This project represents the GEF contribution to the Caspian Environment Programme (CEP), a regional programme funded by the five riparian countries, GEF, UNEP, The World Bank, and other donors. The overall goal of the CEP is environmentally sustainable development and management of the Caspian environment, including living resources and water quality, so as to obtain the utmost long-term benefits for the human populations of the region, while protecting human health, ecological integrity and the region's economic and environmental sustainability for future generations.

The Caspian Environment Programme is being developed as a comprehensive response to the severe environmental problems facing the region, and is based on extensive consultations with professionals in the regional and international scientific and resource management communities. The CEP represents a partnership between the Caspian Riparian States, private sector (specifically the oil and gas industry), all three GEF implementing agencies (UNDP, UNEP, and The World Bank) and the EU/TACIS, inter alia.

The ultimate goals of the present GEF project are:

1) The development of a regional coordination mechanism to achieve sustainable development and management of the Caspian environment through institutional framework, capacity building, public awareness, and stakeholder involvement;
2) Completion of a Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis of priority water-related environmental issues for the Caspian ecosystem to guide prioritisation for environmental actions and investments; and 3) Formulation and endorsement of a Strategic Action Programme (SAP) and National Action Plans (NAPs) as the basis for prioritising actions to be taken, both baseline and additional, on behalf of sustaining the Caspian and its associated natural resources.