The SCO devotes great attention to expanding cooperation in the field of environmental protection.Such working mechanisms as the Meeting of the Heads of Ministries and Departments of the SCO Member States Responsible for Environmental Issues and an affitilated expert working group function on a permanent basis.
Six meetings have been held to date; on 3 July 2025, the People’s Republic of China chaired the latest meeting in the hybrid format in the city of Tianjin. The participants focused on issues of sustainable low-emission development, biodiversity protection, waste management, preventing and eliminating desertification and the degradation of soils. In April 2026, the Kyrgyz Republic will chair the seventh meeting in Bishkek.
SCO countries actively promote the climate agenda. In 2022, the CIS Heads of State Council passed the first document in this sphere, namely, a statement on responding to climate change, during the Samarkand summit. In 2024, it was decided to establish an ad hoc working group on climate change issues; its draft regulations are currently discussed at expert level. Moreover, experts are now discussing a draft cooperation agreement on combating climate change between the governments of SCO member states.
Cooperaion with international organisations countinues to expand. On 28 February 2024, the SCO Secretariat and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) signed a memorandum on the sidelines of the Sixth UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-6). A joint high-level SCO-UNEP special event, One Planet, One Future: Joining Efforts for Environmental Sustainability, was also held.