Modelling Of Mitigation Pathways For F-gases
HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
Basic Information
- Identifier
- HORIZON-CL5-2025-06-D1-03
- Programme
- Cluster 5 Call 06-2025 (WP 2025)
- Programme Period
- 2021 - 2027
- Status
- Closed (31094503)
- Opening Date
- May 6, 2025
- Deadline
- September 24, 2025
- Deadline Model
- single-stage
- Budget
- €15,000,000
- Min Grant Amount
- €4,000,000
- Max Grant Amount
- €5,000,000
- Expected Number of Grants
- 3
- Keywords
- HORIZON-CL5-2025-06-D1-03HORIZON-CL5-2025-06
Description
Expected Outcome:
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- Improved knowledge of regional pathways concerning the use of Ozone Depleting Substances and Fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases), options to mitigate this use, the resulting emissions, and how this interacts with the decarbonisation of the energy system;
- Improved modelling capacity regarding the use of Ozone Depleting Substances and F-gases in the refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump sectors, in a manner that increases the availability to Parties to the Montreal Protocol[1] of modelling tools to inform them on policy options for an ambitious implementation of the Kigali Agreement[2], including a transition to natural refrigerants, and how this interacts with the decarbonisation of the energy system.
Scope:
F-gases are the fastest growing group of greenhouse gas emissions globally. The Montreal Protocol resulted in decreasing use and emissions of Ozone Depleting Substances and will now also regulate a phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), representing the largest share of F-gas use, of which the majority is used in refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump equipment.
The project should improve the knowledge base of F-gas use and emission pathways under baseline conditions (i.e., policies as they are today), pathways that meet the Kigali Agreement and pathways that outperform the Kigali Agreement. The development of these pathways should also include fluorinated greenhouse gases not regulated under the Montreal Protocol, in particular those covered by the Regulation (EU) 2024/573 on fluorinated greenhouse gases[3]. It should cover all main regions globally separating at least the countries that fall under Article 5 of the Montreal Protocol and those that do not, and preferably further disaggregating them within these two classes, taking into account for instance climate conditions. The development should assess the interaction with the energy system, notably related to the deployment of HFC-alternatives in refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump equipment and its impact on energy efficiency, the deployment of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) or its alternatives in electrical switch-gear. Possible impacts on emissions of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) should be considered. The pathways should give detailed insights into the technologies available, including the use of F-gases-free alternatives.
Most F-gas emissions are related to the use in the refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump (RACHP) equipment. This sector is projected to be one of the highest contributors to future global energy demand increases. The action should include the development of modelling tools that allow for the representation at national level of the use of F-gases and their alternatives at least in this RACHP sector, with a view to develop tools that would allow parties to the Montreal Protocol to assess at national level different options of mitigating HFC use, and the interaction with the decarbonisation of the energy system. The action should thus expand and improve the number of tools that can provide such detailed information at country level, including for the so called Article 5 Parties under the Montreal Protocol, in a manner that would improve the knowledge base for parties to implement specifically the Kigali Agreement to the Montreal Protocol as well as allow them to get insights in how to create synergies with the climate mitigation goals of the Paris Agreement, including the decarbonisation of the energy system.
All research outputs should be managed according to the FAIR principles[4]. Beyond open access to scientific publications and research data, open access to software, models, algorithms, workflows and protocols, cell lines, compounds, etc. is required.
All projects funded under this topic are strongly encouraged to connect, coordinate, and participate in networking, intercomparison and joint activities to exploit synergies and maximise complementarities. Activities on energy efficiency of equipment, on electricity grids or the safe use of chemicals would be of specific interest in this context. Projects should also envisage clustering activities with any other relevant projects (in and outside of Horizon Europe) for cross-projects cooperation and exchange of results. Proposals should earmark the necessary resources for these purposes.
[1] Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
[3] Regulation - EU - 2024/573 - EN - EUR-Lex (europa.eu)
[4] FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable).
Destination & Scope
This Destination contributes directly to the Strategic Plan’s Key Strategic Orientations ‘Green transition’, ‘Digital transition’ and ‘A more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe’.
In line with the Strategic Plan, the overall expected impact of this Destination is to contribute to the “Advancing science for a transition to a climate-neutral and resilient society”.
