Zero-emission e-commerce and freight delivery and return choices by retailers, consumers and local authorities
Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
To support changing retailers and customers’ behaviours towards zero-emission freight delivery and return choices, the research actions will have to develop co-created actions able to increase transparency and consumers’ awareness of greenhouse gas emissions and other impacts (considering also socio-economic ones) of e-commerce, deliveries and returns. They will have also to propose zero-emission delivery solutions and develop supporting incentive schemes to encourage customers to make sustainable choices, still in accordance with their preferences and in combination with competitive and sustainable retail value propositions. The research actions will have to take into account and build on existing methods and standards to compare the emission in the transport value chain of B2C e-commerce, and to be developed in line with the Commission’s initiative on EU framework for harmonised measurement of transport and logistics emissions – ‘CountEmissions EU’.
Detailed Call Description
Proposals will have to address all of the following points:
- Taking stock of existing studies, assess which conditions would make zero-emission delivery and return options attractive to consumers and which motivations and options would incentivise consumers to change their behaviour towards greener choices.
- Co-designing with and engaging consumers and retailers, and taking into account the assessed motivations and incentives, develop a set of zero-emission delivery and return options, which are at least comparable with existing delivery offering and account for the different consumer groups’ needs and motivations to change their behaviour. Identify which options would be more suitable to the customers’ group or groups more motivated to change their behaviours and act as frontrunners, thus leading to a more rapid adoption.
- Actively involve consumers (e.g. through consumer organisations) and retailers in the development of guidelines and best practices for retailers to raise awareness and communicate transparently and in an understandable way on the greenhouse gas emission footprint of deliveries and returns’ modes and options.
- Define scalable and generic processes and requirements for the retailers to adopt the zero-emission logistics processes in practice.
- Develop and analyse different scenarios that implement measures towards both more transparent communication and implementation of cleaner and zero-emission e-commerce last mile deliveries to assess reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.
- Test with selected retailers and representative customers, and in collaboration with relevant local authorities, the proposed guidelines to visualise the advanced information on emissions and the zero-emission delivery and return options towards consumers. Assess their attractiveness to consumers, the potential impact on consumers’ behaviours (including e.g. same-day delivery, returns and physical store pick up options) and their possible buy-in into more sustainable offering.
- Demonstrate solutions and propose recommendations to support and incentivise the uptake of greener choices by consumers and retailers.
- Define indicators to measure and evaluate the successful communication and the implementation by the retailers as well as the adoption by the consumers of zero-emission delivery and return options.
- Develop recommendations and a toolset with and for local authorities to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission delivery and return options and choices.
- Cooperation with the network of cities CIVITAS should be planned as appropriate.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
100%
EU contribution per project: €3.00 million
Thematic Categories
- Environment and Climate Change
- Industry
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Consumer Organisations
- Large Enterprises
- Local Authorities
- NGOs
- Non Profit Organisations
- Private Bodies
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- State-owned Enterprises
- Vulnerable Consumers
Eligibility For Participation Notes
Strengthen the coordination and collaboration between e-commerce companies, industrial logistics stakeholders and cities, companies, research and civil society, in Europe and internationally, to give input to the project as well as disseminate and exploit results.
- consumer organisations
If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Research and Innovation Foundation
29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia,
P.B. 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Telephone: +357 22205000
Fax: +357 22205001
Email: support@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/en/
Contact Persons:
Mr Christakis Theocharous
Scientific Officer A’
Telephone: +357 22 205 029
Email: ctheocharous@research.org.cy
Mr George Christou
Scientific Officer
Telephone: +357 22 205 030
Email: gchristou@research.org.cy