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HORIZON EUROPE TOPIC · Cluster 6 · Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Carbon farming innovation and scale-up

HORIZON-CL6-2027-02-CLIMATE-03 — the expected outcomes as checkable statements, what evaluators look for in this topic, and the conditions that shape the proposal.

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ForthcomingRIA · lump sumDeadline 23 September 2027around EUR 6 million per project

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TopicHORIZON-CL6-2027-02-CLIMATE-03
StatusForthcoming
CallHORIZON-CL6-2027-02 — Call 02 - single stage (2027)
DestinationLand, ocean and water for climate action (2026-27)
Type of actionResearch and Innovation Actions · lump sum
Opening20 April 2027
Deadline23 September 2027
Budgetaround EUR 6 million per project · 2 projects expected · EUR 12 million in total
TRL at the endTRL 5
Part B page limit45 pages (standard application form; check your call)
TemplateWork Programme 2026–2027 application form

Expected outcomes

Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes. The topic says: “Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:”

  1. EO1 models, methods and data needed for the quantification of carbon farming activities and results are available for integration in a single monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system, so that the costs and burden associated to carbon farming MRV are reduced to a minimum.
  2. EO2 use of carbon-removal and emission-reduction certification is facilitated at scale, and the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation becomes the basis for cost-effective certification of carbon farming in different contexts.
  3. EO3 carbon farming actors involved in CRCF implementation in different roles – including land managers and other market participants as well as certification and governance bodies – have access to relevant scientific knowledge and tailored technical support for the implementation of CRCF rules.

Expected impacts named in the destination

The wider, long-term effects the destination seeks. Your outcomes feed them; they are not project deliverables.

  1. EI1 Strengthened knowledge and understanding and reduced uncertainty about the future of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in the short, medium, and long term, and its impacts on the Global Ocean and the Earth System are available and used, alongside identified commensurate management responses to prevent the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic cryosphere from reaching a point of no return, including enabling protecting, restoring and sustainably managing marine and coastal ecosystems and preventing pollution.
  2. EI2 Effective policy mixes and multi-level governance capable of anticipating a changing Arctic and enabling a just and sustainable transition for all, engaging society at large and balancing economic, social and environmental goals, thanks to improved evidence-based knowledge, tools and science-society-policy interfaces.
  3. EI3 Carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions from land and water activities (inland, marine and coastal) – including primary production – and infrastructures are minimised in rural, urban, and coastal areas while the monitoring, reporting and verification of the emissions is improved.
  4. EI4 Medium- and long-term adaptation and resilience of water infrastructure, agriculture and forestry to challenges related to climate change is further addressed with regard to scientific knowledge, public policy and economic practices.

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

  • Projects should contribute to all of the expected outcomes.
  • For each outcome (EO1 to EO3), name who will use or adopt your results (a specific group, not “industry” or “society”), how they get them, and the indicator that shows the change, with baseline, target and date.
  • Use the topic's own words for each outcome, so the evaluator can tick it off.

What the scope asks for

Evaluators check the proposal against these sentences of the scope. Answer each one visibly, in the call's own words.

  • “With implementation of CRCF expected to start in 2027, this topic should serve to develop innovations and knowledge facilitating and enhancing its implementation on the ground.”
  • “Proposals should:. develop innovations to facilitate carbon farming certification, particularly by integrating advanced technologies (e.g., machine learning, artificial intelligence, blockchain, Earth observation, IoT) and by enhancing cooperation among holders of relevant knowledge and data (e.g., networks of benchmark sites, ring tests among soil laboratories, interoperability of relevant datasets), in order to harmonise data collection and…”
  • “Proposals must implement the multi-actor approach and ensure adequate involvement of relevant stakeholders, including potential carbon-farming practitioners (farmers, foresters and other land managers), other market participants, certification bodies and relevant public authorities.”
  • “Proposals should include a dedicated task, appropriate resources and a plan on how they will collaborate with the other project(s) selected under this topic and with projects under other relevant topics in Horizon Europe Work Programmes, including the Mission 'A Soil Deal for Europe' and the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO).”

