Clean and competitive solutions for all transport modes (Horizon Europe)

The Destination 5 addresses activities that improve the climate and environmental footprint, as well as competitiveness, of different transport modes. The areas of rail and air traffic management will be addressed through dedicated Institutional European Partnerships and are therefore not included in this document. This Destination contributes directly to the Strategic Plan’s Key Strategic Orientations ‘Green transition’, ‘Digital transition’ and ‘A more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe’.In line with the Strategic Plan, the overall expected impact of this Destination is to contribute to the ‘Achieving sustainable and competitive transport modes’. The main impacts to be generated by topics under this Destination are:

Zero-emission road transport

1. Clean solutions for zero tailpipe emission and environmentally friendly mobility for a climate neutral and zero pollution mobility with a higher level of circularity;
2. Affordable, user-friendly, inclusive, safe, and secure concepts and technologies that are easy to deploy, considering needs, behaviours, and socio-economic status of end-users;
3. Increased global competitiveness of the EU transport sector;
4. Increased responsiveness of zero tailpipe emission vehicles and systems to diverse societal interests and concerns;
5. Use cases and concepts for zero-emission road mobility of people and goods are successfully and innovatively demonstrated.

Aviation

1. New and updated Aviation Research and Technology Infrastructures, where the new research and technologies will be developed and tested;
2. Increased understanding and analysis of mitigation options of aviation’s non-CO2 climate impacts. New technologies for significantly lower local air-pollution and noise;
3. Accelerated uptake of sustainable aviation fuels in aviation, including the coordination with Member States and private initiatives.

Waterborne transport

1. The shipping industry (shipowners, equipment manufacturers, port authorities, terminal operators, and shipbuilders) will have access to high-power low and zero emission fuel solutions by 2030, leading to lower costs, enhanced energy efficiency, risk mitigation, standardised implementation, and improved operational efficiency through data science.
2. Port operators and ship owners will benefit from increased safety and technical standards on ammonia and hydrogen bunkering, including failure scenarios and risk mitigation;
3. The shipping industry will benefit from lower-cost and flexible battery-based solutions as primary sources of energy, higher safety standards and broader electrification solutions;
4. Shipowners, ship operators and port authorities will have access to OPS (Onshore Power Supply) solutions that will enable them to comply with the current and incoming legislative framework;
5. Policy makers and shipowners will benefit from access to accurate information and assessment methods on the direct energy savings resulting from the use of wind-assisted propulsion (WAP) systems under current legislative frameworks like FuelEU Maritime, contributing to the assessment of GHG intensity of energy used on-board. Shipowners, shipbuilders, and European shipyards will have access to commercially viable, costefficient, and easy-to-retrofit WAP solutions deployed at commercial scale, particularly for long-distance shipping;
6. Shipyards will have innovative holistic intelligent design tools for various retrofit solutions, enhancing the competitiveness of European shipyards and marine equipment providers;
7. Governments, port authorities, and shipping companies will benefit from access to standardised systems and tools for monitoring air pollutants and fuel consumption of ships, enabling compliance with current and incoming regulations on ship emissions;
8. Policymakers and enforcement bodies will benefit from innovative tools to fulfil the requirements of the Ship Sourced Pollution Directive resulting in an increased environmental protection of sea waters.

Transport related environment and health

The better monitoring of the environmental performance and enforcement of emissions regulation and biodiversity protection in order to reduce the overall environmental impact of transport (e.g., as regards biodiversity, noise, pollution and waste) on human health and ecosystems.

Call Topics with the submission deadline 20 Jan 2026

• HORIZON-CL5-2026-01-D5-17: Real time monitoring of regulated and non-regulated emissions from all types of vessels and other port activities in order to enforce emission limits in waterfront cities

Full text from the work programme "Climate, Energy and Mobility" (2025) can be found here.