Better understanding and attribution of land and ocean carbon sources and sinks
Better understanding and attribution of land and ocean carbon sources and sinks supports research consortia studying carbon fluxes to improve climate models, mitigation assessments and emissions estimates.
Funder: European Commission
Due Dates: November 17, 2026 (Opening) | March 4, 2027 (Application deadline, 17:00 Brussels time)
Funding Amounts: Around €5 million per project; €25 million total topic budget for 5 expected grants
Summary: Supports research consortia improving understanding and attribution of land and ocean carbon fluxes to strengthen climate models, mitigation strategies and emissions estimates.
Key Information: Proposals must address exactly one research area: ocean carbon, land carbon, or reconciliation of land-use emissions estimates.
Description
The European Commission funds this Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action to improve understanding of carbon dioxide sources and sinks on land, in inland waters and in the ocean. Research should reduce uncertainties in carbon flux estimates, distinguish natural processes from human influences, and improve climate models, future scenarios and mitigation assessments.
The topic covers ocean sink dynamics and marine carbon dioxide removal, land ecosystem responses to environmental change and management, and reconciliation of land-use emissions estimates used by climate scientists and national reporting communities. Consistency in lateral carbon transfers, data, scenarios and models is a cross-project priority. The topic belongs to the ESA–European Commission Earth System Science coordination initiative’s Carbon Cluster, with coordination expected alongside ESA FutureEO projects.
