Alternatives to Strengthening an enabling Environment for Sea moss Aquaculture and Value added business development.

Established by Congress in fiscal year (FY) 1997, the Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) Land Acquisition Grant program was designed to reduce conflicts between the conservation of listed species and competing land uses on specific parcels of land associated with approved and permitted HCPs. Under this program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) provides matching grants to State agencies in support of land acquisition projects that will conserve species habitat in perpetuity through fee simple acquisition or the acquisition of permanent conservation easements. FWS considers the use of Federal acquisition dollars by States for habitat protection associated with HCPs to be an important and effective mechanism to promote species recovery, prevent extinction, and preclude the need to list species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the future. All land acquired through these grants complements, but does not replace, the mitigation, minimization, and/or monitoring commitments of the HCP. Thus, this work is additive to the conservation commitments entered into when HCPs are permitted and serves as a meaningful way to leverage non-Federal investment in species recovery and connect conservation lands across the landscape.

Expected Outcome: In support to the implementation of the EU Adaptation Strategy, the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate change, and in particular having regard to the upcoming European Climate Adaptation Plan, project results should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Local climate adaptation actors, the financing sector, the public grant sector, and climate adaptation financing experience are brought to work together on making local adaptation actions financeable by combining public grant funding and private financing via bank loans and on overcoming the practical barriers on combining these and finding solutions, and specifically through demonstrating this with intermediated EIB adaptation lending. Local innovative adaptation actions (including nature-based solutions) have been implemented thanks to their financing by the combination of private financing via bank loans and public grant funding. National Promotional Banks (NPBs)/other banks are mobilised to actively finance local adaptation actions. Scope: Rationale Financing of local adaptation actions, especially with other means than public grant funding, is currently still not taking place sufficiently.…

Expected Outcome: The successful proposal will support the implementation of the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change and the upcoming European Climate Adaptation Plan. Projects are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes: The methodology for identifying, selecting and consolidating global and regional reference climate data sets and scenarios is advanced and their consistent use across the EU in relation to climate adaptation is supported. Standardisation and quality of climate services across the EU are improved, and their uptake is enhanced. Climate services and best practices are used effectively to inform climate adaptation policies and decisions Scope: Rationale As climate risks intensify, the demand for tailored and effective climate services is growing. However, despite their increasing adoption, the lack of sufficient regulation can compromise quality assurance and consistency of climate services, leading to poor decision-making, limited use in policy, and underdeveloped markets, ultimately resulting in maladaptation. In its Communication on Managing climate risk , the European Commission announced its intention to ask European Standardisation…

Expected Outcome: Successful proposals will contribute to the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, the Chemical Industry Action Plan, the Clean Industrial Deal as well as the Horizon Europe Mission "Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030" in particular to Objective 2: "Prevent and eliminate pollution of our oceans, Seas and waters". Projects results are expected to contribute to the following expected outcomes: Full industrial scale biorefinery and related value chain(s) to produce SSbD bio-based solutions for home and/or personal care sector with significantly improved sustainability. Wider availability of bio-based products in home and/or personal care sector meeting both regulatory standards and technical performance requirements. Increased consumer/end user acceptance of bio-based solutions, facilitating market uptake. Contribution to the EU strategic autonomy, resilience and competitiveness, reducing the fossil feedstock dependence for chemicals production and minimising biomass imports dependencies. Scope: The home and personal care sector, including fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and cosmetics, is a key industry where…

Expected Outcome: This topic aims at directly engaging and supporting relevant public authorities with mapping at large scale the conditions of marine habitats needed for implementing the Nature Restoration Regulation and for achieving one or several objectives of the Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters [1] . The direct involvement of relevant authorities and stakeholders in the consortium is strongly encouraged. Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes: Member States have the capacity and access to tried and tested solutions to complete the mapping of the distribution and condition of coastal and marine habitats listed in Annex II of the Nature Restoration Regulation [2] (NRR) in the waters under their jurisdiction, which is needed to fulfil the obligations under Article 5 of the NRR within the deadlines, and obligations under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the Birds and Habitats Directive (BHD); Substantial areas of habitats have been mapped and their condition assessed. Priority should be given to Groups 1-6 of Annex II, followed by Group 7 of Annex II [3] , in line with applicable deadlines; Member States have the…

Expected Outcome: Successful proposals will contribute to the implementation of the Zero Pollution Action Plan, the Circular Economy Action Plan, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability and the Chemical Industry Action Plan. They will provide solutions in line with the objectives of the EU legislation on waste but also the Horizon Europe Mission "Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030" in particular to Objective 2: "Prevent and eliminate pollution of our oceans, Seas and waters” as well as the Horizon Europe Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”, in particular objectives “Reduce soil pollution and enhance restoration”. Projects results are expected to contribute to the following expected outcomes: Wider availability of bio-based additives targeting high functional properties, stability and compatibility with polymers/matrices. Contribution to improved circularity of end products in relevant market sectors. Potential replicability into other industrial sectors to widen market opportunity. Reduction or avoidance of environmental impacts related to life cycle of additives and additive-containing materials and/or products. Scope: While…