Conditions that shape the proposal

  • Part B, sections 1–3: 45 pages (standard application form). Text beyond the limit is not read; tables and figures count.
  • Lump sum: the budget is fixed per work package and paid when each work package is completed. Every work package needs activities and deliverables an evaluator can verify, and the effort must match the money.
  • TRL: the topic expects TRL 5 by the end of the project. State where you start and the evidence for it.
  • Other Eligible Conditions: “The following additional eligibility criteria apply: the proposals must apply the multi-actor approach. See definition of the multi-actor approach in this work programme part.”

Impact pathway and traps

  • The gender dimension is named in the topic. Show how sex and gender analysis enters the research content, not only team balance.
  • Policy or regulation is in scope. Name the policy owners you will reach and what you will give them.
  • Keep outputs, outcomes and impacts apart: what you deliver, what changes when others use it, and the long-term effect.
  • For each destination impact you claim, show which of your outcomes feeds it. Destination impacts are long-term effects, not project deliverables.
  • Name the barriers outside the project (regulation, markets, user behaviour) that could block uptake, and what you will do if they do.
  • Section 2.3 (the summary canvas) is optional on this call; the old split into scientific, economic and societal impact is no longer required.
The scope, as published

The CRCF Regulation creates the first EU-wide voluntary framework for certifying carbon removals, carbon farming and carbon storage in products across Europe. By establishing EU quality criteria and laying down monitoring and reporting processes, the CRCF Regulation will facilitate investment in innovative carbon removal technologies, as well as sustainable carbon farming solutions, while addressing greenwashing. By 2026, the Commission will have adopted the first EU certification methodologies for different carbon farming activities through delegated acts, will have issued implementing acts with certification rules, and will have started the process of recognising certification schemes entitled to apply CRCF rules. With implementation of CRCF expected to start in 2027, this topic should serve to develop innovations and knowledge facilitating and enhancing its implementation on the ground. Proposals should: develop innovations to facilitate carbon farming certification, particularly by integrating advanced technologies (e.g., machine learning, artificial intelligence, blockchain, Earth observation, IoT) and by enhancing cooperation among holders of relevant knowledge and data (e.g., networks of benchmark sites, ring tests among soil laboratories, interoperability of relevant datasets), in order to harmonise data collection and verification and to minimise administrative burden for operators; maintain open-access lists of models, sampling protocols, datasets of emission factors and other relevant data to harmonise sustainability benchmarks for carbon farming activities, enhance the robustness of company-level and national greenhouse gas inventories for the land sector and the agricultural sector, and ensure the comparability and interoperability of all CRCF uses; based on experience with the implementation of the CRCF Regulation and its implementing rules during the first years after entry into force, and building on previous knowledge and tools developed by other relevant (EU-funded) projects, enhance capacity among the relevant stakeholders and facilitate the broad application of new or improved technologies, processes or services supporting the successful participation of land managers, certification schemes, and certification bodies; create awareness about CRCF among all potential users, buyers, or financiers of carbon farming (e.g., companies in the bioeconomy, national and regional agriculture and environmental authorities, financial institutions), collect information about their data needs, and facilitate access to those data within the context of CRCF certification and registry; systematically collect and analyse feedback and lessons learned by carbon farming actors involved in CRCF implementation, particularly regarding obstacles to implementing and scaling-up of CRCF certification; identify and address – through technological, economic or social innovations – remaining obstacles for effective large-scale participation in CRCF certification, and propose potential improvements to enabling conditions, certification methodologies, verification rules, and incentive structures. Proposals must implement the multi-actor approach and ensure adequate involvement of relevant stakeholders, including potential carbon-farming practitioners (farmers, foresters and other land managers), other market participants, certification bodies and relevant public authorities. Proposals should include a dedicated task, appropriate resources and a plan on how they will collaborate with the other project(s) selected under this topic and with projects under other relevant topics in Horizon Europe Work Programmes, including the Mission 'A Soil Deal for Europe' and the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO). In this topic the integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content is not a mandatory requirement.

Technology readiness, as published

Activities are expected to achieve TRL 5 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/carbon-removals-and-carbon-farming_en#eu-carbon-removals-and-carbon-farming-certification-crcf-regulation

Other topics in HORIZON-CL6-2027-02

Source and attribution

Topic text from the official topic page on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, retrieved 19 October 2026. © European Union, reused under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU (CC BY 4.0). Changes: the expected outcomes and impacts are split into numbered statements, long passages are shortened, and the evaluator checklist is GrantWise's own commentary. Your call and the Work Programme always win; check them before you submit. GrantWise is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the European Commission.