Advancing European climate risk assessments

This EU funding opportunity is part of the Horizon Europe program, specifically under the call HORIZON-CL5-2026-07 focused on advancing European climate risk assessments. The action falls under HORIZON-RIA, which stands for Research and Innovation Actions, and utilizes a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant mechanism. The call is currently open for submission and features a single-stage deadline. The opening date for submissions was December 18, 2025, and the deadline is April 15, 2026, at 17:00 Brussels time.

Projects funded under this opportunity aim to contribute to the European Adaptation Strategy and the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change by informing these initiatives with updated scientific evidence and improved decision-support tools. These projects should address knowledge gaps identified in EU Climate Risk Assessments (EUCRA) and IPCC assessments, particularly concerning systemic, regional, and cross-cutting gaps. The goal is to ensure that future EUCRAs benefit from advancements in risk assessments and provide relevant knowledge for various policymaking contexts.

The funding opportunity emphasizes enhancing the accuracy and decision-usefulness of climate risk assessments and developing strategies based on the latest findings. Successful proposals must focus on understanding and quantifying climate risks while integrating knowledge on various influencing factors, including the potential for high-impact low-probability events.

Proposals should cover at least two interconnected systems or sectors, such as ecosystems, agri-food, health, infrastructure, energy, water, and finance. They must include case studies that span the four regions identified in EUCRA: Northern, Western, Central-Eastern, and Southern Europe, with an emphasis on transnational aspects.

The funding provided for this topic ranges from €4,000,000 to €5,000,000 per project, with a total budget allocation of €15,000,000. The application type is an open call, with a straightforward submission process. Beneficiaries will receive lump sum grants that do not require financial reporting or audits.

The evaluation process is merit-based, focusing on excellence, impact, and the implementation feasibility of proposed projects. While success rates are not explicitly mentioned, approximately three grants are expected, indicating a competitive selection process.

Co-funding is not required; the funding covers all eligible costs. This structure facilitates accessibility for universities, research institutes, SMEs, and other organizations capable of conducting relevant research activities focused on EU Member States and associated countries.

In summary, this opportunity aims to enhance the scientific understanding of climate risks and improve methodologies for climate risk assessments across Europe, promoting collaboration, knowledge sharing, and effective climate adaptation strategies. The funding supports the integration of innovative technologies and multiple data sources, emphasizing engagement with end users and the transboundary implications of climate risks. Interested parties are encouraged to consult the provided resources for detailed eligibility, application processes, and evaluation criteria.

This EU funding opportunity is part of the Horizon Europe program, specifically under the CLIMATE (HORIZON-CL5-2026-07) call, and focuses on advancing European climate risk assessments. The type of action is HORIZON-RIA, which stands for HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions, and the grant agreement will be a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS]. The call is currently open for submission with a single-stage deadline. The opening date for submissions was December 18, 2025, and the deadline for submissions is April 15, 2026, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcome of projects funded under this opportunity is to contribute to the implementation of the European Adaptation Strategy, the European Climate Adaptation Plan, the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, the Preparedness Union Strategy, and national adaptation efforts. This will be achieved by informing these initiatives with the latest scientific evidence and enhanced decision-support tools. Additionally, the projects should aim to narrow the knowledge gaps identified in the EU Climate Risk Assessments (EUCRA) and the latest IPCC assessments, including system-specific, region-specific, and cross-cutting gaps. The goal is to ensure that future EUCRAs benefit from a significant reduction of current risk assessment limitations and that useful knowledge is available for various policymaking contexts.

The scope of this funding opportunity involves improving the accuracy and decision-usefulness of climate risk assessments to support the development and implementation of climate adaptation strategies and plans in the EU and its Member States. The new knowledge generated should feed into future EUCRAs. The first EUCRA assessment identified several gaps in knowledge and action, emphasizing the importance of a systemic approach to climate risk assessments, adaptation, and resilience, as well as the interaction with non-climate risk drivers such as biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation.

