Better understanding and attribution of land and ocean carbon sources and sinks
Horizon Europe · Grant topic
Summary
A Polish company can use this call for R&D.
Funds research organisations and companies studying land and ocean carbon sources, sinks and transfers to improve climate models and emissions estimates.
- Who can apply
- Companies can lead: SME, large company, startup, research org, university.
- Amount
- €5M per projectTotal budget €25,000,000
- Deadline
- 04 Mar 2027 01:00 CETin 131 days
- Status
- Forthcomingopens 17 Nov 2026
Machine-classified from the call text; check eligibility at the source.
Description
Expected Outcome:
Project results are expected to contribute to some of the following expected outcomes:
• Better understanding of oceanic carbon dioxide (CO2) sources and sinks, their drivers and dynamics under different climate scenarios, including their responses to human interventions;
• Better understanding of land ecosystem CO2 sources and sinks, their drivers (both natural and anthropogenic) and their evolution under future climate and land-based mitigation scenarios;
• Progress on reconciling estimates of anthropogenic CO2 emissions and removals from land originating from the climate science and national emissions reporting communities;
• More consistent representation and quantification of lateral transfers of carbon.
Scope:
Understanding the mechanisms and drivers of land (including inland waters) and ocean carbon sinks and sources is crucial for accurate climate models and scenarios and informing climate mitigation strategies. However, significant gaps and uncertainties remain in quantifying these complex processes and their components. It is essential to better understand the roles of anthropogenic and natural drivers of carbon fluxes, in particular the surface-to-air flux. This is necessary for reconciling conceptual discrepancies among estimates and assessing the implications for future trends and mitigation potential, taking into account that mitigation actions need to be additional to natural processes and business-as-usual and that the remaining carbon budget depends, inter alia, on assumptions on sinks.
Proposals are expected to address only one of the three areas identified below - which should be clearly indicated, while ensuring coordination and cooperation across projects to address consistency in key factors, such as data, scenarios and models used or the representation of lateral transport of carbon (e.g., through river transport or harvest). Selected proposals may consider the involvement of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) whose contribution could consist of scientific advice, specialised analytical expertise and data. This topic is part of a coordination initiative between ESA and the European Commission on Earth System Science (ESSI) under the Carbon Cluster. Successful consortia will be asked to coordinate with projects that will be selected under ESA’s FutureEO programme to facilitate access to and uptake of satellite data products and related tools or methodologies. To this end, proposals should foresee sufficient means for effective coordination (i.e. cluster meetings, joint data management, potential joint actions).
International cooperation is generally encouraged, in particular with low and lower/upper-middle-income countries[1].
Area A: Oceanic CO2 sources and sinks
The ocean’s capacity to act as a carbon sink is determined by a variety of factors, including changes in climate, atmospheric composition (in particular CO2 concentration) and chemical, physical and biological processes of the ocean, all influenced by human activities. Projects are expected to improve the understanding and quantification of the various mechanisms involved, with a focus on the behaviour of the ocean sink under past (including palaeo records), present and future conditions and various climate change and emission scenarios. The projects should contribute to a better understanding of the biophysical potential for marine mitigation approaches (in particular carbon dioxide removal) and their implications over relevant timeframes, including feedbacks. The analysis should also include responses to ambitious mitigation (e.g., atmospheric stabilisation in line with policy objectives). Projects should build on the results of related earlier projects, in particular those under call HORIZON-CL6-2022-CLIMATE-01-02.
Area B: Land CO2 sources and sinks
Currently, land ecosystems globally represent a significant net carbon sink, driven by natural processes greatly perturbed by a variety of human influences, including past and present land management practices, increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations, nitrogen deposition and climate change itself. They are also a significant source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Natural responses to environmental change and management effects overlap and interact in space and time, making the isolation of different factors (natural and anthropogenic) challenging or even impossible. Projects will aim to further our understanding of the key factors that have driven land carbon fluxes in the past and improving their quantification under present conditions and facilitating their projection under relevant climate and land use scenarios.
Area C: Reconciliation of different land use CO2 emission estimates
The climate science and national emissions reporting communities have historically used different interpretations of anthropogenic land-based CO2 emissions and removals, leading to varying estimates with significant policy implications for assessing climate progress. It is crucial to reconcile these definitions with due consideration for lateral transfers of carbon to ensure comparability across global, regional, and national scales, to foster integration between different expert communities and approaches and to support policy negotiations and decision-making approaches. Through innovative approaches, the projects should enhance confidence in land-use CO2 flux estimates and enable more accurate assessments of national and collective climate progress, as well as alternative land-based climate policy options.
[1] https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519-world-bank-country-and-lendinggroups; standard Horizon Europe funding rules apply - only participants from some of these countries are automatically eligible for funding
Who can apply, in detail
- Applicant types
- SME, Large company, Startup, Research org, University
- Purpose
- Research and innovation
- R&D relevance
- 2 of 3
- Poland eligible
- Yes
- Country limit
- —
- Region
- Any
- Consortium
- Unclear
- Readiness level (TRL)
- —
- Topics
- Carbon sources and sinks
- Ocean carbon dynamics
- Terrestrial carbon cycles
- Climate modelling
- Emissions accounting
Machine-classified from the call text; check eligibility at the source. 23 Oct 2026
Conditions
Typed facts extracted from the source documents by Scindu's grant-data review. Each value keeps its own conditions. Unknown means unstated, not zero or unlimited.
- Consortium required
- Yes
General Annex B baseline for RIA, subject to any topic-specific exceptions recorded separately. The application consortium must include at least three mutually independent legal entities in different countries: at least one established in an EU Member State and at least two others established in different EU Member States or Associated Countries. Affiliated entities do not count toward the minimum.
