Objective
CLIFRAIL EU adopts an ambitious and innovative approach to unlocking climate‑finance opportunities for the European rail sector, enabling rail to play a transformative role in the EU’s net‑zero transition. While rail is inherently low‑carbon, achieving deep decarbonisation, network modernisation and significant modal shift require financing models that go beyond today’s public funding landscape. The project pioneers the first integrated framework linking climate‑finance instruments, such as green and sustainability‑linked bonds, blended finance structures and carbon‑credit mechanisms, with rail‑specific emission accounting, reporting obligations and the investment needs. It develops a novel typology of rail actors and financing use cases, identifying where climate finance can deliver the greatest impact on EU rail decarbonisation and modal shift. Through an ambitious validation process using real‑world operational and financial data, the project tests the bankability, reporting feasibility and scalability of innovative financing approaches across different rail contexts, bridging the gap between climate‑finance theory and practical implementation in the sector.
The work yields several groundbreaking outputs: a consolidated mapping of climate‑finance options tailored to rail; methodologies for measuring GHG reductions and avoided emissions aligned with EU Taxonomy and CSRD; validated high‑potential use cases; a comparative scorecard showing conditions for success across financing models; and a practical Guidebook for Rail Reporting. By combining methodological innovation, evidence‑based validation and extensive stakeholder engagement, the project significantly enhances the rail sector’s capacity to access climate finance, informs future policy alignment, and provides actionable pathways to scale sustainable investment in European rail.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.2.5 - Climate, Energy and Mobility
MAIN PROGRAMME
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HORIZON.2.5.8 - Smart Mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-JU-RIA - HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-JU-ER-2025-02
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
3521 AZ Utrecht
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.