HORIZON-CL5-2026-08-Two-Stage: EUR 45 Million for Earth System Science and a Fair Climate Transition

HORIZON-CL5-2026-08-Two-Stage: EUR 45 Million for Earth System Science and a Fair Climate Transition

HORIZON-CL5-2026-08-Two-Stage is an open Horizon Europe call for research and innovation projects that improve the scientific basis for understanding the Earth system. The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) describes the opportunity as supporting science for a fair transition to a climate-neutral and resilient society. The call is part of Horizon Europe’s 2021/2027 framework programme and sits within Cluster 5, Destination 1.

The call has one topic, HORIZON-CL5-2026-08-Two-Stage-D1-06, classified on the official page as HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions. Its total indicative budget is EUR 45 million. The official topic table gives indicative contributions of EUR 5 million to EUR 9 million per project and an indicative expectation of seven grants. These figures are planning information, not a promise that every project will receive the same amount or that the full budget will be distributed independently of evaluation results.

The first-stage deadline was 15 April 2026 at 17:00 CEST. The second-stage deadline is 8 October 2026 at 17:00 CEST, which is the upcoming deadline to use when planning the live opportunity. The first stage has therefore already passed at the time of this update. Teams should not interpret the page as an invitation to start a new first-stage submission; the remaining date matters to applicants who submitted at the first stage and are proceeding under the call’s two-stage process.

At a glance

What the topic is asking for

The official description gives applicants flexibility to define the specific research area, but it sets a clear scientific boundary. Proposals should narrow knowledge gaps in Earth system science, understood on the CINEA page through the scope of Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. A proposal should therefore make its Earth system question explicit rather than using climate language as a general label for an unrelated technology project.

The work should also fit Cluster 5 and Destination 1. The call asks applicants to avoid issues that are already prominently addressed by other topics in the 2025 and 2026-2027 work programmes. That makes topic selection and overlap checking important parts of proposal preparation. A strong concept should explain what is not yet known, why the gap matters to climate science and decision-makers, and how the proposed research will produce evidence that improves scientific assessments.

The CINEA description also encourages new scientific insights and approaches and the involvement of researchers and entities that are new to Horizon Europe. This is an encouragement in the call scope, not a substitute for the formal eligibility rules. New participants still need to satisfy the applicable legal, administrative, financial, operational, and consortium conditions in the call documents.

Eligibility and fit

The official call page identifies the action as a Horizon Research and Innovation Action and directs applicants to the Funding & Tenders Portal for the call text and application forms. The portal documents and the Horizon Europe work programme control the detailed eligibility requirements. Before committing to a consortium, applicants should confirm the permitted participant countries, the required legal-entity status, any consortium-composition conditions, and whether special conditions apply to the selected research area.

The following fit checks are appropriate for this specific topic:

• The proposed research question must sit within Earth system science and within Cluster 5, Destination 1.
• The proposal should identify a genuine knowledge gap rather than restating a topic already covered by another 2025 or 2026-2027 work-programme topic.
• The consortium and each participating organisation must meet the general Horizon Europe conditions and the topic-specific conditions in the portal documents.
• The planned outcomes should strengthen scientific foundations or scientific assessments and be relevant to decision-makers, as required by the call’s description.
• Any organisation that is new to Horizon Europe should confirm its registration, participant details, and internal authority to submit before the proposal team relies on that partner.

The location shown for this opportunity reflects the Horizon Europe programme and its associated-country framework. It should not be read as an exhaustive list of every entity that may participate or receive funding. Eligibility for organisations in a specific country, and any rules for entities outside the EU and associated countries, must be checked against the current call text and the general annexes. The official CINEA page does not replace those documents.

How to apply

Applications are submitted through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal using the call reference HORIZON-CL5-2026-08-Two-Stage. The CINEA page says that the portal contains the required information, call text, and application forms. A team preparing the second stage should use the portal record for the exact topic, not a saved template from another Horizon Europe call.

