A €20 million grant will be deployed in order to start financing projects under the special ClimDev-Africa Fund, on climate change and the prevention of risks linked to natural disasters in Africa.

The European Parliament’s environment committee voted on Wednesday 20 February an amendment in support of the EU’s ‘backloading’ plans for the Emissions Trading System (ETS), throwing a lifeline to the crisis-hit carbon market. The vote opens the way for further moves to raise flat-lining carbon prices by backloading (or withholding) 900 million allowances from auction, so creating a market scarcity.

Around €100 billion out of a global CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) budget of €363 billion for the period 2014-2020 will be dedicated to the protection of natural resources after last week's agreement on the EU's long term budget, says Dacian Cioloş, the European Commissioner in charge of Agriculture and Rural Development. The challenge now is to define concrete measures to make a real difference for the environment and to secure the long term competitiveness of EU farmers, he believes.

With the full Parliament due to vote on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on 12 March, environmental campaigners hope for a change of course after the Parliament’s agriculture committee in January and the EU Council budget deal on 8th of February both backed changes to weaken some of the Commission’s ‘greening’ proposals on environmental standards.

Organisers of a European Citizens’ Initiative that seeks to halt sales of public water utilities say they have gathered one million signatures from across Europe, becoming the first such group to do so since the grass-roots efforts were launched last spring.

Council of the EU:
- 4 February: Meeting of General Affairs Council (GAC)
- 5-6 February: COREPER I
- 5 February: COREPER II
- 7-8 February: European Council

European Parliament:
- 4-7 February: European Parliament Plenary
- 4-7 February: European Parliament committee meetings

ACP Group:
- 4 February: S/C on Sustainable Development
- 5 February: 5th Steering Committee Meeting of the ACP Fish2 Programme
- 8 February: S/C on Political, Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs

You can also read our newspaper “CTA Brussels Daily” (fed by our Twitter account), follow our new Facebook group CTABrussels and our Twitter account CTABrussels to receive up-to-date information on EU-ACP events.

Cameron will introduce a logotype label affixed on wood products destined for the European Markets from the country.

Governments must rally to make sure the EU's next long-term budget is geared towards curbing climate change, said an envoy from the World Bank and European lawmakers.

EU carbon prices briefly slid 40% to a record low (€2.81 a metric tone) on Thursday (24 January)  after a vote in the European Parliament's energy and industry committee opposing a scheme known as "backloading" - or supporting prices by extracting allowances from the market and reinjecting them later. This raises concerns that prices could hit zero.

Council of the EU:
- 28 January: Meeting of Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRI FISH)
- 29-30 January: COREPER II
- 30 January, 1 February: COREPER I
- 31 January: Meeting of Foreign Affairs Council (FAC)

European Parliament:
- 30 January: European Parliament committee meetings
- 31 January: Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

ACP Group:
- 30-31 January: Steering Committee ACP-EU Natural disasters facility

You can also read our newspaper “CTA Brussels Daily” (fed by our Twitter account), follow our new Facebook group CTABrussels and our Twitter account CTABrussels to receive up-to-date information on EU-ACP events.