Deadline for the submission of the concept note is 1 October 2009.

Total budget of the call is EUR 62 650 000. The maximum possible rate of co-financing for grants is 80%. Size of grants will range from EUR 500 000 up to EUR 2 500 000. Duration of projects shall not be lower than 18 months nor exceed 60 months.

Projects in the following three priorities will be financed:

• Priority 1: Working upstream in assisting developing countries to achieve the MDG7 on environmental sustainability;
• Priority 2: Promoting implementation of EU initiatives and internationally agreed commitments;
• Priority 5: Support for sustainable energy options in partner countries and regions.

In each ENRTP Priority, one or several lots are open. Belarus may participate in seven lots:

ENRTP Priority 1 / Lot 1: Promoting environmental sustainability

Type of actions eligible for financing: conceptual and analytical work on the links between poverty and the environment to quantify and raise awareness of the linkages between poverty, human health, disaster management and environment in order to promote greater availability of high quality, relevant data and indicators for decision-makers.

Geographic location: all countries under the DCI regulation

Lot budget: 4 million EUR. Grant size: 500 000 - 1.5 million EUR

ENRTP Priority 2 / Lot 3: Forests

Type of actions eligible for financing: proposals should address deforestation and forest degradation through targeting improvements in forest law enforcement & governance AND development of finance/incentive mechanisms that can deliver at local level, taking into account broader land use issues, where relevant, and provide benefits to forest-dependent local and indigenous people.

Geographic location: all countries under the DCI regulation

ENRTP Priority 2 / Lot 4: Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT)

Type of actions eligible for financing:

• Support to the participation of civil society organisations, indigenous people organisations and other non state actors in national processes for FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) preparation, negotiation and/or implementation.
• Support to the implementation of the EU FLEGT Action Plan through private sector initiatives which promote the production of and trade in forest products from legal and sustainable sources and prevention of the entry of illegally harvested timber into supply chains inter alia through business to business links, support for the development of policies and practices in financial institutions, private sector procurement policies.

Geographic location: all countries under the DCI regulation. Priority is given to countries of Africa, Asia, Indonesia and Latin America.

ENRTP Priority 2 / Lot 7: Desertification

Type of actions eligible for financing: pilot actions highlighting the role of sustainable land use and soil management for mitigation and adaptation to climate change in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid ecological zones (including preservation and enhancement of soil organic matter as linked to sustainable agriculture and agro-forestry, degraded land rehabilitation).

Geographic location: all countries under the DCI regulation

ENRTP Priority 2 / Lot 8: Fisheries

Type of actions eligible for financing:

Actions with a regional or global scope on:

• Supporting the conservation of marine resources through the effective management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) while contributing to poverty reduction.
• Promoting the implementation of the ecosystems approach to fisheries.

Geographic location: all countries under the DCI regulation

ENRTP Priority 2 / Lot 10: Biodiversity and Climate Change in ENPI countries

Type of actions eligible for financing

• Ensuring that land use management and water management take into account local climate change scenarios. This should be done in a mutually supportive way in order to strengthen ecosystem resilience while reducing the vulnerability of beneficiary countries to climate change. This includes facilitating collaboration among concerned persons and groups, followed by joint planning and implementation.
• Establishment of green infrastructure, e.g. maintenance and restoration of wetlands (e.g. for flood protection, provision of habitat) and forests (e.g. for water regulation, provision of habitat) so as to increase resilience of livelihoods and ecosystems against climate change and also contribute to climate change mitigation.

Geographic location: ENPI countries

ENRTP Priority 5 / Lot 14: Sustainable energy for Eastern European Neighbourhood countries

Actions enhancing energy security in the Eastern European neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument countries in particular through:

• promoting development of a better convergence of legislative and regulatory frameworks in the energy sector,
• promoting clean, environmental friendly energy technologies, including for fossil fuels,
• promoting the use of renewable energy sources and energy savings and efficiency measures,
• facilitating development of energy infrastructures in support of the above objectives.

Geographic location: Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russian Federation

More information about this call for proposals is available on the following website: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/worldwide/environment/index_en.htm

All materials related to the Call (in English, French and Spanish) are avalable here