Horizon Europe: 19 proposals competing for EUR 42 million in Climate Neutral Cities call

A total of 19 proposals from 26 submitted were selected for evaluation under the Horizon Europe call HORIZON-MISS-2022-CIT-01-01 – designing inclusive, safe, affordable and sustainable urban mobility. Launched on 28 April 2022 with a submission deadline of 6 September 2022, the call has a budget of EUR 42 million.

The evaluation process is expected to conclude by December 2022. The call is part of the Horizon Europe Missions Work Programme 2021-2022: Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities “Cities Mission”.

See below table for more information.

Key role of cities for climate goals

Cities play a pivotal role in achieving climate neutrality by 2050, the goal of the European Green Deal. They take up only 4% of the EU’s land area, but they are home to 75% of EU citizens. Cities also consume over 65% of the world’s energy and account for more than 70% of global CO₂ emissions. This is why we need to support cities in accelerating their green and digital transformation.

European cities can substantially contribute to the Green Deal target of reducing emissions by 55% by 2030, and in practical terms, offer cleaner air, safer transport and less congestion and noise for citizens. The “Cities Mission” will involve local authorities, citizens, businesses, investors as well as regional and national authorities to:

• Deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030; 
• Ensure that these cities act as experimentation and innovation hubs to enable all European cities to follow suit by 2050. 

It is one of five EU Missions, a novelty of the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme for 2021-2027. They are a new way of bringing concrete solutions to some of our greatest challenges. Working towards ambitious goals, they are expected to deliver tangible results by 2030. 

Background information

Horizon Europe is the EU framework programme for research and innovation, which succeeds Horizon 2020. EU missions are an integral part of the Horizon Europe framework programme. Each mission will operate as a portfolio of actions and will contribute to the goals of the European Green Deal, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan as well as the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The “Cities Mission” will also contribute, inter alia, to the EU Zero Pollution Action Plan, the Fit for 55 strategy and the New European Bauhaus initiative.

The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA)  manages and implements three of the five missions under the Horizon Europe framework programme: Adaptation to Climate Change, Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030, and 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart cities by 2030.