The European Union (EU) has launched new calls for proposals under the Horizon Europe Programme that are closely aligned with the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) regulation. 

Enacted on December 6, 2024, the CRCF regulation is the first EU-wide voluntary framework for certifying carbon dioxide removals, carbon farming, and CO2 storage in products. 

Horizon Europe has now announced three new opportunities suitable for projects working on activities that closely relate to CRCF goals. 

One of the opportunities intends to support living labs for ecosystem restoration, backing activities that improve the monitoring and reporting of the biodiversity impacts of carbon farming. 

A second call is looking for solutions that promote networking and the scaling up of living labs, while the third opportunity is tailored to carbon farming innovations and scale-up.

Under the first call, formally launched as “Transformative change towards a nature-positive economy and society”, the EU will support initiatives that co-create, deploy and replicate viable ecosystem restoration steps leading to their wider uptake, along with solutions that address implementation bottlenecks and financing issues. 

Among other requirements, the submitted proposals should support the setup of three new living labs, with 8 to 15 experimental sites each. The call is accepting applications by 14 January 2027, and detailed requirements and further information can be found here. 

The second call has a narrow focus on proposals that will facilitate the market uptake of nature credits and carbon farming in EU carbon removals Buyers Clubs.

Projects applying for this opportunity need to fulfil a set of criteria, including being able to organize a European network of living labs and lighthouses dedicated to nature restoration to ensure a cohesive development and the effective uptake of validated deployment frameworks.

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