Improve the capacity to monitor and reduce air pollution from agriculture

Expected Outcome

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of air pollutants at farm level is improved;
• human health and environment (including biodiversity) benefit from reduced impacts of air pollution from agriculture;
• EU policies preventing and reducing air pollution are supported with more comprehensive, harmonised and accurate scientific evidence, tools and methods to estimate the emissions;
• farmers, advisors and other stakeholders acquire new and better knowledge, technologies and practices to reduce certain air pollutants from agriculture.

Scope

EU agriculture contributes substantially to air pollution through various emissions. Additional efforts are needed in the sector to help reducing the impact on human health and the environment, including biodiversity. To promote the uptake of measures at farm level, better data on their impact and effectiveness are needed. There is also a need for new practical solutions to help farmers monitor and reduce air pollution.

Proposals should:

• assess and improve the accuracy, cost, efficiency and user-friendliness of MRV methodologies and tools (including AI, IoT, etc.) for air pollutants (other than greenhouse gases) in agriculture at farm level through analysis, field experiments, and demonstration activities, reducing uncertainties and enabling use of higher tiers for the estimation of emissions and for reporting;
• consolidate, extend and improve knowledge on emission factors and mitigation potential of practices and activities at farm level, contributing to the further development of the EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory guidebook 2023[1];
• develop farming practices and technologies in manure management and application, livestock feeding and grazing, use of fertilisers and pesticides in all relevant types of farming systems, including cattle, poultry and pigs, to reduce air pollutants other than GHG and evaluate their reduction potential in line with relevant UNECE Guidance documents[2];
• through dedicated training and outreach activities, build capacity among farmers, advisors and other relevant actors for widespread utilisation of improved MRV tools and air pollution reduction measures addressing, among other impacts, biodiversity loss.

Proposals must implement the multi-actor approach, with a consortium based on a balanced mix of actors with complementary knowledge, including farmers, researchers, advisors and businesses.

Concrete efforts should be made to ensure that the data and methodologies produced in the context of the funded projects follow the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable).

Proposals should include a dedicated task and resources for cooperation with the other project(s) funded under this topic and with other relevant ongoing and forthcoming Horizon Europe project(s), including topic HORIZON-CL6-2025-02-CLIMATE-04: Monitoring, reporting, verification and mitigation of non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions and related air pollutants from agriculture, especially to understand the combined effects of air pollutants.

The projects under this topic are relevant to the EU policies related to the Zero Pollution Action Plan, the Industrial and Livestock Rearing Emissions Directive, the National Emissions Reduction Commitments Directive, the Ambient Air Quality Directive, the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, and the transition to a more sustainable EU agriculture in alignment with the EU Vision for Agriculture and Food and the Common Agricultural Policy.

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may participate as a member of the consortium selected for funding. In particular, the JRC could, as relevant, link project outcomes to tools, databases and methodologies relevant for estimating farm-to-agricultural sector air pollutant emissions.

Technology Readiness Level - Technology readiness level expected from completed projects

Activities are expected to achieve TRL 4-5 by the end of the project – see General Annex B. Activities may start at any TRL.

[1] EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory guidebook 2023 | European Environment Agency's home page

[2] https://unece.org/DAM/env/documents/2012/EB/ECE_EB.AIR_120_ENG.pdf, https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2021-08/ECE_EB.AIR_149-2104922E.pdf, https://unece.org/DAM/env/documents/2015/AIR/EB/ECE_EB.AIR_129_ENG.pdf