European Commission: Impact of Light and Noise Pollution on Biodiversity

Deadline: 28-Mar-23

The European Commission (EC) is pleased to announce an open call for the Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON) to provide grants for the Impact of Light and Noise Pollution on Biodiversity.

Scope

• Light pollution is the alteration of natural lighting levels due to artificial light at night. It has been rapidly increasing, with the illumination level in developed countries increasing tenfold over the last 50 years. From 2012 to 2016, Earth’s artificially lit outdoor area grew by 2.2% per year. Artificial light at night is a powerful environmental stressor which alters the biological rhythms of living organisms (fauna and flora), modifies species assemblages (e.g. fish in ports) and changes ecosystems at large. There is a broad scientific consensus that it poses a threat to biodiversity and this has led to growing concerns in recent years. Light pollution is specifically known to cause habitat fragmentation, impairing physiology and behaviour in fauna. It is notably thought to be a major factor in the gradual disappearance of insect and bird populations worldwide. Its effects seem to intensify with the use of LEDs (Light-Emitting Diodes) including outside cities. Another domain of light pollution is the horizontally polarised light reflection of certain artificial surfaces (e.g. roads and photovoltaic solar panels), posing significant threat to polarotactic insects that get trapped in search for water bodies.
• Noise is an environmental factor which is also given growing attention. According to IPBES, noise’s effects on nature are increasingly observed. Expansion of human population, transport networks and extraction have a range of impacts upon species, depending on auditory capacities and noise wavelengths. Underwater noises that are due not only to shipping but also to pile drivers, sonars, seismic testing or windfarms are significant marine pollutants. Noise can be particularly problematic for marine organisms. It has been shown for instance that it may modify behaviour and physiology of invertebrates and it is suspected to increase infection risks and alter spawning behaviour of affected species. It is suspected, for instance, to increase infection risks and spawning behaviour of affected species. Evidence of the impact of noise pollution on ecosystems is also growing, like the reduction of the presence of songbirds in cities.
• EU policies integrate the need to protect biodiversity from light and noise in a limited extent, in particular:
  • The Habitats Directive requires Member States to take the necessary measures to avoid significant disturbance of protected species in Natura 2000 sites, which, where relevant, is applicable to light pollution.
  • Noise is one aspect of the good environmental status defined in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive No 2008/56.
• There is a need to better understand the overall impact of these pollution sources of emerging concern on biodiversity, in particular how the conservation status of species and habitats is affected, mechanisms at stake and how to monitor and mitigate adverse effects.
• Targets groups for this topic are notably regulatory bodies, civil society, local and regional decision –makers.
• Successful proposals should:
  • provide a comprehensive review on available knowledge on the impacts of noise and light pollution on biodiversity and ecosystem services (from genetic to species levels) and their combined effects with other drivers of biodiversity loss including climate change and invasive species. The scope should cover terrestrial (both in urban and rural areas), fresh water and marine environments. Projects should build upon research performed on the European level as well as by the Member States and Associated Countries,
  • assess the overall impacts of noise and light pollution on biodiversity and ecosystem services in Europe and the magnitude of the problems. This should include a scrutiny of applicable policies and their impact as well as a contextualisation of the problems from an environmental history perspective,
  • improve understanding of mechanisms leading to biodiversity loss, including effects of noise and light pollution on the behaviour of animals which can eventually affect population viability,
  • investigate how noise and light pollution affect the conservation status of species and habitats, and identify measures to avoid significant disturbance,
  • assess the need and ability of specific measures to prevent negative impacts of light and noise on biodiversity, including monitoring,
  • assess links to other policies where light and noise management is at place or relevance and synergies can be explored (disaster management, noise mapping etc.),
  • explore innovative solutions to prevent and mitigate the impacts of light and noise on biodiversity and ecosystem services. This should not be limited to technological solutions.
• Proposals should address Area A: terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystems or Area B: aquatic (including marine) biodiversity and ecosystems. The area (A or B) should be clearly indicated on the application.
• Cooperation with projects supported by the mission ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters’ is expected for Area B. Successful proposals under Area B are expected to strengthen the European contribution to the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
• Proposals should earmark the necessary resources for cooperation and networking activities. Collaboration with the European partnership on biodiversity Biodiversa+ should be explored, as needed.
• This topic should involve the effective contribution of SSH disciplines. Participatory approaches, such as citizen science, could be appropriate modes of research for this action
• International cooperation is encouraged.