To support future EUCRAs and advance adaptation and climate preparedness, actions should focus on improving the understanding and quantification of climate risks and their underlying drivers, as well as reducing associated uncertainties for different systems and regions. New knowledge should be integrated to assess the risks of wildcards (high impact, low probability events), the crossing of tipping points, and transboundary, compound, and cascading risks in a way that facilitates decision-making.

Projects should map and analyze evidence from recent experiences of materialized climate risks and the performance of adaptation efforts, including successes and failures, as well as the role of behavioral aspects. This analysis should improve the understanding of key factors that determine effective environmental and social resilience, preparedness, and adaptation capacity. However, the development of context-specific adaptation strategies is explicitly stated as being outside the scope of this topic.

The primary focus is on addressing knowledge gaps identified in the EUCRA. Actions should extend and improve the evidence base by retrieving inputs from relevant end-users, including local and regional authorities, and civil society organizations. While general aspects should cover the whole EU, actions should also improve understanding of sub-European and national to local specific risks. Actions should enhance methodologies and tools for risk assessment, making the outputs available through user-oriented EU portals.

For these purposes, proposals should:

Address at least two systems or sectors (e.g., ecosystems, agri-food, health, infrastructures, energy, water, economy, and finance) that interact and have transboundary effects.
Include study cases at a sub-European scale, covering the four regions defined in EUCRA (Northern, Western, Central-eastern, and Southern Europe). Some individual cases should also address the transnational dimension, including more than one country within a particular region.
Contribute to future editions of EUCRA, with specific resources devoted to this purpose.
Leverage recent advances in other climate risk assessments and related frameworks from reliable sources, such as the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP).
Integrate multiple data sources and leverage digital technologies, such as AI/ML techniques, tools, and models, including those developed under the European Commission’s Destination Earth initiative, if appropriate.

Coordination and collaboration are encouraged with relevant projects from Mission Adaptation, Cluster 5 Destination 1 on Climate Science and Responses (for evidence retrieval, national to local scale assessment, methodological consistency, and cross-fertilization), projects from Cluster 3 Destination Disaster-Resilient Society for Europe (for knowledge exchange and better integration of end-user perspectives), and relevant Destinations in other Clusters. Actions are also encouraged to utilize European research infrastructures, including Integrated Research Infrastructure Services for Climate Change Risks.

The expected impacts of this Destination are:

Supporting climate action (both mitigation and adaptation) in Europe and globally by advancing climate science and the knowledge base for actionable solutions.
Closing key knowledge gaps related to climate change, contributing to key European and international assessments.
Strengthening the European Research Area on climate change by boosting scientific excellence and capacity.
Maximizing synergies between mitigation and adaptation and with other policy priorities.

The general conditions for participation include admissibility conditions related to proposal page limits and layout, eligible countries, and other eligible conditions such as the use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS for projects using satellite-based data. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria are also specified, along with evaluation and award criteria, submission and evaluation processes, and an indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum.

Application forms, evaluation forms, model grant agreements, and additional documents such as the Horizon Europe Programme Guide, Framework Programme, Specific Programme Decision, EU Financial Regulation, and rules for legal entity validation are available on the Funding & Tenders Portal.

The budget overview indicates that for the HORIZON-CL5-2026-07-D1-02 topic, 15,000,000 EUR is allocated for HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions. The opening date is December 18, 2025, and the deadline is April 15, 2026. The indicative number of grants is 3, with contributions ranging from 4,000,000 to 5,000,000 EUR.

Partner search announcements are available on the portal, allowing potential applicants to find partners for collaboration. Support and guidance are provided through online manuals, FAQs, research enquiry services, national contact points, the Enterprise Europe Network, and IT helpdesks.

