work programme

The Work Programme 2018-2020 for Societal Challenge 5 “Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials” has been published by the European Commission on 27 October 2017.

This Work Programme is structured around two calls: ‘Building a low-carbon, climate resilient future: climate action in support of the Paris Agreement’ and ‘Greening the economy in line with the the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals’, and focuses on six priorities:

• Climate action in support of the Paris Agreement
• Circular economy
• Raw materials
• Water for our environment, economy and society
• Innovating cities for sustainability and resilience
• Protecting and leveraging the value of our natural and cultural assets (which includes Earth observation, nature-based solutions, disaster risk reduction and natural capital accounting, and heritage alive).

The SC5 Work Programme 2018-2020 is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/wp/2018-2020/main/h2020-wp1820-climate_en.pdf

Work Programmes 2018-2010 for other Societal Challenges are available at: https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/funding/reference_docs.html#h2020-work-programmes-2018-20

A European Energy Union will ensure that Europe has secure, affordable and climate-friendly energy. Wiser energy use while fighting climate change is both a spur for new jobs and growth and an investment in Europe’s future. Activities for 2017 will help mobilise Europe’s research excellence to generate innovative solutions in this area, for example:

• Growing water demands, mismanagement of water use and climate change are increasing the stress on water supply, water bodies, and associated ecosystems and infrastructures, and emphasise the need to close the water cycle gap, by reconciling water supply and demand in both quantitative and qualitative terms. The new ‘Closing the water gap’ topic with a budget of €10 million in the ‘Greening the economy’ call will reduce fragmentation of water research and innovation efforts across Europe and contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as the conclusions of the COP21 Paris Agreement on climate change.
  

• Research to support the future development of a production base for next generation Lithium battery cells or post-lithium battery cells would enable Europe to compete with world leaders in this sector. The €133 million call for Green Vehicles includes around €20 million for the development of a new generation of cells and their integration in competitive batteries. The ambition is to allow Europe to recover competitiveness in the production of future cells and batteries for transport and energy applications.

• The Energy calls in 2017 dedicate more than €84 million for developing energy storage systems improving the flexibility of the energy grid to integrate an increasing share of renewables. These efforts reinforce the Energy Challenge’s strong support of previous years for energy storage, including batteries, which bring the investment to almost € 200 million (2014-17).
  

• The €280 million sustainable food security call will ensure food and nutrition security, by fostering resilient and resource efficient primary production and industry as well as sustainable and healthy consumption. €4 million will support the policy development and implementation of the European Commission’s FOOD 2030 initiative to connect, structure and scale-up research and innovation for food and nutrition security in Europe, but in a global context.