Next generation climate monitoring and related capabilities

The Horizon Europe call titled HORIZON-CL5-2026-07-D1-01 focuses on "Next Generation Climate Monitoring and Related Capabilities." This funding opportunity aims to enhance climate data quality and accessibility, strengthen EU climate data sovereignty, and support effective policymaking to combat climate change. A total budget of €15 million is available, with approximately €5 million allocated for each grant, expecting to fund three projects.

Eligible applicants include research organizations, universities, and other legal entities from EU member states, EEA countries, and associated countries. Participation from non-EU countries may occur under specific conditions. The funding type is a lump sum grant under the Horizon Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) model, emphasizing a simplified cost approach where funds are allocated based on pre-determined budget estimates rather than actual costs.

The call invites research proposals targeting three priority areas: improving next-generation climate data records, advancing Earth system reanalyses, and enhancing climate forcing and emission datasets. Proposals should leverage innovative digital tools and AI, integrate global climate frameworks, and address the geopolitical impacts of reduced US investment in monitoring networks. An open call structure with a single-stage submission process is in place, with a deadline set for April 15, 2026.

Proposals must demonstrate scientific excellence and a transformative impact on climate science. No formal co-funding requirement exists, but additional financing or in-kind contributions may positively influence evaluations. Evaluation results will be available around September 2026, followed by grant agreements signed within eight months of the proposal deadline. Overall, this call aims to contribute significantly to advancing climate science and supporting transition efforts towards a climate-neutral and resilient society.

This is a Horizon Europe call, specifically HORIZON-CL5-2026-07-D1-01, focusing on "Next generation climate monitoring and related capabilities." It falls under the CLIMATE call within the Horizon Europe program. The type of action is HORIZON-RIA (Research and Innovation Actions), utilizing a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] model grant agreement. The call is currently open for submission with a deadline of April 15, 2026, at 17:00:00 Brussels time. The opening date for submissions was December 18, 2025.

 The expected outcomes of projects funded under this call are: improved climate data (spatially, temporally, and physically), strengthened EU climate data sovereignty, and facilitated climate information distillation for policymaking.

 The scope of the call involves climate monitoring of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) at global and regional scales, which are crucial for assessing climate variability and change, and for tracking progress towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and EU climate objectives. The call identifies three priority areas:

 A. Next generation climate data records: Actions should advance innovative methods to enhance, expand, and update climate data records, exploit new data streams, and develop methods to improve the consistency of water-energy-carbon cycles across data records.

 B. Next generation Earth system reanalyses: Research should prepare for the next generation of global and European high-resolution climate reanalyses, focusing on enhanced data assimilation methods, coupling Earth system components, expanding atmospheric composition reanalysis, and piloting carbon-energy-water cycle reanalyses.

 C. Next generation climate forcing and emission data sets: Research should focus on ensuring updated and sustained production and quality assurance of climate forcings and emissions data sets, including harmonization between forcing and emission data sets.

 All actions should promote the use of new, rescued, or proxy data streams, innovative digital tools (including AI), and align with global intercomparison and coordination frameworks like CMIP, promoting standardization and accessibility of climate information.

 Given the divestment of the US in climate and environmental monitoring networks, proposals should dedicate resources to assess and mitigate such impacts.

 Research areas of particular interest include new data mining capabilities, methods to automate climate reporting, and methods to distill useful climate information tailored to relevant users.

 International cooperation with IPCC, WCRP, GCOS, and IAMC is encouraged, along with coordination with Copernicus and Destination Earth.

 This call contributes to the Strategic Plan’s Key Strategic Orientations: ‘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 include: closing knowledge gaps on climate change impacts and risks, developing tools to support decision-makers, and supporting climate action in Europe and globally.

 The general conditions for admissibility, eligible countries, and financial/operational capacity are described in the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. If satellite data is used, it must be Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS.

 To ensure a balanced portfolio, grants will be awarded to applications that are the highest ranked within each priority area (A, B, and C), provided they attain all thresholds.

 Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum.

 Application forms, evaluation forms, guidance documents, and model grant agreements are available in the Submission System and the Funding & Tenders Portal.

 The total budget for HORIZON-CL5-2026-07-D1-01 is 15,000,000 EUR, with an indicative contribution of around 5,000,000 EUR per grant and an indicative number of 3 grants.

 There are 7 partner search announcements available.

 The submission session is now available for HORIZON-CL5-2026-07-D1-03, HORIZON-CL5-2026-07-D1-02, HORIZON-CL5-2026-07-D1-04, HORIZON-CL5-2026-07-D1-05, and HORIZON-CL5-2026-07-D1-01.

 This Horizon Europe call is a funding opportunity for research and innovation projects aimed at improving climate monitoring capabilities. It seeks to enhance the quality, accessibility, and utilization of climate data, strengthen the EU's role in climate science, and provide better information for policymakers. The call is structured around three main research areas: improving climate data records, advancing Earth system reanalyses, and enhancing climate forcing and emission data sets. Projects should leverage new data streams, digital tools, and AI, and align with international climate frameworks. The ultimate goal is to support climate action and contribute to a climate-neutral and resilient society.

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 can include universities, research institutes, SMEs, large enterprises, and other legal entities capable of conducting research and innovation activities. Participation from non-EU/non-Associated Countries is possible under specific provisions.

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 allow for both single applicants and consortia, as it is not explicitly stated that a consortium is mandatory. However, given the scale and scope of the research areas, a consortium approach is highly encouraged.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The primary geographic eligibility focuses on EU member states and associated countries as described in Annex B of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. However, the opportunity also mentions that a number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects.

Target Sector: The primary target sector is climate, specifically focusing on climate monitoring, climate data, Earth system reanalyses, and climate forcing and emission data sets. It also touches on sectors like energy, environment, digital technologies (AI), and policy making.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity mentions the United States due to the current divestment of the US in climate and environmental related monitoring networks. It also refers to EU member states and associated countries, and non-EU/non-Associated Countries.

Project Stage: The expected maturity of the project is research and innovation actions, implying projects in the research, development, and validation stages.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call, ranging from approximately €4 million to €7 million per grant. The total budget for the call is substantial, with individual topics having budgets of €15 million, €16 million, or €21 million.

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 activities.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants for each topic suggests that the funding is competitive. For example, topics with a budget of €15 million typically aim to fund around 3 projects, while a topic with €16 million aims for 4 projects, and a topic with €21 million aims for 3 projects.

Co-funding Requirement: The information does not explicitly state whether co-funding is required. However, Horizon Europe actions typically fund a high percentage of eligible costs, especially for RIAs.

Summary:

This Horizon Europe call focuses on "Next Generation Climate Monitoring and Related Capabilities," aiming to improve climate data, strengthen EU climate data sovereignty, and facilitate climate information distillation for policymaking. The call invites proposals addressing next-generation climate data records, Earth system reanalyses, and climate forcing and emission data sets. It encourages the use of innovative digital tools, including AI, and promotes international cooperation. The call is structured around a single-stage submission process with a deadline in April 2026, and it offers lump sum grants ranging from approximately €4 million to €7 million per project. Eligible applicants include a wide range of research and innovation actors from EU member states, associated countries, and potentially non-EU countries with specific funding arrangements. The call contributes to the broader goal of advancing science for a climate-neutral and resilient society, aligning with the EU's Green and Digital Transition strategies.