On 30 September 2021, the Climate Change Steering Committee authorized the allocation of $2.5 million in funding support from the Canadian Climate Fund to the Private Sector in Asia (CFPS) and the Carbon Capture and Storage Fund (CCSF) under the Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility (CEFPF) to two technical assistance (TA) projects: 1. The CFPS is providing $500,000 to the TA Capacity Building in Climate Resilience and Organic Farming for Vegetable and Fruit Growers which will address the consequence of climate change by improving climate change adaptation capacity of smallholder vegetable and fruit farmers in Sri Lanka. The TA is designed to complement a non-sovereign investment project by providing capacity-building support to 2,000 farmers on climate-resilient and organic farming best practices methods and technologies; and functional financial literacy, including farm budget management and access to credit and savings and the economics of climate-resilient capital investments. The TA will also develop at least four demonstration farms in different agriclimates to demonstrate effective climate-resilient farming methods. 2. The CCSF is providing $2 million to the TA Feasibility Study of Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage and Low Carbon Hydrogen Production and Utilization in Oil Refineries in India which aims to establish the feasibility of commercial-scale de-carbonization technologies in India. In particular, the TA will examine the feasibility of carbon capture from three refineries of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) Digboi, Guwahati and Bongaigaon in Assam, as well as analyze options for transporting and utilizing captured CO2 in industrial applications and for its storage in abandoned oil fields in Assam. The TA will further explore the potential for de-carbonization of hydrogen production in IOCL refineries with a focus on turquoise hydrogen production via methane pyrolysis. These projects will serve as an example for other refineries and increase indigenous know-how on identifying and implementing CCUS projects and low-carbon hydrogen projects in a sector with significant potential for replication. Aside from the CFPS and CCSF, the CEFPF also includes the Clean Energy Fund, the Asian Clean Energy Fund, and the newly established Artificial Intelligence and Digitalization Innovation Fund which can support the promotion of clean energy in the DMCs. The CEFPF is being managed by the Sector Advisory Division in SDCC. The next batch application deadline is on 31 October 2021. For any inquiry on the CEFPF, you may get in touch with the Alternate Facility Manager, Kee-Yung Nam, or the CEFPF Secretariat through Denise Encarnacion.