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Grant Analysis

Purpose & Target

Core objective: To pioneer ways to mobilise and increase private sector financing for climate change adaptation solutions, thereby stepping up private sector engagement with the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change.
Target recipient type: Consortia, ideally including private sector actors (businesses, financial sector, private investors), research institutes, and organisations with Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) expertise.
Size: Not specified, but consortia imply multiple entities, likely including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger enterprises.
This grant is SECTOR-SPECIFIC focusing on climate change adaptation and financial innovation within that context.
Geographic scope: EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries. Project case studies must span at least 3 different Member States or Associated Countries.
Key filtering criteria for initial screening: Focus on private sector financing, climate change adaptation, consortium requirement, and geographic eligibility.
Grant frequency: Part of the annual Horizon Europe Mission work programme for 2025.
Program context: Part of the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, aiming to support at least 150 regions and local authorities in becoming climate-resilient by 2030.

Financial Structure

Budget: The total budget for this topic is €6,000,000, with 2 grants expected to be awarded.
Grant Amount per Project: Each grant awarded under this topic is expected to be €3,000,000.
Currency: EUR (Euro).
Funding Type: Grants will take the form of lump sum contributions as defined by the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under Horizon Europe.
Eligible Costs (for lump sum calculation): The proposed lump sum must approximate the beneficiaries' underlying actual costs, including:
- Personnel costs (employees, natural persons under direct contract, seconded persons, SME owners, natural person beneficiaries).
- Subcontracting costs.
- Purchase costs (travel and subsistence, equipment, other goods, works and services).
- Other cost categories (e.g., financial support to third parties, internally invoiced goods and services, research infrastructure costs, PCP/PPI procurement).
Ineligible Costs: Any costs that would be ineligible for an actual costs grant under Horizon Europe rules must be excluded from the lump sum calculation.
Indirect Costs: Calculated by applying a 25% flat rate to eligible direct cost categories that qualify under Horizon Europe rules.
Co-financing Requirements: Compliance with the co-financing principle is ensured by checking that the total estimated costs of the action are greater than the estimated Union contributions. Reimbursement rates (e.g., 100% for RIA) are included in the lump sum calculation.
Payment Mechanism: Lump sum contributions are paid per work package upon proper implementation of the work package activities, in accordance with Annex 1 of the grant agreement. Payments do not depend on the costs actually incurred.
Financial Guarantees: Between 5% and 8% of the total lump sum is retained as a contribution to the Mutual Insurance Mechanism.
Financial Reporting: There is no obligation to document actual costs incurred for the action. However, beneficiaries must propose the amount of the lump sum contribution based on their estimated direct and indirect costs, providing a detailed breakdown per work package and per beneficiary/affiliated entity.

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible Organization Types

Consortia are required: projects should include participation of relevant private sector actors from the business and financial sectors and their commitment to further contribute to the deployment of the solutions.
Open to actors from EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries.
Required to involve social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions, as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise.
Encouraged to engage local communities and citizens.
No specific legal structure defined beyond being an 'actor'.

Geographic Location

Organizations must be established in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries.
Project activities must include minimum 8 case studies, in 3 different Member States / Associated Countries.

Other Specific Qualifications

Proposals must adhere to Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes for admissibility conditions.
Applicants must demonstrate financial and operational capacity as described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Applicants should have proven commitment and motivation if already engaged in Mission activities (e.g., Charter Signatories, Community of Practice), as this provides ideal sites for testing and demonstration.

Exclusion Criteria

Not explicitly detailed in the provided grant specific text, but standard Horizon Europe exclusion criteria apply (e.g., described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes).

Application Process

Application Deadlines and Submission

Application Deadline: 2025-09-24 00:00:00+00 (UTC).
Submission Method: Applications must be submitted via the Electronic Submission Service on the Funding & Tenders Portal.
Submission Type: This is a single-stage submission process.
Opening Date: The submission session became available on 2025-05-06.

Required Documentation and Materials

Standard Application Form (specific to Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions - HE RIA).
Detailed budget table for Lump Sum actions (HE LS) to propose the amount of the lump sum contribution.
Proposal must adhere to specified page limits and layout as described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes, and Part B of the Application Form.
Proposals should include a declaration by beneficiaries stating they have followed their own accounting practices for budget preparation.

Project Implementation Timeline and Reporting

Project Duration: Not explicitly defined for this specific topic, but Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions typically last for several years (e.g., 3-5 years).
Reporting: Progress is tracked by the technical implementation of the action and the fulfilment of the conditions for releasing lump sum contributions per work package.
Knowledge Sharing Obligations:
- Results of the action should be promoted towards the Mission's Community of Practice.
- Projects must establish operational links and collaboration with the Mission Implementation Platform.
- Share relevant knowledge to feed other relevant knowledge platforms, such as Climate-ADAPT.
- Projects are expected to participate in exchanges and networking activities supported by the Mission Implementation Platform.
- Contribute to monitoring of Mission progress by providing information and data to visualise Mission progress in Europe.
- Applicants should account for these engagement activities in their proposal, making adequate provisions in terms of resources and budget.

