Quick Take — The Court of Auditors investigates funds allocated to the Mattei Plan

The Court of Auditors is investigating the Italian Climate Fund, the EUR 4.4 billion vehicle to be used for climate change projects in countries with emerging economies..

According to IrpiMedia‘s reconstruction, the Court is investigating the government’s decision to shift a large part of the Fund’s resources (70%, i.e. around 3 billion) to the Mattei Plan, the initiative that according to the government will change relations between Italy and Africa, transforming the continent from a beneficiary of humanitarian aid to a new trading partner…

Among the projects that have benefited from the new criteria approved in March 2024 is one by Eni in Kenya that aims to create a supply chain for the production of biofuels..

In its reply to the Court of Auditors, the Presidency of the Council has in fact included an annex showing that the eligibility criteria for Fund interventions have been modified..

Below : a post by Coldiretti on the participation of Bonifiche Ferraresi in the Mattei Plan

Quick Take — EU reaches provisional agreement to finalise trade deal with US

The European Union reached provisional agreement on Wednesday on a bill to eliminate import duties on US products, a key element of the trade deal reached with Washington last July, in a move that is likely to prevent higher US tariffs on EU products.

Under the agreement reached last July at the Turnberry golf resort in Scotland, owned by US President Donald Trump, the EU agreed to eliminate tariffs on US industrial products and grant preferential access to US agricultural and seafood products. In return, the US would impose 15% tariffs on most EU products.

Reuters. We reported on it here : US-Europe relations : hormone meat, GMOs, pesticides, food safety and tariffs. The real ones

Quick Take — The next global food crisis

The world must act to protect the poorest from the effects that will linger long after the fighting is over.

After only seven weeks, food shortages and even famine now seem more likely for millions of people in vulnerable countries in Africa and Asia…

Recent data from the World Bank clearly show the link between energy and food. In March, the organisation’s energy price index rose 41.6 percent, driven by a 59.4 percent increase in European natural gas and a 45.8 percent increase in Brent oil. In the same month, food prices increased by 2.7% and fertiliser prices by 26.2%. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) warned that global fertiliser prices could rise by an average of 15-20% in the first half of 2026 if the crisis persists…

The Gulf states now directly influence food production and movement, supplying key chemical raw materials, exporting large volumes of finished fertilisers and controlling the logistical corridors through which food and agricultural products move across much of the Middle East, Central and East Asia and Africa. ..

The old image of the Gulf monarchies as mere exporters of oil and gas is no longer valid. Today, the region is at the centre of modern agriculture, not only as an important producer of fertilisers, but also as a driving force for the development of fertiliser industries in neighbouring countries…

Financial Times

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