- Other condition
- Research and Innovation Action.
- Other condition
- To ensure a balanced portfolio across Areas A, B and C, grants are awarded not only in ranking order but also to at least two highest-ranked applications in each of Areas A and B and at least one in Area C, provided each application meets all thresholds.
- Other condition
- If a project uses satellite-based Earth observation, positioning/navigation or related timing data/services, beneficiaries must use Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS; other sources may also be used.
- Other condition
- The topic uses a lump-sum grant. For proposal estimates, use the same eligible-cost rules as an actual-cost Horizon grant and cost estimates must be realistic, consistent with normal practices, reasonable/not excessive, and necessary for the proposed activities. Payment follows the grant’s lump-sum work-package conditions; personnel costs are not separately reimbursed as actual payroll.
Do not treat the estimate as actual-cost reimbursement or infer that the topic prohibits hiring/payroll.
- Other condition
- The overview expects around 5 project(s) to be funded under this topic. This is an indicative planning number, not a guaranteed award count or consortium-size condition.
Scope is funded projects under this topic; not beneficiaries, consortium members, or award entitlement.
- Other condition
- The JRC may participate after selection as a zero-funded beneficiary or associated partner, but will not participate in preparing or submitting the proposal.
- Other condition
- Each proposal is expected to address only one area—A oceanic CO2 sources/sinks, B land CO2 sources/sinks, or C reconciliation of land-use CO2 estimates—while coordinating across projects on consistency.
- Other condition
- Open access is required for new or substantially improved modules, models or tools developed with EU funding, through documentation and availability of model code and input data.
Amounts and costs
- Indicative budget
- €25,000,000
Topic budget as stated in the portal's budget table. Lump-sum and per-project limits are in the call conditions.
- Eligible cost
- Natural persons under direct contract and third-party seconded persons may qualify as personnel only if assigned to the action and working under employee-like conditions, the work result belongs to the beneficiary unless agreed otherwise, and the rate reflects costs actually incurred without significant difference from comparable employees. These are personnel cost estimate categories for this lump-sum action, not a payroll reimbursement line. Cost estimates are subject to actual-cost grant eligibility rules and the call’s lump-sum methodology; no named vacancy, headcount, salary rate or wage entitlement is stated.
- Eligible cost
- Employee personnel costs may be included only for people employed by the beneficiary (or equivalent appointing act), assigned to the action, meeting all general eligibility conditions, and calculated under the grant rules. These are personnel cost estimate categories for this lump-sum action, not a payroll reimbursement line. Cost estimates are subject to actual-cost grant eligibility rules and the call’s lump-sum methodology; no named vacancy, headcount, salary rate or wage entitlement is stated.
- Eligible cost
- Unpaid SME owners and natural-person beneficiaries may claim personnel costs only under the applicable Annex 2a unit-cost method and the general eligibility conditions. These are personnel cost estimate categories for this lump-sum action, not a payroll reimbursement line. Cost estimates are subject to actual-cost grant eligibility rules and the call’s lump-sum methodology; no named vacancy, headcount, salary rate or wage entitlement is stated.
- Eligible cost
- Subcontracting estimates/costs and purchase costs are governed by the relevant grant form. Under actual-cost rules, subcontracting must meet general eligibility and usual purchasing practices ensuring best value for money (or lowest price) and no conflict of interest. For this lump-sum topic these inform eligible budget estimates, not separate reimbursement lines.
- Funding intensity, maximum
- 100 percent of eligible costs
RIA maximum rate under General Annex G; final rate and amounts are fixed in the grant agreement.
- Expected contribution per project
- €5,000,000
Commission estimate of EU contribution per project. Different requested amounts are not precluded; this is indicative, not a floor, cap or guarantee.
- Topic allocation
- €25,000,000
Indicative topic allocation; separate from per-project EU contribution and not an individual award or grant cap.
Personnel and services
General eligible personnel cost category only; not a call-promised hire.
Other role · Staff cost the grant can fund
These are personnel cost estimate categories for this lump-sum action, not a payroll reimbursement line. Cost estimates are subject to actual-cost grant eligibility rules and the call’s lump-sum methodology; no named vacancy, headcount, salary rate or wage entitlement is stated. The person must be assigned to the action, work under employee-like conditions, the work result must belong to the beneficiary unless otherwise agreed, and costs must correspond to actual costs without significant difference from comparable employees.
General cost category permitted by applicable MGA rules; no specific job or hire asserted.
Other role · Staff cost the grant can fund
These are personnel cost estimate categories for this lump-sum action, not a payroll reimbursement line. Cost estimates are subject to actual-cost grant eligibility rules and the call’s lump-sum methodology; no named vacancy, headcount, salary rate or wage entitlement is stated. Eligible only when assigned to the action and all MGA Article 6 conditions are met.
Conditional cost category, not an advertised role.
Other role · Staff cost the grant can fund
These are personnel cost estimate categories for this lump-sum action, not a payroll reimbursement line. Cost estimates are subject to actual-cost grant eligibility rules and the call’s lump-sum methodology; no named vacancy, headcount, salary rate or wage entitlement is stated. Costs must follow the Annex 2a unit-cost method and general eligibility conditions; no call-specific hire or salary is stated.
Source documents
Call facts
- Opens
- 17 Nov 2026
- Deadline model
- Single-stage
- Programme
- Horizon Europe · 2021 - 2027
- Call
- HORIZON-CL5-2027-01 · CLIMATE
- Types of action
- HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
- Source
- ec.europa.eu
- Checked
- 24 Oct 2026
- Portal updated
- 7 Oct 2026
- Review status
- Partial review
- Reviewed
- 23 Oct 2026
This is a summary of the source page, not the official text. Eligibility, conditions and the submission system are at the source.