Advancing climate science and the knowledge base necessary to underpin actionable solutions is essential for catalysing the global transition to a climate-neutral and climate-resilient society. Evidence on research gaps of high policy relevance can be found in the European Climate Risk Assessment (EUCRA)[1], and in the report “The Next frontier for Climate Change Science”[2].
Research should contribute to closing major knowledge gaps on the changing climate together with their associated impacts and risks, on both society and nature, and to developing tools to support decision-makers in designing and implementing effective mitigation and adaptation actions at various time and spatial scales while properly accounting for synergies and trade-offs with other policy objectives, such as biodiversity, industrial competitiveness, just transition and leaving no one behind. Notably, state-of-art scientific evidence will be increasingly vital to guide policy decisions aimed at safeguarding long-term societal welfare and EU’s economic resilience as climate change impacts increase. Tailored scientific approaches that take into account disparities between regions, countries, communities and diverse groups within society, are needed, to understand how they are affected by global warming and what array of response options is available to them.
The first objective is to support and accelerate climate action (both mitigation and adaptation) globally by:
- Improved knowledge of the Earth system, its recent evolution and future responses under different global emissions pathways and socio-economic scenarios;
- Increased understanding of the interrelated impacts between climate change, human and natural systems, including from compound, cascading and tail risks, improving the attribution to anthropogenic factors, and leveraging the role of climate services for effective adaptation and response strategies;
- Well-designed and evaluated solutions and pathways for climate-resilient, low-greenhouse
-gas-emission development enabling just societal transformation while promoting citizen and stakeholder involvement, climate literacy and integration of natural and social sciences; - Increased synergies with the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, by generating actionable knowledge in support of transformative adaptation.
The second objective contributes substantially to key international assessments by closing key knowledge gaps related to climate change. Such assessments include the ones by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion and initiatives such as the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) and the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) under the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP).
The third objective is a strengthened European Research Area on climate change by boosting scientific excellence and capacity in an inclusive manner across the participating countries.
The fourth objective is the maximisation of synergies with other policy priorities such as biodiversity and ecosystem preservation and restoration, just transition, just resilience, pollution reduction, health and well-being, resource conservation, circularity, and the Sustainable Development Goals by exploring co-benefits, trade-offs and potential unintended consequences of climate strategies and policy interventions.
Strong links exist with activities funded under Cluster 6 on climate-ocean-polar-cryosphere nexus, and in Cluster 3 on disaster risk reduction, and with the Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change. The results of research funded under this Destination, in particular those informing the design of effective mitigation and adaptation pathways, are also highly relevant for other EU Missions on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, on Soil, and on Ocean and Water.
[1] European Climate Risk Assessment — European Environment Agency (europa.eu)
[2] The Next Frontier for Climate Change Science: Insights from authors of the IPCC 6thAssessment Report on knowledge gaps and priorities for research
Eligibility & Conditions
General conditions
1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
2. Eligible Countries
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.
3. Other Eligible Conditions
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025). [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]].
Beneficiaries will be subject to the following additional obligations regarding open science practices: Open access to any new modules, models or tools developed from scratch or substantially improved with the use of EU funding under the action must be ensured through documentation, availability of model code and input data developed under the action.
described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Specific conditions
described in the specific topic of the Work Programme
Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):
Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)
Standard application form (HE RIA IA Stage 1)
Standard application form (HE CSA)
Standard application form (HE CSA Stage 1)
Standard application form (HE RI)
Standard application form (HE COFUND)
Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)
Standard evaluation form (HE CSA)
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA and CSA Stage 1)
Standard evaluation form (HE COFUND)
Guidance
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Framework Partnership Agreement FPA
Call-specific instructions
Information on financial support to third parties (HE)
Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 2. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 3. Research Infrastructures
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 4. Health
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 5. Culture, creativity and inclusive society
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 6. Civil Security for Society
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 7. Digital, Industry and Space
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 8. Climate, Energy and Mobility
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 10. European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE)
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 12. Missions
HE Main Work Programme 2023–2025 – 13. General Annexes
HE Framework Programme 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
Frequently Asked Questions About Modelling Of Mitigation Pathways For F-gases
Support & Resources
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Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe.
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Latest Updates
The Call HORIZON-CL5-2025-06 successfully closed on 24 September 2025 17:00. Overall 99 proposals have been received.
For topic HORIZON-CL5-2025-06-D1-03, 6 proposals were submitted.
The results of the evaluations are expected to occur early January 2026.
The results of the evaluations have been communicated to the applicants on February 3, 2026.