First, confirm the status of the organisation and all intended participants in the portal. Check legal-entity information, participant registration, authorised roles, and the details of the coordinating organisation. Resolve administrative issues early because a scientifically ready proposal can still miss a deadline if the submission account or participant record is incomplete.

Next, read the 2026-2027 work programme section for Cluster 5 together with the call conditions and general annexes. Map the project’s objectives to the exact topic wording. In particular, record the Earth system science gap, the connection to Destination 1, the reason the work is not duplicating another topic, and the route from research results to more useful scientific assessments.

The two-stage structure separates the initial concept from the full proposal. The first-stage deadline, 15 April 2026, has passed. The second stage is due on 8 October 2026 at 17:00 CEST. Applicants proceeding to the second stage should follow the invitation and portal instructions they received, use the mandatory forms supplied for this call, complete the online administrative information, and upload the technical proposal in the required format. The portal’s validation messages should be cleared before the final submission attempt.

Before submission, run a document-control review. Check the call identifier, topic identifier, participant names, contact details, proposal version, page and file requirements, budget arithmetic, ethics answers, and any declarations requested by the forms. Keep a copy of the submitted package and the portal receipt. Do not wait until the final hour to discover that a partner lacks the required role or that an uploaded file does not pass portal validation.

Building a credible second-stage proposal

The second-stage package should turn the first-stage idea into a research plan that an evaluator can test. Begin with a concise statement of the unresolved Earth system question. Define the evidence that the project will generate, the methods that will produce it, and the limits on interpretation. If the proposal uses observations, models, reconstructions, or assessment methods, explain how data quality and uncertainty will be handled.

The consortium should assign responsibilities that match the work. A research organisation might lead the scientific design, another partner might provide observations or modelling capability, and another might coordinate links to assessment and decision users. Those roles are examples, not fixed requirements from the CINEA page; the important point is that the proposal demonstrates capacity for the exact work it promises. Partner responsibilities should be visible in work packages, milestones, deliverables, and the budget.

The fair-transition framing should be connected to the science rather than added as a slogan. Explain how better Earth system knowledge can support climate-neutral and resilient decisions, which users need the evidence, and how the results will be communicated without overstating certainty. The official description specifically expects successful projects to improve scientific foundations and inform scientific assessments so that they are comprehensive, accurate, and relevant to decision-makers.

Budget planning should follow the work. The official range of EUR 5 million to EUR 9 million per project is indicative, so applicants should justify personnel, data, infrastructure, travel, coordination, dissemination, and other costs against the work plan. A large request without a proportionate scientific and management plan is difficult to defend; a low request that cannot deliver the stated research is equally problematic. Use the portal’s current funding rules and cost categories rather than relying on assumptions from an earlier call.

Timing and readiness checklist

With the first stage complete, the practical focus is the transition to the full proposal. Confirm that the team is eligible to proceed, revisit the first-stage concept against any invitation or feedback, and lock the work-plan logic before the second-stage deadline. The following checklist is tailored to this call:

1. Confirm that the proposal is linked to HORIZON-CL5-2026-08-Two-Stage-D1-06 and not a neighbouring Cluster 5 topic.
2. State the Earth system science knowledge gap and show why it belongs within Destination 1.
3. Explain the project’s distinction from topics already covered by the 2025 and 2026-2027 work programmes.
4. Verify every participant’s portal record, role, country status, and authorisation to submit.
5. Connect objectives, methods, work packages, deliverables, milestones, risks, and costs.
6. Show how results will improve scientific foundations or assessments and remain useful to decision-makers.
7. Complete the portal’s administrative, ethics, security, and other required fields using the current forms.
8. Run portal validation and preserve the final receipt before 8 October 2026 at 17:00 CEST.

Official links

• CINEA call page
• Funding & Tenders Portal call record

The CINEA page is the verified official source for the current open status, budget, topic reference, indicative project contribution, and two-stage dates. Use the Funding & Tenders Portal for the binding call text, forms, participant conditions, and submission process. The live deadline for this listing is the second-stage date, 2026-10-08; the first-stage date remains in the record so applicants can understand the two-stage history.