On 16 September, in the run-up to the launch of the European Commission’s European Green Deal Call for research proposals, the Delegation of the EU to the Russian Federation organised jointly with the Association of European Businesses in Russia a dedicated webinar (link is external) entitled “EU and Russia Climate Change Research and Innovation Priorities - Opportunities for Cooperation under the Horizon 2020 European Green Deal Call”. The event brought together over 150 participants from the Russian research and innovation community, including representatives from universities, research organisations and industry.
Several speakers from Russia and the EU shared their views on climate change research & innovation priorities, and discussed cooperation opportunities under the Horizon 2020 European Green Deal call. All speakers agreed that global issues such as climate change require joint efforts across national borders. Markus Ederer, the EU Ambassador to Russia, emphasised the need to “leverage research and innovation potential and boost cooperation to address some of the most pressing climate change-related challenges”.
This was supported by Patrick Child, Deputy Director-General for Research and Innovation at the European Commission. He described the call as “the next big opportunity to allow European and Russian scientists, research organisations, universities and companies to work together” to tackle these challenges jointly. Moreover, he underlined that “the call will be fully open for the participation of Russian entities, in partnership with their EU counterparts, according to the well-known and tested rules of participation in Horizon 2020”.
The speakers’ contributions and relevant discussions during the webinar covered different perspectives and standpoints – international and domestic, regional and city level, large and small companies.
Background
On 17 September, the European Commission published a €1 billion call for research and innovation projects relating to the European Green Deal, its new flagship initiative to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The call is funded under the EU’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020. In line with the Horizon 2020 principle of openness, the call is open for participation to non-EU researchers, including from the Russian Federation.
The approach and structure of this call are different from the other Horizon 2020 calls, as the Commission is seeking concrete and operational solutions to be found quickly in order to respond to the environmental emergencies. The focus will therefore be on the impact of projects, which will have to concentrate their resources and efforts on specific themes.
The projects funded under this call are expected to deliver results with tangible benefits in ten areas, for instance:
- Preventing and fighting extreme wildfires;
- Towards climate-neutral and socially innovative cities;
- Develop and demonstrate a 100 MW electrolyser.
The deadline for submissions is 26 January 2021, with selected projects expected to start in autumn 2021.
A Horizon 2020 Green Deal Call Info Day and Brokerage event will take place as part of the virtual European Research and Innovation Days that is ongoing until 24 September 2020.
More information
- European Green Deal Call: €1 billion investment to boost the green and digital transition (press release of 17 September 2020)
- Factsheet: Horizon 2020 European Green Deal call
- Tenders and funding portal
- Video: Webinar “EU and Russia Climate Change Research and Innovation Priorities. Opportunities for Cooperation under the Horizon 2020 European Green Deal Call”
Details
- Publication date
- 23 September 2020
- Author
- Directorate-General for Research and Innovation