Post-Award Requirements

Grant agreements are based on the Lump Sum Model Grant Agreement (MGA).
Adherence to standard Horizon Europe general conditions is required, including financial and operational capacity, ethical standards, dissemination, and intellectual property management.
A contribution of 5% to 8% of the total lump sum is retained as a contribution to the Mutual Insurance Mechanism.

Evaluation Criteria

Main Evaluation Areas (Standard Horizon Europe)

Excellence: Quality of proposed research, methodology, and innovation.
Impact: Potential of the project to contribute to the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, mobilise private financing, and create societal, economic, and environmental benefits.
Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation: Coherence and effectiveness of the work plan, appropriateness of resources, and management structure.

Specific Scoring Factors

Innovation Requirements:
- Development of innovative ways to overcome the main barriers to private sector financing of climate adaptation solutions (from both investor and investee perspectives).
- Proposal and testing of innovative ways to economically incentivise the private sector to finance adaptation solutions.
- Increasing and improving the range of investment concepts, financing mechanisms and/or business models.
Social Impact Expectations:
- Project results are expected to contribute to increased private sector financing of adaptation solutions.
- Stepped up private sector engagement with the Adaptation Mission, including knowledge sharing with the Mission Community of Practice.
- Adoption of a participatory approach that fully considers the local dimension of climate change and entails collaboration and engagement with local communities.
- Embedding engagement of citizens in the design and/or implementation of the Mission's solutions.
Competitive Advantage Factors:
- Robust calculations and methodologies for economic rationale for financing adaptation solutions (e.g., calculations of risks/losses, economic benefits, avoided costs, cost of inaction, lower insurance costs, monetisation of co-benefits).
- Diverse case studies covering a variety of climate hazards and key community systems (e.g., critical infrastructure, health & well-being, water management, land use & food systems, ecosystems).
- Inclusion of nature-based adaptation solutions in at least 3 of the case studies is considered a positive element.
- Strong consortium composition that includes relevant private sector actors from the business and financial sectors and SSH experts.
Quality Thresholds:
- The project must develop minimum 8 case studies, implemented across 3 different Member States / Associated Countries.
- Each case study must explicitly encompass a calculation of the economic rationale for financing.
- Experts with financial know-how will check the budget estimate against relevant benchmarks to ensure proposed resources align with activities and expected outputs.
Cross-cutting Themes Impact on Scoring:
- The effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts/institutions is explicitly required and contributes to enhancing the societal impact of research activities.

Compliance & Special Requirements

Regulatory Compliance

Proposals must adhere to all general conditions described in the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Compliance with EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509.
Adherence to Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment.
Standard EU requirements for ethics and research integrity in research projects.

Data Protection and Privacy

Applicants must comply with the Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement. Implicitly, standard EU data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR) apply to all data handling within the project.

Intellectual Property Policies

Standard Horizon Europe intellectual property policies apply, which generally promote open access to research results while allowing for IP protection and exploitation. Specific details are not provided in the source documents.

Risk Management and Security

The project itself focuses on developing solutions for risk management in climate adaptation, particularly by identifying economic rationales for private sector investment.
The lump sum funding model simplifies financial risk for beneficiaries, as there is no obligation to report actual costs and financial audits are minimised, focusing instead on technical completion.

Unique Aspects and Strategic Opportunities

Lump Sum Funding: This grant utilises a lump sum funding model, which significantly simplifies financial management for beneficiaries, reducing administrative burden and allowing a stronger focus on scientific/technical performance and output.
Private Sector Mobilisation: The grant directly addresses a key challenge identified by 93% of Mission Charter signatories: the need for financing for climate adaptation. It offers a unique opportunity to pioneer new financial concepts, mechanisms, and business models to unlock private investment for climate resilience.
Strong Policy Alignment: The opportunity is strategically aligned with the European Green Deal, the Adaptation Strategy, and the overarching EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, providing strong political and thematic backing.
Integration with EU Initiatives: Projects are expected to build operational links and collaborate extensively with the Mission Implementation Platform, the Mission's Community of Practice, Climate-ADAPT, and other relevant projects funded by Horizon Europe, LIFE, and the Technical Support Instrument (TSI), fostering broad impact and knowledge replication.
SSH Integration: The mandated inclusion of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) expertise ensures a holistic approach to understanding and addressing financial incentives, considering societal and human factors in climate adaptation financing.

Cross-Cutting Considerations

Citizen Engagement: There is a strong emphasis on adopting a participatory approach and embedding engagement of citizens and local communities in the design and/or implementation of solutions, considering the local dimension of climate change.
Nature-Based Solutions: Including nature-based adaptation solutions in at least 3 of the case studies is considered a positive element.
Inclusivity: The Mission aims to support less developed regional and local authorities and fosters solutions adapted to diverse climatic and socio-economic contexts.

Grant Details