In summary, this funding opportunity aims to enhance the scientific understanding of climate risks and improve the tools and methodologies used for climate risk assessments in Europe. It seeks to address knowledge gaps identified in the EUCRA and IPCC assessments, promote collaboration and knowledge sharing, and support the implementation of effective climate adaptation strategies. The call encourages the use of innovative technologies and data sources, and emphasizes the importance of engaging with end-users and considering transboundary effects. The funding is provided as a lump sum, and applicants are advised to consult the provided resources and guidelines for detailed information on eligibility, application procedures, and evaluation criteria.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated, but based on the nature of Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions (RIA), eligible applicants typically include universities, research institutes, SMEs, large enterprises, and other organizations capable of conducting research and innovation activities. Local and regional authorities, and civil society organizations are specifically mentioned as relevant end-users whose inputs should be retrieved.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant, which falls under the HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA) funding scheme.

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity appears to require a consortium, as it encourages coordination and collaboration with other relevant projects and mentions the need for actions to address transboundary effects and include study cases at a sub-European scale, implying the need for multiple partners.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes the EU and Member States. Non-EU/non-Associated Countries may also be eligible if they have made specific provisions for funding their participants in Horizon Europe projects, as detailed in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. The actions should cover the whole EU while improving the understanding of sub-European and national to local specific risks. The study cases should cover the 4 regions defined in EUCRA (Northern, Western, Central-eastern and Southern Europe).

Target Sector: The program targets the climate sector, specifically focusing on advancing European climate risk assessments, climate adaptation, climate preparedness, and resilience. It also addresses sectors that interact with climate change, such as ecosystems, agri-food, health, infrastructures, energy, water, economy, and finance.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity explicitly mentions the EU and its Member States, as well as Northern, Western, Central-eastern and Southern Europe.

Project Stage: The expected maturity of the project is research and innovation actions, which suggests projects in the research, development, and validation stages. The focus is on addressing knowledge gaps and enhancing methodologies and tools for risk assessment, implying a need for projects that can generate new knowledge and improve existing approaches.

Funding Amount: The funding range varies depending on the specific topic within the call:
HORIZON-CL5-2026-07-D1-01: around €5,000,000 (3 grants)
HORIZON-CL5-2026-07-D1-02: €4,000,000 to €5,000,000 (3 grants)
HORIZON-CL5-2026-07-D1-03: around €4,000,000 (4 grants)
HORIZON-CL5-2026-07-D1-04: €4,000,000 to €5,000,000 (3 grants)
HORIZON-CL5-2026-07-D1-05: around €7,000,000 (3 grants)

Application Type: The application type is an open call with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant to support their research and innovation actions.

Application Stages: The application process involves a single stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants for each topic suggests a competitive process.

Co-funding Requirement: The information does not explicitly state a co-funding requirement. Since it is a Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action funded as a lump sum, co-funding is typically not required, but beneficiaries must manage their resources effectively to achieve the project's objectives within the allocated budget.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call, CLIMATE (HORIZON-CL5-2026-07), focuses on "Advancing European climate risk assessments." It aims to support research and innovation actions that contribute to the implementation of the European Adaptation Strategy, the European Climate Adaptation Plan, and the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change. The call seeks to narrow knowledge gaps identified in the EU Climate Risk Assessments (EUCRA) and the latest IPCC assessments. Projects should improve the understanding and quantification of climate risks, integrate new knowledge on various types of risks, and map and analyze evidence from adaptation efforts. Proposals should address at least two interacting systems or sectors, include study cases at a sub-European scale covering the four regions defined in EUCRA, and contribute to future editions of EUCRA. The call encourages the use of multiple data sources and digital technologies like AI/ML. Funding is provided as a lump sum grant, and the application process is a single-stage submission. The call is open to a wide range of applicants, including universities, research institutes, SMEs, and other organizations capable of conducting relevant research and innovation activities, with a focus on EU Member States and associated countries. The overall goal is to advance science for a transition to a climate-neutral and resilient society by supporting climate action through improved climate science and knowledge.