The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Climate and Sustainability Project Preparatory Fund, or CSPPF, is a multi-partner trust fund that will help address and narrow CAREC countries’ financing gaps in achieving climate change goals and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by supporting the preparation of bankable climate- and SDG-related regional projects. The fund will provide CAREC countries with a streamlined mechanism for identifying, preparing, finance structuring, and implementing regional climate and SDG-related projects that are aligned with CAREC countries’ commitments to address climate change impacts. 

The fund will support projects and activities aligned with the following objectives: (i) enhance the capacity of CAREC member countries in incorporating climate- and other SDG-related features in the design of regional projects in traditional and emerging sectors; (ii) facilitate cooperation between CAREC member countries on planning, designing, and implementing regional projects, including those that involve transboundary climate spillovers (positive and negative); and (iii) help prepare and structure sound, bankable regional projects that support joint initiatives and programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop regional carbon trading. 

In 2024, the People’s Republic of China committed $2 million to the CAREC Climate and Sustainability Project Preparatory Fund, while the Republic of Korea contributed $1 million, with an additional $2 million expected over the next 2 years.