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 Outcome

• In line with the European Green Deal and in particular with the objectives of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, projects will contribute to understand and address direct drivers of biodiversity decline in both terrestrial and aquatic environments.
• Project results are expected to contribute to all following expected outcomes:
  • The impact of light and noise pollution on biodiversity and ecosystem services is better understood and nature restoration activities as planned in the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 are supported, contributing to the objective of “at least 30% of all protected species and habitats not currently in favourable conservation status should reach favourable status or at least show a strong positive trend by 2030”,
  • The awareness of private and public stakeholders about the impacts of light and noise on biodiversity is increased,
  • Specific measures to assess, prevent and mitigate the negative impacts from light and noise on biodiversity are developed,
  • Networking capacity on impacts of light and noise on biodiversity is built.

Expected Impact

• Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway resulting in the strategic plan having the following impact: “Biodiversity is back on a path to recovery, and ecosystems and their services are preserved and sustainably restored on land, inland water and at sea through improved knowledge and innovation. More specifically, one or more of the following impacts should materialise:
  • Direct drivers of biodiversity decline will be understood and addressed – land and sea use change, natural resource use and exploitation, climate change, pollution, invasive alien species – as well as indirect drivers – demographic, socio-economic, technological, etc.
  • Protected areas and their networks will be planned, managed and expanded and the status of species and habitats will be improved based on up-to-date knowledge and solutions.
  • Biodiversity, ecosystem services and natural capital will be mainstreamed in the society and economy: e.g. they will be integrated into public and business decision-making; approaches for enabling transformative changes to tackle societal challenges will be built including by deploying nature-based solutions (NBS).
  • Practices in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture will be developed and improved to support and make sustainable the use of biodiversity and a wide range of ecosystems services.
  • Biodiversity research and support policies and processes will be interconnected at EU and global levels, making use of advanced digital technologies and societal engagement where appropriate.
  • The biodiversity and health nexus will be understood, in particular at the level of ecosystems. This will be achieved by using the one-health approach, in the context of climate change and globalisation and by addressing contributions and trade-offs.
• The impacts have been revised compared with the 2021-2022 work programme in order to take into account R&I activities included in the 2021-2024 strategic plan, but that are yet to be addressed. This was the case, for instance, for several direct drivers of biodiversity loss. The new drafting of the impacts makes clear that they are within the scope of the work programme.

Eligible Activities

• Eligible activities are the ones described in the call conditions. Applications will only be considered eligible if their content corresponds, wholly or in part, to the topic description for which it is submitted.
• 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.
  • 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. Eligible activities include the preparation, management and follow-up, under the coordination of a lead procurer, of one joint PCP and additional activities to embed the PCP into a wider set of demand-side activities.
  • 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. Eligible activities include preparing and implementing, under the coordination of a lead procurer, one joint or several coordinated PPI by the buyers’ group and additional activities to embed the PPI into a wider set of demand-side activities.

Eligibility Criteria

• Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non associated 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.
• Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register before submitting their application, in order to get a participant identification code (PIC) and be validated by the Central Validation Service before signing the grant agreement. For the validation, they will be asked to upload the necessary documents showing their legal status and origin during the grant preparation stage. A validated PIC is not a prerequisite for submitting an application.
• Specific Cases
  • Affiliated entities — Affiliated entities (i.e. entities with a legal or capital link to a beneficiary which participate in the action with similar rights and obligations to the beneficiaries, but which do not sign the grant agreement and therefore do not become beneficiaries themselves) are allowed, if they are eligible for participation and funding.
  • Associated partners — Associated partners (i.e. entities which participate in the action without signing the grant agreement, and without the right to charge costs or claim contributions) are allowed, subject to any conditions regarding associated partners set out in the specific call conditions.
  • Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees to protect the EU’s financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons.
  • EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law including decentralised agencies may be part of the consortium, unless provided for otherwise in their basic act.
• To become a beneficiary, legal entities must be eligible for funding.
• 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.

For more information, visit EC.