Call for Proposals: EU-China International Cooperation on improving Monitoring for better Climate & Biodiversity Approaches

Deadline: 22-Feb-24

The European Commission (EC) is accepting proposals for EU-China International Cooperation on improving monitoring for better Integrated Climate and Biodiversity Approaches.

Scope

• The EU and China face similar challenges as a result of climate change where it comes to biodiversity related aspects, while reaching climate neutrality will require critical contributions from terrestrial land, including through enhancing net carbon dioxide removals. Similar challenges could benefit from similar actions and defining best practices in improving monitoring of terrestrial ecosystems in order to design better approaches integrating climate change adaptation and mitigation, and biodiversity conservation.
• The successful project should provide improvements in biodiversity monitoring infrastructures in support of integrated approaches able to deliver better synergies between mitigation, adaptation and conservation. Such integrated approaches can include a wide range of mitigation options, such as protection and restoring natural ecosystems, sustainable land management practices, sustainable forest and grassland management. Such options, based on a smart use of natural ecological processes and improved technologies, contribute to improving the quality, diversity and resilience of ecosystems, all of which have substantial benefits for biodiversity.
• Most monitoring instruments for climate and biodiversity indicators on terrestrial land are carried out in a non-integrated manner and are based on statistical inventories without explicit geographical resolution. Earth observation (including satellite and near surface remote sensing as well as ground based methods), alongside analysis tools such as Geographic Information Systems, can be combined as multiple geographically-explicit data sets. Data acquisition, processing, cross-referencing and coherent integration on terrestrial land require substantial research and innovation investments.
• Improving ground-based monitoring for better integrated approaches should assess or set up a strategy to assess the potential of natural and managed terrestrial ecosystems to contribute to:
  • climate mitigation, including enhancing net carbon removals,
  • climate adaptation, including resilience and disaster risk prevention, and
  • protection, conservation and restoration of biodiversity.
  • Improving existing monitoring, including through designing new datasets and methods to set up a geographically-explicit monitoring of climate and biodiversity aspects fits within the scope of this topic.
  • The successful proposal should contribute to a strengthened cooperation between the EU and China, also in the context of a better cooperation under the Group on Earth Observations initiatives, building on the climate and biodiversity monitoring networks in China and the EU.

Funding Information

• The check will normally be done for the coordinator if the requested grant amount is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000, except for:
  • public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and
  • cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (lowvalue grant).

Expected Outcomes

• The successful proposal is aiming to improve terrestrial monitoring as well as maximising synergies with biodiversity conservation and climate mitigation and adaptation, by using or acquiring environmental data, particularly geographically explicit data such as ground-based observation and remote sensed Earth observation data. This with a view to contribute to the objectives of climate-neutrality, adaptation to climate change and reversing biodiversity loss at global levels, with a focus on the EU and China. Synergetic solutions, including nature-based solutions such as the protection, the restoration and the sustainable management of terrestrial land, can contribute to enhancing carbon dioxide removals from the atmosphere, while reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience to climate change impacts, and contributing to biodiversity conservation and restoration.
• The successful proposal will furthermore contribute to an advanced understanding of science to support integrated climate and biodiversity actions on natural and managed ecosystems and associated economic sectors. It will do so by advancing solutions for monitoring, assessment and projections to support decision-making in better integrated climate and biodiversity policies in terrestrial ecosystems generally.
• The successful proposal is expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes:
  • Protect biodiversity and maximize synergetic benefits of biodiversity conservation, climate mitigation and adaptation based on both remote sensing and ground-based observation;
  • Development and exchange of best practices in using ground-based observation and Earth observation data and information, and establish standard and indicator system for biodiversity measurement for better integrated approaches in order to deliver increased synergies between mitigation, adaptation and conservation.
  • Geographically-explicit monitoring on regions that has been identified high biodiversity value and/or subject to biodiversity protection and restoration provisions due to high climate risk;
  • Strengthen scientific research in supporting of the synergies between the monitoring and reporting frameworks under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), including on the impacts of climate change on biodiversity, for better implementation and progress assessment of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

