Assessing the performance of policy instruments to inform climate change mitigation action

The HORIZON-CL5-2027-01-D1-09 grant opportunity, part of the Horizon Europe program, targets research on evaluating the performance of climate change mitigation policies at the EU and Member State levels. This Research and Innovation Action (RIA) is designed to enhance understanding of which specific climate policies work effectively and under what conditions, aiming for a transition to climate neutrality by 2050 amid rising climate ambitions.

Eligible applicants for this funding include universities, research institutions, policy research organizations, government bodies, NGOs involved in climate policy, and relevant private research entities capable of interdisciplinary collaboration. The grant operates under a lump sum model, providing up to €3 million per project, with three expected grants totaling €9 million available for distribution in 2027.

The primary focus is on social sciences and humanities (SSH) and includes assessments of policy instrument effectiveness and evaluation methodologies, as well as behavioral studies on policy acceptance. The project encourages multiple applicants in a consortium, though not mandatory, fostering collaboration between researchers and policymakers to co-create actionable insights.

Geographically, eligible countries are primarily EU and EEA members, with potential participation from third countries under certain conditions. The opportunity emphasizes methodologies for ex-ante and ex-post evaluations to improve climate policy impact assessments, particularly in sectors outside the EU Emissions Trading System.

The application process is a single-stage submission, opening on November 17, 2026, and closing on March 4, 2027. Successful proposals should demonstrate a thorough understanding of climate policies, advanced quantitative methods, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Networking and post-project collaboration are strongly encouraged.

While specific success rates for this grant are not detailed, the competitive nature suggests a rigorous evaluation process. Co-funding is not explicitly required, but familiarization with national funding rules is recommended for each applicant.

Overall, this funding call seeks to bridge gaps in climate policy understanding and effectiveness, aligning with the EU's broader climate objectives and fostering a more resilient and informed approach to climate action through research-driven insights.

This is a Horizon Europe (HORIZON) call, specifically the CLIMATE (HORIZON-CL5-2027-01) call, focusing on "Assessing the performance of policy instruments to inform climate change mitigation action." The type of action is HORIZON-RIA, which stands for HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions. The Model Grant Agreement (MGA) type is a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS].

The call follows a single-stage deadline model and is forthcoming. The planned opening date is November 17, 2026, and the deadline for submission is March 4, 2027, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes of projects funded under this topic include:

Enhanced knowledge of the effectiveness of policy instruments at the EU and Member State level to inform mitigation action and policy improvements, ensuring a fair transition and social acceptability.

Development and improvement of methodologies for ex-ante assessment and ex-post evaluation of greenhouse gas emission reductions from climate policies and measures.

Strengthened collaboration and established networks between researchers, policy experts, and government officials involved in designing and evaluating climate policies at the EU and national level.

The scope of the call is as follows:

The call addresses the need to understand the effectiveness and acceptability of policy instruments as the EU and its Member States work to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. It acknowledges that even with a 37% reduction in GHG emissions by 2023 compared to 1990 levels, there is still limited understanding of the effectiveness of mitigation policies. The call emphasizes the increasing complexity of the policy mix and the importance of considering interactions with other thematic policies like biodiversity, agriculture, and trade.

The focus is on assessing the performance of EU policies and measures for reducing GHG emissions in sectors not covered by the current EU Emission Trading System (ETS 1). This includes gaining insights into factors influencing behavioral change and policy acceptance, considering gender-specific aspects, and evaluating economic, social, distributional, and other effects of mitigation action, including trade-offs and co-benefits related to climate resilience.

Proposed actions should go beyond traditional decomposition analysis and use state-of-the-art econometric techniques. They should improve existing methodologies or develop new ones to distinguish the contribution of GHG emission reductions between policy-driven effects and external drivers. The call encourages the application of machine learning and other digital tools and methods to fill information gaps and gain additional insights.

