European UnionDeadline PassedNon-profit, Private Business, Research Institution, Public Institution, Other
Fostering equity and justice in climate policies – Societal Readiness Pilot
HORIZON-CL5-2025-06-D1-06 HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
Funding Amount
€4.0M - €5.0M
Deadline
24/09/2025
Eligible Organization Types
Non-profit, Private Business, Research Institution, Public Institution, Other
Trusted by
What is the Fostering equity and justice in climate policies – Societal Readiness Pilot Call?
Grant Description
This call supports interdisciplinary research on climate justice in mitigation and adaptation policies, aiming to make climate action more inclusive, equitable and socially acceptable. It addresses justice questions in EU and global transitions, strengthens consensus between Global North and South, diversifies evidence for IPCC assessments, and integrates social science perspectives into models, scenarios and policy narratives. Expected outputs include actionable recommendations, indicators, sta...
Required Results for Successful Funding
Expected Outcomes
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following:
1. More inclusive and equitable climate policies that gain acceptance across political and societal stakeholders of varying socio-economic and development status, both within the EU and globally, enabling higher ambition climate action and fulfilling the Green Deal commitment to "leave no one behind"
2. Improved consensus between the Global North and the Global South within the UNFCCC process, unlocking momentum for Paris Agreement implementation
3. A strengthened, diversified and more inclusive evidence base for IPCC assessments, facilitating scientific consensus and smoother government approval processes
4. Enhanced incorporation of social science perspectives on justice and equity into policy narratives, scenarios and models, thereby increasing societal relevance, trust in results and the uptake potential of climate action strategies
1. More inclusive and equitable climate policies that gain acceptance across political and societal stakeholders of varying socio-economic and development status, both within the EU and globally, enabling higher ambition climate action and fulfilling the Green Deal commitment to "leave no one behind"
2. Improved consensus between the Global North and the Global South within the UNFCCC process, unlocking momentum for Paris Agreement implementation
3. A strengthened, diversified and more inclusive evidence base for IPCC assessments, facilitating scientific consensus and smoother government approval processes
4. Enhanced incorporation of social science perspectives on justice and equity into policy narratives, scenarios and models, thereby increasing societal relevance, trust in results and the uptake potential of climate action strategies
Funded areas
Scope Requirements
Projects must:
• Address climate justice in mitigation and/or adaptation policy at EU and/or global level (may prioritise one dimension while using the other for framing)
• Advance interdisciplinary understanding across multiple justice dimensions (socio-economic, territorial, intergenerational), scales and contexts (collective and individual factors including values, power structures, institutions, age, gender, intersectionality)
• Improve or develop models, scenarios and methodologies to integrate justice and equity systematically
• Analyse distributional impacts, trade-offs and co-benefits between climate action and inequality reduction
• Investigate innovative, equity-focused climate policy instruments and sectoral transition pathways
• Include at least three independent legal entities from three different low or middle-income countries, in cooperation with European research teams
• Engage key stakeholders, regional experts and civil society throughout research and innovation activities
• Mobilise relevant SSH expertise to support Societal Readiness activities, especially experts in equity, poverty and gender
• Allocate dedicated resources for networking, intercomparison, clustering and joint activities with other Horizon Europe Cluster 2 and Cluster 5 projects
• Follow the Societal Readiness pilot instructions from the Horizon Europe 2025 Work Programme (Climate, Energy and Mobility)
• Address climate justice in mitigation and/or adaptation policy at EU and/or global level (may prioritise one dimension while using the other for framing)
• Advance interdisciplinary understanding across multiple justice dimensions (socio-economic, territorial, intergenerational), scales and contexts (collective and individual factors including values, power structures, institutions, age, gender, intersectionality)
• Improve or develop models, scenarios and methodologies to integrate justice and equity systematically
• Analyse distributional impacts, trade-offs and co-benefits between climate action and inequality reduction
• Investigate innovative, equity-focused climate policy instruments and sectoral transition pathways
• Include at least three independent legal entities from three different low or middle-income countries, in cooperation with European research teams
• Engage key stakeholders, regional experts and civil society throughout research and innovation activities
• Mobilise relevant SSH expertise to support Societal Readiness activities, especially experts in equity, poverty and gender
• Allocate dedicated resources for networking, intercomparison, clustering and joint activities with other Horizon Europe Cluster 2 and Cluster 5 projects
• Follow the Societal Readiness pilot instructions from the Horizon Europe 2025 Work Programme (Climate, Energy and Mobility)
Additional Conditions for Applicants
Special Conditions
- Funding via lump-sum grants in accordance with the 7 July 2021 decision on simplified costs under Horizon Europe
• Single-stage submission by 24 September 2025, 17:00 Brussels time, using the Horizon RIA lump-sum application form
• Proposal page limit extended to 52 pages (instead of 50) to address Societal Readiness
• Eligible participants: as per Annex B of the Horizon Europe General Annexes; consortium must include at least three independent legal entities from three different low or middle-income countries (World Bank classification)
• Admissibility, evaluation and award criteria per Annexes A–F of Horizon Europe General Annexes; standard HE RIA evaluation criteria apply regardless of aspects covered
• Must earmark budget for clustering, networking and joint activities with other relevant projects (in and outside Horizon Europe)
• Projects are strongly encouraged to coordinate and participate in cross-project activities and to connect with relevant Cluster 2 (social and economic transformations) and Cluster 5 (climate sciences and responses) calls
• SSH experts must be effectively integrated to meaningfully support Societal Readiness in project design and objectives
• Legal and financial set-up governed by Model Grant Agreement (lump-sum MGA) and associated Annexes (G), with detailed budget table for lump-sum actions
• Single-stage submission by 24 September 2025, 17:00 Brussels time, using the Horizon RIA lump-sum application form
• Proposal page limit extended to 52 pages (instead of 50) to address Societal Readiness
• Eligible participants: as per Annex B of the Horizon Europe General Annexes; consortium must include at least three independent legal entities from three different low or middle-income countries (World Bank classification)
• Admissibility, evaluation and award criteria per Annexes A–F of Horizon Europe General Annexes; standard HE RIA evaluation criteria apply regardless of aspects covered
• Must earmark budget for clustering, networking and joint activities with other relevant projects (in and outside Horizon Europe)
• Projects are strongly encouraged to coordinate and participate in cross-project activities and to connect with relevant Cluster 2 (social and economic transformations) and Cluster 5 (climate sciences and responses) calls
• SSH experts must be effectively integrated to meaningfully support Societal Readiness in project design and objectives
• Legal and financial set-up governed by Model Grant Agreement (lump-sum MGA) and associated Annexes (G), with detailed budget table for lump-sum actions
Important dates
Open from: 06/05/2025
Deadline:24/09/2025
Application period has ended
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