Eligible Activities

• Projects must focus exclusively on civil applications and must not:
  • aim at human cloning for reproductive purposes;
  • intend to modify the genetic heritage of human beings which could make such changes heritable (except for research relating to cancer treatment of the gonads, which may be financed);
  • intend to create human embryos solely for the purpose of research, or for the purpose of stem cell procurement, including by means of somatic cell nuclear transfer. Projects must, moreover, comply with EU policy interests and priorities (environment, social, security, industrial policy, etc.).
• The following activities are generally eligible for grants under Horizon Europe:
  • Research and innovation actions (RIA) — Activities that aim primarily to establish new knowledge or to explore the feasibility of a new or improved technology, product, process, service or solution. This may include basic and applied research, technology development and integration, testing, demonstration and validation of a small-scale prototype in a laboratory or simulated environment.
  • Innovation actions (IA) — Activities that aim directly to produce plans and arrangements or designs for new, altered or improved products, processes or services. These activities may include prototyping, testing, demonstrating, piloting, large-scale product validation and market replication.
  • Coordination and support actions (CSA) — Activities that contribute to the objectives of Horizon Europe. This excludes research and innovation (R&I) activities, except those carried out under the ‘Widening participation and spreading excellence’ component of the programme (part of ‘Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area’).
  • Programme co-fund actions (CoFund) — A programme of activities established or implemented by legal entities managing or funding R&I programmes, other than EU funding bodies. Such a programme of activities may support: networking and coordination; research; innovation; pilot actions; innovation and market deployment; training and mobility; awareness raising and communication; and dissemination and exploitation.
  • Innovation and market deployment actions (IMDA) — Activities that embed an innovation action and other activities necessary to deploy an innovation on the market. This includes the scaling-up of companies and Horizon Europe blended finance.
  • Training and mobility actions (TMA) — Activities that aim to improve the skills, knowledge and career prospects of researchers, based on mobility between countries and, if relevant, between sectors or disciplines.
  • Pre-commercial procurement actions (PCP) — Activities that aim to help a transnational buyers’ group to strengthen the public procurement of research, development, validation and, possibly, the first deployment of new solutions that can significantly improve quality and efficiency in areas of public interest, while opening market opportunities for industry and researchers active in Europe.
  • Public procurement of innovative solutions actions (PPI) — Activities that aim to strengthen the ability of a transnational buyers’ group to deploy innovative solutions early by overcoming the fragmentation of demand for such solutions and sharing the risks and costs of acting as early adopters, while opening market opportunities for industry.

Eligibility Criteria

• Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from nonassociated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call topic.
• A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
• To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
  • the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
  • the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States: Aruba (NL), Bonaire (NL), Curação (NL), French Polynesia (FR), French Southern and Antarctic Territories (FR), Greenland (DK), New Caledonia (FR), Saba (NL), Saint Barthélemy (FR), Sint Eustatius (NL), Sint Maarten (NL), St. Pierre and Miquelon (FR), Wallis and Futuna Islands (FR).
  • countries associated to Horizon Europe: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine.
• Specific cases:
  • Affiliated entities — Affiliated entities are eligible for funding if they are established in one of the countries listed above, or in a country identified in the specific call conditions.
  • Associated partners — Entities not eligible for funding (and therefore not able to participate as beneficiaries) may participate as associated partners, unless specified otherwise in the specific call conditions.
  • Coordination and Support Actions – To be eligible to participate as beneficiaries (or affiliated entities) in ‘Coordination and support’ actions, legal entities must be established in a Member State or Associated Country, unless the specific call conditions provide otherwise. Legal entities established in a non-associated third country may, however, participate in ‘Coordination and support’ actions as associated partners, unless this is explicitly excluded by the specific call conditions.
  • EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law may also be eligible to receive funding, unless their basic act states otherwise.
  • International organisations — International European research organisations are eligible to receive funding. Unless their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority, other international organisations are not eligible to receive funding. International organisations with headquarters in a Member State or Associated Country are eligible to receive funding for ‘Training and mobility’ actions and when provided for in the specific call conditions.

For more information, visit European Commission.