GreenHorizon CEE is a project that focuses on strategic carbon management in Central and Eastern Europe.
It emphasizes careful planning to maximize climate and socio-economic benefits while avoiding over-reliance and ensuring effective implementation. The project also enhances awareness and capacity to drive impactful industrial carbon management in the region.
Carbon Management is essential for achieving climate neutrality in Central and Eastern Europe.
Carbon management — which includes carbon capture and storage (CCS), carbon capture and utilisation (CCU), and carbon dioxide (CO₂) removals — is a broad portfolio of technologies that enable both the avoidance of new CO₂ emissions and the removal of existing CO₂ from the atmosphere.
The EU’s 2040 emissions reduction target, the Net Zero Industry Act, and the recent Communication on Industrial Carbon Management all underscore the urgent need to deploy carbon management solutions at pace and scale in the coming decade. Within the broader framework of the European Green Deal, the European Climate Law, and the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), there is a growing call for effective, transparent climate mitigation solutions that also address environmental and social dimensions.
Countries like Romania, Latvia, Poland, and Bulgaria have significant potential for deploying carbon management. However, they face persistent challenges in translating this potential into action, including limited institutional capacity, fragmented governance structures, and low public and stakeholder awareness.
The project responds to these challenges by helping to build institutional and technical capacity for carbon management in Central and Eastern Europe. It aims to support the equitable deployment of CM solutions that not only contribute to decarbonisation, but also help ensure social acceptability and regional resilience — especially in vulnerable areas such as Just Transition regions — in support of the EU’s broader climate goals.
The project strengthens carbon management in Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and Latvia by enhancing institutional and civil society capacity.
Key activities of the project include advanced research, institutional capacity-building, and the promotion of participatory governance models to support the deployment of carbon management solutions. By promoting good governance and transparency, the project ensures that carbon management initiatives deliver real climate benefits while avoiding potential social risks. This collaborative approach paves the way for effective carbon management deployment in the target countries.
Focusing on regions that are both suitable for carbon management projects and vulnerable to the socio-economic impacts of the climate transition, the project strengthens the capacity of public institutions, increases awareness of the opportunities and limitations to implementing carbon management solutions, and encourages greater accountability from all stakeholders involved.
