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Horizon Europe · European Union

Better understanding and attribution of land and ocean carbon sources and sinks

Opens 17 Nov 2026

The EU's Horizon Europe programme expects to make 5 awards of €5 million each, from a total budget of €25 million. Applications close on 4 Mar 2027 (EU calls usually close at 17:00 Brussels time). Organisations in EU member states and Horizon Europe associated countries such as Türkiye can usually take part; the topic conditions control.

Expected outcome

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

• Better understanding of oceanic carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) sources and sinks, their drivers and dynamics under different climate scenarios, including their responses to human interventions;

• Better understanding of land ecosystem CO 2 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 CO 2 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).

Who can apply

Consortium of at least 3 independent legal entities from 3 different EU Member States or associated countries, at least one in a Member State (Horizon Europe standard rule).

Applicant categories are a starting point. The official call decides eligibility.

Timing

Single-stage call. Next deadline 2027-03-04. The portal states the exact cut-off time (EU calls usually close at 17:00 Brussels time).

How to apply

1. Read the full topic on the Funding & Tenders Portal: expected outcome, scope, type of action and the topic conditions, including any country restrictions.
2. Register each participating organisation in the Funding & Tenders Portal to get a PIC.
3. Consortium of at least 3 independent legal entities from 3 different EU Member States or associated countries (Horizon Europe standard rule; Türkiye is associated). Confirm in the topic conditions.
4. Prepare Part A (administrative forms and budget, completed in the portal) and Part B (the technical description on the official template for this type of action).
5. Submit in the portal before the cut-off time on the deadline day. Late submissions are not accepted.

From the call text

Who can apply

Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page

Company stage

Not stated in the call text we hold — check the official page

Single applicant or consortium

Read the topic conditions on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal for eligible countries, consortium requirements, budget and the application route.

Where applicants must be based

Read the topic conditions on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal for eligible countries, consortium requirements, budget and the application route.

Where to apply

Read the topic conditions on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal for eligible countries, consortium requirements, budget and the application route.

Read the EU application guide

Where these facts come from

Official sources

Official call page

Facts on this page come from the funder’s official data, taken on 14 Nov 2026. The funder's own documents, including later amendments, always take precedence.

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