The Shanghai Cooperation Organization attaches great importance to the issues of ecology and environmental protection, considering this area as one of the key elements of sustainable development.

The founding documents adopted by the SCO – the Shanghai Declaration (2001) and the Charter (2002) – identify interaction in the environmental sphere as one of the main goals of cooperation. Thus, in the Charter, issues of rational nature management, including water resources management in the region and the implementation of specific joint environmental programs and projects are included in the list of the main areas of interaction.

In the SCO Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation of August 16, 2007, a separate article stipulates that the parties develop cooperation in environmental protection, environmental safety, environmental management, take the necessary measures to develop and implement special programs and projects in these areas.

It should be noted that environmental issues in direct connection with the problems of security and sustainable development of the SCO began to be included in all the final documents of the Organization.

The Declaration adopted at the last SCO Summit (2021, Dushanbe) notes the importance of cooperation in environmental protection, environmental safety, prevention of negative effects of climate change, conservation and use of biodiversity, as well as the exchange of experience and prompt information.

At the present stage, the SCO’s work in the environmental sphere is carried out within the framework of the Concept of Cooperation in Environmental Protection, which became the first framework document aimed at practical cooperation in this area. Work on this document was initiated by the Uzbek side in 2005. The concept was adopted at the Qingdao Summit, and a year later, an Action Plan for its implementation was approved.

The main goal of the Concept is to achieve “comprehensive, joint and sustainable security by preserving the ecological balance, ensuring a favorable environment and ecological development of the economy”. In the process of achieving these goals, the parties agreed to cooperate on the issues of information exchange, coordination of actions, improvement of the technical level of environmental protection monitoring, training, adaptation to climate change, biodiversity conservation, as well as the exchange of best practices to promote the principles of a green economy.

Practical work is being carried out to promote the designated agenda. In particular, with the support of the Chinese Government, the Center for SCO Environmental Cooperation was established in 2014.

In 2019, a unique program for the development of the ecological well-being of SCO cities, which was aimed at preventing environmental pollution, adapting and mitigating the effects of climate change, ensuring the environmental safety of megacities, waste management and others, was adopted.

Such working mechanisms as a Meeting of heads of relevant departments, as well as an Expert Working Group on Environmental Protection issues, have begun to function on an ongoing basis. A group of banks has been formed under the auspices of the SCO Interbank Association, whose funds are planned to be attracted to solve environmental problems.

The SCO member states intend to establish an active dialogue with international institutions to implement joint projects and programs in environmental protection and the introduction of environmentally friendly technologies, increasing the share of the green economy.

Taking into account the importance of the transition of the Organization’s states to a green economy, as well as the fulfillment of their obligations to achieve carbon neutrality under the Paris Agreement, the number of initiatives and projects will increase.

Of course, the agenda of the upcoming Summit of the Heads of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States in Samarkand will include ecology and environmental protection issues.

Nozim Khasanov,

Chief Researcher at IICA