Assessing the performance of policy instruments to inform climate change mitigation action
Assessing the performance of policy instruments to inform climate change mitigation action supports researchers evaluating EU and national climate policies to improve evidence for effective, fair emissions cuts.
Funder: European Commission
Due Dates: November 17, 2026 (Opening) | March 4, 2027 (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: €3 million expected per project; €9 million total topic budget for 3 expected grants
Summary: Supports research evaluating EU and national climate mitigation policies, improving emissions assessment methods, and informing a fair, socially acceptable transition.
Key Information: Requires at least three independent beneficiaries in three countries, including one EU Member State and two other Member States or Associated Countries.
Description
This European Commission Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action funds assessment of how effectively EU and Member State policies reduce greenhouse gas emissions, focusing on sectors outside the current EU Emissions Trading System (ETS 1). Research should examine interactions between national and EU measures, behavioural change and policy acceptance, including gender-specific aspects, economic and social effects, distributional impacts, trade-offs and co-benefits.
Projects should improve both retrospective policy evaluation and estimates of future emission reductions. Work should go beyond traditional decomposition analysis, using advanced econometric methods to distinguish policy effects from external drivers. Economy-wide modelling should capture cross-sectoral feedbacks, price responsiveness and consumer behaviour. The topic requires collaboration between political scientists, economists and other relevant social sciences and humanities disciplines, and seeks stronger networks linking researchers, policy experts and government officials.
