Network on carbon farming and emissions reductions for agricultural and forest lands

This grant opportunity aims to support the development and implementation of innovative carbon farming practices that improve soil health across Europe. Its main goal is to help conserve soil organic carbon stocks, which contributes to fighting climate change, protecting biodiversity, and restoring ecosystems. The focus is on activities that prevent land degradation and help achieve nature restoration targets. Projects should align with the EU's vision for sustainable agriculture and food systems. The opportunity is open to participants from the European Union, Associated Countries, and, in some cases, non-EU countries with special provisions.

• Establish a European network of stakeholders - farmers, land managers, researchers, policymakers - to develop and share carbon farming practices and emissions-reduction strategies.

• Evaluate, compare, and scale carbon sequestration techniques (e.g. agroforestry, cover cropping, biochar, soil amendments) across diverse agricultural and forest landscapes.

• Support knowledge exchange, benchmarking of results, and collaborative learning among network participants in different regions.

• Develop common monitoring, reporting, and verification frameworks (MRV) to reliably measure soil carbon changes and greenhouse gas reductions.

• Build synergies with ongoing EU-led soil initiatives (e.g. Mission Soil experiments, EuroGEO, Living Labs, Copernicus services).

• Provide policy guidance and recommendations for integrating carbon farming into EU strategies and incentive mechanisms (e.g. CAP climate subventions, carbon credit schemes).

Example projects:

• Developing new carbon farming methods to increase soil organic carbon on European farms.
• Piloting soil health improvement practices in collaboration with local agricultural networks.
• Testing innovative techniques to restore degraded soils and enhance biodiversity in rural areas.

• Personnel costs for project staff
• Purchase of equipment and materials needed for project activities
• Travel and accommodation for project-related activities
• Subcontracting specific tasks or services
• Costs for dissemination and communication of project results
• Costs for project management and coordination
• Training and capacity-building activities
• Monitoring and evaluation costs
• External expertise and consultancy fees
• Administrative and overhead costs

All eligible expenses must fit within the lump sum funding structure defined by the programme. Detailed rules and restrictions apply as set out in the programme's reference documents.

• Budget for this Call: 3.000.000€
• Number of Grants attributed: 1

• At least three independent entities from three different eligible countries, including one in an EU Member State.

• All partners must be from EU or Horizon Europe associated countries and show financial and operational capacity.

• Coordination and Support Action (CSA) focused on creating a European network for carbon farming and emission reductions.

• Must involve farmers, land managers, researchers, policymakers, and civil society in a multi-actor approach.

• Should deliver best practices, training, guidance, and stakeholder engagement.

• Must align with the European Soil Observatory and EU Green Deal goals.

• Standard Horizon Europe rules on ethics, data, conflicts of interest, and legal compliance apply.