Actions should assess the impact of national policies at the Member State level and how these policies interact with EU-wide policies and measures. Identifying and highlighting examples of successful national policies and measures that have reduced GHG emissions and brought other environmental, social, and economic benefits is also expected. Projects should develop, test, or improve methodologies and tools for ex-ante estimates of GHG emission reductions when designing policies and measures at the EU and national level, including integrating climate objectives into other policies. This includes economy-wide modeling that considers cross-sectoral feedbacks, price responsiveness, and behavioral change by consumers.

Applicants are encouraged to use available datasets on climate mitigation policies and measures, such as the OECD/CAPMF database and the integrated national climate and energy policies and measures datahub hosted by the European Environment Agency (EEA). The use of additional activity data from EUROSTAT or national statistical sources may be necessary.

All funded projects are strongly encouraged to connect, coordinate, and participate in networking and joint activities to foster cross-project cooperation and exchange, particularly to reinforce synergies between methodologies.

The call requires interdisciplinary collaboration between political scientists, economists, and other relevant Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines. Actions are also strongly encouraged to include a process of mutual learning and co-creation with stakeholders (e.g., representatives of governments, public administrations, NGOs, and academia) to meet end-user needs and support the uptake of results.

The destination of this call is "Advancing science for a fair transition to a climate-neutral and resilient society (2026-27)". This destination contributes to the Strategic Plan’s Key Strategic Orientations of ‘Green transition’, ‘Digital transition’, and ‘A more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe’. The overall expected impact is to contribute to "Advancing science for a transition to a climate-neutral and resilient society".

Expected impacts of this destination include:

Supporting climate action (both mitigation and adaptation) in Europe and globally.

Closing key knowledge gaps related to climate change.

Strengthening the European Research Area on climate change.

Maximising synergies between mitigation and adaptation and with other policy priorities.

Important components of climate science research are also addressed in other Clusters, particularly Cluster 6, which addresses the climate-ocean-cryosphere-polar nexus and the climate-energy-land-food-water-biodiversity nexus. Efforts to foster synergies and complementarities across these research activities are strongly encouraged.

General conditions for participation include:

Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout are described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form.

Eligible Countries: Described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific provisions may apply to non-EU/non-Associated Countries.

Other Eligible Conditions: If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation, and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must use Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS.

Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Legal and financial set-up of the grants: Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of July 7, 2021. This is further described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme.

Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA) information:

Application form templates are available in the Submission System.

Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) and evaluation form templates will be used.

Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide.

Model Grant Agreements (MGA) include HE MGA, HE Unit MGA, Lump Sum MGA, Operating Grants MGA, and Framework Partnership Agreement FPA.

Call-specific instructions, a detailed budget table (HE LS), and guidance on lump sums are available.

Additional documents include:

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 8. Climate, Energy and Mobility

HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes

HE Programme Guide

HE Framework Programme 2021/695

HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764

EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509

Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme

Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment

EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement

Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual

Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions

Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

The budget overview for the call in 2027 is as follows:

HORIZON-CL5-2027-01-D1-07 - HORIZON-RIA: 18,000,000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 6,000,000 EUR, indicative number of grants: 3

HORIZON-CL5-2027-01-D1-08 - HORIZON-RIA: 14,000,000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 7,000,000 EUR, indicative number of grants: 2

HORIZON-CL5-2027-01-D1-09 - HORIZON-RIA: 9,000,000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 3,000,000 EUR, indicative number of grants: 3

HORIZON-CL5-2027-01-D1-10 - HORIZON-RIA: 18,000,000 EUR, indicative grant amount 5,000,000 to 6,000,000 EUR, indicative number of grants: 3

HORIZON-CL5-2027-01-D1-11 - HORIZON-COFUND: 15,000,000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 15,000,000 EUR, indicative number of grants: 1

HORIZON-CL5-2027-01-D1-12 - HORIZON-RIA: 25,000,000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 5,000,000 EUR, indicative number of grants: 5

HORIZON-CL5-2027-01-D1-13 - HORIZON-RIA: 24,000,000 EUR, indicative grant amount around 4,000,000 EUR, indicative number of grants: 6

There are 15 partner search announcements available for collaboration on this topic.

