Africa-EU CO-FUND action on climate

Forthcoming

This is the status published by the official source.

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Expected Outcome:
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• A long-term collaboration on climate change research between the EU and the African Union is established through development and implementation of the Climate Action pillar of the EU-AU Research and Innovation Partnership on Climate Change and Sustainable Energy (CCSE),[1] in co-design between African and European partners;
• Reduced fragmentation by aligning the EU, national and multilateral R&I efforts with increased leverage and impact of funding;
• African scientific, policy and practice communities have knowledge and tools to better understand, withstand and adapt to the accelerating effects of climate change, fostering science-based implementation of the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Nairobi Declaration on Climate Change, the international dimensions of the EU Adaptation and Preparedness Union Strategy, the Global Gateway and the Team Europe Initiative on Adaptation and Resilience in Africa[2];
• African science is better accounted for and African scientists are better represented in international fora such as IPCC and UNFCCC. Scope:
The European Commission Political Guidelines 2024-2029[3] call for new impetus in EU partnership with Africa to jointly address Africa’s concerns which include increasing impacts of climate change. This requires stepping up research and innovation cooperation between Europe and Africa in this crucial domain for securing Africa’s prosperity and resilience, which also aligns with Europe’s interests. With disproportionate burden from climate change risks, high vulnerability and low adaptive capacity, Africa faces unique challenges that require tailored, context-specific solutions.
The action should establish joint collaborative activities between the EU and the AU, their respective Member States and other like-minded countries implementing the Climate Action Pillar of the CCSE Partnership. For framing its activities, the action should use the CCSE Roadmap[4] and the priorities identified by the Coordination and Support Action funded from the call “HORIZON-CL5-2025-03-D1-07: Implementing the climate action pillar of the EU-African Union Partnership on Climate Change and Sustainable Energy”. It should also consider the latest scientific and policy developments for adjusting the course of its activities. The action should address a well-balanced variety of climate issues under the Climate pillar of the CCSE Partnership, with particular emphasis on climate risk reduction and resilience. It should advance availability of climate-related data, data sharing and related information platforms, enhance climate services, and promote an integrated approach to knowledge. This should include awareness raising – in particular for the most vulnerable sectors and parts of the population – while leveraging the opportunities offered by the digital revolution to improve accessibility and impact. Co-design, co-development, and demonstration with end-users should be an integral part of the activities to increase uptake of the outcomes.
The action should organise joint calls and allow sufficient time for the implementation of the co-funded projects. The estimated duration of the action in order to achieve the establishment of the long term, sustainable collaboration is 5-6 years.
As a horizontal requirement, the action should promote collaborations between government, research and academia, private sector, and civil society, including for the sake of valorisation of results from the funded and other relevant activities. It should also prioritise capacity building among African scientists, practitioners and other stakeholders, including development of skills and researcher exchange.
Proposals should specifically consider elements within the FSTP scheme to ensure geographical balance and inclusiveness of a broad range of EU Member States, Horizon Europe Associated Countries, but especially widest possible representation of different African Union member states.
Beyond implementing transnational calls, the action should also design and carry out an ambitious programme of coordination and clustering activities to seek synergies, align efforts, exchange results, and organise joint activities with other relevant Horizon Europe, and other EU, national and multilateral initiatives[5]. It should provide support to the operation of the CCSE partnership and promoting its activities on international stage to increase the visibility of EU science diplomacy actions in Africa for climate-resilient development.
It is recommended that the action draws on the experience and lessons learnt from the implementation of the energy pillar of the CCSE Partnership[6].
[1] https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/strategy/strategy-research-and-innovation/europe-world/international-cooperation/regional-dialogues-and-international-organisations/eu-africa-cooperation/partnership-climate-change-and-sustainable-energy-ccse_en
[2] Climate Change Adaptation & Resilience - Africa | Capacity4dev
[3] https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/e6cd4328-673c-4e7a-8683-f63ffb2cf648_en
[4] https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/document/download/bb5227b4-5573-4078-bf70-2b668f8a573e_en?filename=ccse_roadmap_2017.pdf
[5] Such as ﷟ PRIMA, FNSSA, CS4RRA, ﷟ ClimSA, Regional Centers of Excellence related to the green transition, or climate related components of the Africa-EU Space Programme
[6] https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/963530 and https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101172838

Status

Forthcoming

Deadline

4 March 2027 (time not stated)

Opens

17 November 2026

Published

12 December 2025

Total budget

€15,000,000

Grant range

€15,000,000 – €15,000,000

Country

European Union (EU-wide)

Programme

Horizon Europe (HORIZON)

Funder

European Commission

Official page

Open at the source portal

What applying involves

14 steps, all of them taken from this call's own documents.

Understand the call

• Read the call on the source portal and download its documents
• Write the proposal against the award criteria and thresholds standard for this programme

  are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes — conditions §5a

• Check the grant's legal and financial set-up standard for this programme

  The funding rate is up to 50% of the eligible costs. Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties (FSTP) in the form of grants. Financial support provided by the participants to third parties is one of the primary activities of the action in order to be able to achieve its objectives. Given the type of action and its level of ambition, the maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 500 000. This is justified by the research-intensive nature of … — conditions §6

• Note the opening date — a proposal cannot be submitted before it
• Check the amount you plan to request against the call's range

Check you are eligible

• Check your country of establishment is eligible

  The source scopes this to EU Member States. — ai_results.eligibility

• Assemble the consortium this call requires

  The source states at least 30 partners. — ai_results.eligibility

• Check every partner is established in an eligible country standard for this programme

  described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide — conditions §2

• Meet the call's other eligibility conditions

  If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used). Due to the scope of this topic, legal entities established in all African Union member states are exceptionally eligible for Union funding. At least 30% of the beneficiaries must be legal entities established in the African Union member states. The … — conditions §3

• Be able to show financial and operational capacity standard for this programme

  described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes — conditions §4

• Check the conditions for financial support to third parties

  Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties (FSTP) in the form of grants. — conditions

Prepare the documents

• Prepare Part B of the Application Form standard for this programme

  Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. — conditions

Submit

• Check the submission and evaluation process standard for this programme

  are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual — conditions §5b

• Submit before the closing date shown above

  The source states the closing day but no closing time — check the portal before the last day. — calls.deadline

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