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes: Advanced tools and solutions are developed and demonstrated to enhance the competitiveness of European multimodal freight transport networks, ensuring sustainability, resilience, security and increased freight transport capacity; Solutions provide real-time visibility, tracking and predictive analytics for multimodal services, performance, and network status (e.g., disruptions, maintenance) to support better planning and increase shippers' adoption of multimodal transport; Strengthened integration of multimodal (e.g. rail, inland waterway transport and short sea shipping) data, along with improved synchromodal solutions, enabling more agile, flexible, responsive and resilient multimodal transport logistic systems. Scope: Freight transport demand in Europe is expected to double in the coming decades, making it essential to enhance the capacity, efficiency, and resilience of freight transport to maintain the European competitiveness. Despite policy goals to strengthen multimodal transport, double rail freight’s share by 2050, and increase transport by inland waterways and short sea…

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes: the effectiveness of the protection of habitats and species in protected areas is maintained even under intensifying impacts of the drivers of biodiversity loss, including climate change, thanks to an improved understanding of how they affect the conservation status of the protected habitats and species, for the benefit of society; managers of protected areas are able to anticipate the future impacts of drivers of biodiversity loss and can take better informed decisions for the protection of terrestrial, freshwater and/or marine habitats and species. Scope: Protected areas are key to ensure the conservation of species and habitats. However, the intensification of the main drivers of biodiversity loss is raising questions on how their effectiveness will be maintained in the future. This topic is expected to support the EU commitment to legally protect a minimum of 30% of the EU’s land area and a minimum of 30% of the EU’s sea area of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 (target 1) and the related legislation, and the corresponding target of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity…

Expected Outcome: Successful proposals will support the implementation of the EU Adaptation Strategy, the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, the European Water Resilience Strategy, the EU Preparedness Strategy and the upcoming European Climate Adaptation Plan. Proposals are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes: Navigable inland waterways, their surroundings and related infrastructure are managed in a more integrated and sustainable manner across Europe and become more climate-resilient Climate and environmental risks to water infrastructure (e.g. droughts, flooding, slow onset events, ecological degradation and cascading and compound events) are more effectively addressed in a systemic way. Safe, efficient and reliable navigability conditions are improved. Cost-efficient and environmentally friendly measures -- especially nature-based solutions -- are identified with the involvement of stakeholders. They improve climate resilience of inland waterways while supporting integrated co-benefit and avoiding competing water uses, including between countries and regions. Scope: Rationale There are about 42,000 kilometres of navigable inland waterways in the EU,…

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes: Valorisation, cross-fertilisation and dissemination of innovative solutions for sustainable urban mobility, from EU and national projects through the CIVITAS initiative; Contribution to the accelerated deployment of innovative urban mobility solutions, increasing competitiveness of European urban mobility actors while achieving European mobility policy objectives. Cities are equipped with a relevant knowledge, necessary soft and technical skills to successfully deploy smart and sustainable mobility solutions, for passenger and freight. A vibrant community of urban innovative mobility stakeholders is maintained and strengthened. Scope: Effective and efficient urban mobility systems are the backbone of competitive cities, without them the economy comes to a standstill. While cities are going through a rapid digital, green and social transformation, local and regional authorities play bigger roles and take on greater responsibilities in contributing to the prosperity, climate-neutrality and competitiveness of the European Union. However, the deployment of innovative sustainable mobility…

Expected Outcome: The successful proposal will contribute to the implementation of the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, the Preparedness Union Strategy and the upcoming European Climate Adaptation Plan, by facilitating the interaction between the actors of the Climate Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management at European, national and regional scales. Proposals are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes: The Climate Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management communities at European level are brought together to develop inter- and transdisciplinary methodological approaches, constructing and disseminating joint knowledge. The knowledge and understanding of the common aspects for Disaster Risk Management preparedness and climate change adaptation are enhanced, including the question of responsibility and accountability. The terminology and understanding of the risks and the possible solutions are aligned for Disaster Risk Management and Adaptation and hence local resilience to climate change is improved. Scope: Rationale The goal of this action is to strengthen collaboration between the Climate Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management communities. This will…

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: increased support on green bioprocessing, safe and sustainable blue bio-based products; increased understanding of safety, effectiveness and regulatory bottlenecks of blue bio-based products; increased commitment to biodiversity preservation and conservation ensuring that the biodiscovery of new compounds does not lead to unsustainable harvesting from the wild and promoting sustainable use of genetic diversity. Scope: The European industry must transition to a greener, more sustainable model to enhance its competitiveness against other business models and foster the production of novel high-value sustainable products. Achieving this requires a shift towards a bio-based system, which leverages biological processes to deliver products that contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing environmental impact and can compete with and eventually replace traditional models. For instance, the current use of hazardous chemicals in various industries, such as the textile and polymer industries, requires the development of more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives. In…