Fostering a just transition in Europe

Supports

General information Programme Horizon Europe (HORIZON) Call Cross-sectoral solutions for the climate transition (HORIZON-CL5-2021-D2-01) Type of action HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions Type of MGA HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG] Closed Deadline model single-stage Opening date 24 June 2021 Deadline date 19 October 2021 17:00:00 Brussels time Topic description Expected Outcome: Projects are expected to contribute to one or several of the following outcomes: A better understanding of the distributional repercussions of the transition to climate neutrality across sectors, social groups, countries, regions, cities, and in the labour market that will help implement the commitment to “leaving nobody behind”. A better understanding of the trade-offs and synergies between climate action, climate-change impacts and equity and justice considerations, such as social inequality, gender equalities, as well as their interaction with other transformations that underpin the transition to climate neutrality. Addressing procedural justice concerns in the transition to carbon neutrality, via deeper and more consequential involvement of stakeholders from all parts of society in the transition process, for instance via co-design and co-production processes, social innovations, citizen science, user-led innovation type activities, or upstream multi-stakeholder debates or mechanisms for citizen deliberation and engagement. New scientific evidence to inform EU, national and regional policies in designing inclusive, socially fair, gender-sensitive and economically viable transition plans and post-COVID recovery packages that take due care of the most affected regions, cities, sectors and parts of society, including vulnerable individuals and households. Increased societal and political acceptance for climate transition strategies, including renewable energy projects and more sustainable mobility concepts, based on greater involvement of those most affected, leading to better capacity for co-designing policy frameworks that enhance inclusiveness while minimising adverse distributional effects and inequalities. Improved insights into socio-economic and socio-political barriers that impede a just transition towards climate neutrality and identification of strategies to overcome these barriers on different temporal and spatial scales across Europe. Scope: Actions should enhance the understanding of the challenges of the “just transition” to climate-neutral and environmentally sustainable economies and societies, as envisaged in the European Green Deal and Next Generation EU. They should analyse various dimensions of inequality arising from climate change impacts, climate policies and transition pathways including their distributional implications associated with changes in GDP, industrial competitiveness and trade, employment and skills, taxation, incomes and wealth, vulnerabilities and human health, structure of sectors, business models and relative prices etc. Further equity aspects associated with climate change impacts and climate policy, such as differential vulnerabilities as well as intergenerational fairness or justice should also be studied, taking into consideration social and geographic circumstances and paying due attention to most vulnerable parts of the society (poor, elderly, persons with disabilities, children, migrants etc.). The gender dimension should also be explored. Research should integrate learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of the evolution of inequality in Europe and analyse potential implications for climate action and green recovery. Actions should identify policy options and measures that combine climate and environmental benefits with intra- and intergenerational justice, e.g. by a reduction of poverty and inequality across different sectors of society, as well as within and between countries and regions. They should explore links between and combinations of climate-focused policies and social, taxation, employment and other relevant measures. Recommendations as to the most effective levers for enacting an inclusive, fair and just ecological transition should be formulated. Beyond climate action, links to Sustainable Development Goals should be considered as many of them are centred on reducing poverty, inequality and meeting basic human needs. Improving tools and methodologies for addressing intra- and intergenerational equity, equality and justice concerns in the context of the transition to climate neutrality is part of the action’s scope, but should take into account the work by projects in other parts of the work programme, notably those addressing the improvement of Integrated Assessment Models under Destination 1 on Climate Science. Research should comprise a strong empirical component, including field experiments, and meaningfully involve stakeholders to collect evidence, test proposals and discuss relevant issues. Actions are expected to mobilise and build on the knowledge from across a broad range of social sciences (including behavioural science, political science, sociology, economics, law, gender studies etc.) and humanities and involve all parts of the quadruple helix (public bodies, industry/SMEs, social partners, academia/research, citizens/civil society) in a meaningful transdisciplinary manner and across activities[1]. Synergies with the topic HORIZON-CL5-2021-D2-01-15 on Transition Super-Labs should be explored, given that equity and fairness considerations will play a very important role in that context, too. This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities. Topic destination Cross-sectoral solutions for the climate transition This Destination covers thematic areas which are cross-cutting by nature and can provide key solutions for climate, energy and mobility applications. In line with the scope of cluster 5 such areas are batteries, hydrogen, communities and cities, early-stage breakthrough technologies as well as citizen engagement. Although these areas are very distinct in terms of challenges, stakeholder communities and expected impacts, they have their cross-cutting nature as a unifying feature and are therefore grouped together under this Destination. This Destination contributes to the following Strategic Plan’s Key Strategic Orientations (KSO): C: Making Europe the first digitally enabled circular, climate-neutral and sustainable economy through the transformation of its mobility, energy, construction and production systems; A: Promoting an open strategic autonomy[1] by leading the development of key digital, enabling and emerging technologies, sectors and value chains to accelerate and steer the digital and green transitions through human-centred technologies and innovations; D: Creating a more resilient, inclusive and democratic European society, prepared and responsive to threats and disasters, addressing inequalities and providing high-quality health care, and empowering all citizens to act in the green and digital transitions. It covers the following impact areas: Industrial leadership in key and emerging technologies that work for people Affordable and clean energy Smart and sustainable transport The expected impact, in line with the Strategic Plan, is to contribute to the “Clean and sustainable transition of the energy and transport sectors towards climate neutrality facilitated by innovative cross-cutting solutions”, notably through: Citizens and stakeholder engagement The transition to climate-neutral economies and societies by 2050 is the defining challenge of this century. The challenge is not just technical: it calls for wide-ranging societal transformations and the adaptation of lifestyles and behaviours. Engaging citizens and stakeholders is therefore critical for the success of the European Green Deal, as is making greater recourse to the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH), alongside the Scientific, Technical, Engineering and Mathematical (STEM) disciplines. The topics under this section do not stand alone but aim to complement and support the broader integration (“mainstreaming”) of citizen and stakeholder engagement as well as the social sciences and humanities (SSH) across the whole Horizon Europe programme map and particularly Cluster 5. The main expected impacts to be generated by topics targeting citizen and stakeholder engagement under this Destination are: A better understanding of the societal implications of the climate transition, including its distributional repercussions; More effective policy interventions, co-created with target constituencies and building on high-quality policy advice; Greater societal support for transition policies and programs, based on greater and more consequential involvement of those most affected. Topic conditions and documents General conditions General conditions 1. Admissibility conditions: described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System 2. Eligible countries: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes 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. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. 3. Other eligibility conditions: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme