and synergies between activities supported under Destination 1, as well as in other Destinations and Clusters, and in particular complementarities with Cluster 4 and Cluster 6 should be taken into account by planning for adequate resources for co-ordination and clustering activities. Following a systemic approach, Destination 1 concentrates on activities related to climate science and modelling, whereas Cluster 6 supports R&I in the areas covered by Cluster 6, notably on the implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation solutions.

Link

Link to Programme

Call

Supporting and standardising climate services

Description of call
"Supporting and standardising climate services"

Expected Outcome

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

Support to the implementation of the EU Adaptation Strategy and the Mission on adaptation to climate change, including societal transformation e.g. by providing standardised tools for climate proofing and increasing resilience.
Improved relevance of data, information and knowledge on climate change impacts and adaptation, as well as mitigation for users both in the private and public sectors.
Enhanced value of climate services through standards and quality assurance procedures and communication.
The generation of trust across supply and demand of knowledge and services, supporting the development of a market for climate services and the European climate service sector.
Enhanced quality, impact, equity and performance of European climate services.
Enhanced data and analytical tools for climate impacts, risks (including extremes, longer trends, and the combination of trends and extremes) and transition risks, as well as actionable knowledge for the formulation of recommendations, identification and appraisal of adaptation options addressing the needs of all stakeholders.
Enhanced coordination and visibility of climate services activities.

Scope:

This topic is intended to improve the delivery of quality control and standards (including open and licensed) for climate services and to guarantee suitability, quality, and performance of digital solutions to manage climate risks and enhance adaptive capacities.

The scope of activities under this topic should cover the following aspects:

Uncertainty analysis and quality control with supportive case studies at various levels (national to European and global), and delivery domains (public and private).
Preparation of metadata guidelines to document in a comparative and transparent manner climate service data sources and processing methodologies, as well as decision-making based on these services, and support FAIR data management practices.
Development of good practices, guidance, and standardization of climate information and verification methods for long-term forecast products.
Definition of verification and certification methods to enhance quality and usability of climate services, including methods for the evaluation of their effectiveness.
Coordination and promotion of European climate service activities, encouraging open exchange of knowledge, expertise and data and providing a science-user communication platform and improving synergies between regional, national, European and international activities.
Development of appropriate business models and knowledge brokerage activities to support scale-up and replication of climate services.

Actions should develop interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary activities. Regular engagement with stakeholders should be foreseen to consider applications in case studies, and to test, benefit and allow replication and upscaling of the results.

These standards and schemes will also require supportive governance and other measures, such as training and capacity building, to promote and sustain their use and continued development. This includes the development of common terminology between user, provider, and purveyor communities.

Synergies should be explored with relevant activities under other Clusters, in particular clusters 3 and 4 and standardization efforts internationally and in Europe (e.g. the Climate Services partnership, the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), Digital Europe Programme and the Copernicus Programme, amongst others). The action should build on the achievements of the H2020 ClimatEurope project and the ERA4CS.

This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH and gender expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.

Cross-cutting Priorities:

Socio-economic science and humanities

Link

Link to Call

Thematic Focus

Research & Innovation, Technology Transfer & Exchange, Capacity Building, Cooperation Networks, Institutional Cooperation, Climate, Climate Change, Environment & Biodiversity, Administration & Governance

Funding area

EU Member States
Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs)

Origin of Applicant

EU Member States
Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs)

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.

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 - 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 9.00 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 9.00 million.
Typ of Action	Coordination and Support Actions (CSA)
Funding rate	100%

Submission

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