A general FAQ addresses whether the coverage of national policy instruments should regard all EU-27 countries or a selection of them. The response indicates that both options are possible as long as the selection of Member States is well justified and makes sense in terms of the research methodology and research scope in the proposal.

This Horizon Europe call seeks to fund research and innovation actions that will enhance the understanding and effectiveness of climate change mitigation policies in the EU. It aims to improve methodologies for assessing these policies, foster collaboration among researchers and policymakers, and ultimately contribute to achieving the EU's climate neutrality goals by 2050. The call encourages interdisciplinary approaches, the use of advanced analytical techniques, and the integration of stakeholder perspectives to ensure that the research is relevant and impactful. The funding is provided as a lump sum, and projects are expected to actively participate in networking and knowledge-sharing activities.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated but can be inferred from the encouragement of collaboration between researchers, policy experts, government officials, NGOs, and academia. Therefore, eligible applicants likely include universities, research institutes, government bodies, public administrations, NGOs, and potentially other types of organizations with relevant expertise.

Funding Type: The funding type is primarily a grant, specifically a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant, under the HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Programme Cofund Actions (HORIZON-COFUND).

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity encourages networking and joint activities, suggesting that a consortium is preferred, although not explicitly required. The call for interdisciplinary collaboration also implies that a single applicant would likely not possess all the necessary expertise. Therefore, a consortium is highly recommended.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The primary geographic eligibility appears to be focused on the EU and its Member States, as the scope mentions assessing the performance of EU policies and measures. However, non-EU/non-Associated Countries may also be eligible, as specific provisions may exist for their participation, according to the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Target Sector: The primary target sector is climate, specifically focusing on assessing and improving policies and measures for reducing GHG emissions. This includes the energy sector, environment, policy and governance, research and innovation, and the use of digital tools like machine learning. It also touches on social sciences and humanities.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity explicitly mentions the EU and its Member States. It also refers to non-EU/non-Associated Countries, indicating a broader scope beyond just the EU.

Project Stage: The project stage is focused on research and innovation actions, including assessing the performance of existing policies (ex-post evaluation) and developing new methodologies and tools for designing future policies (ex-ante assessment). This suggests a focus on research, development, and validation stages.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call, ranging from €9,000,000 to €25,000,000. The indicative grant amounts range from around €3,000,000 to around €15,000,000.

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.

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 provides some insight. For example, HORIZON-CL5-2027-01-D1-09 aims to award around 3 grants with a budget of €9,000,000, while HORIZON-CL5-2027-01-D1-13 aims to award around 6 grants with a budget of €24,000,000.

Co-funding Requirement: Co-funding is not explicitly mentioned as a requirement for the HORIZON-RIA actions. However, one topic, HORIZON-CL5-2027-01-D1-11, is a HORIZON-COFUND action, which implies a co-funding requirement.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call focuses on "Assessing the performance of policy instruments to inform climate change mitigation action." It aims to enhance the understanding and effectiveness of EU and Member State policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The call encourages projects that assess existing policies, develop improved methodologies for evaluating emission reductions, and foster collaboration between researchers, policymakers, and government officials. The funding is provided as lump sum grants under the HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and HORIZON Programme Cofund Actions (COFUND), with varying budgets and indicative grant amounts. The call is open to a range of applicants, including universities, research institutes, government bodies, and NGOs, and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration. The application process is a single-stage submission, with a planned opening date of 17 November 2026 and a deadline of 04 March 2027. The call addresses the need for better tools and knowledge to support decision-makers in implementing effective climate mitigation actions, aligning with the European Green Deal and the EU's broader climate objectives.