The 24th SCO summit was held in Astana on July 3-4, with the expanded SCO+ format seeing the participation of 16 heads of state. During the meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed that 2025 be designated as the SCO Year of Sustainable Development to help the SCO members focus on fostering new forces for growth.

He said that regional cooperation will be promoted through platforms such as the demonstration base for agricultural technology exchange and training, the local economic and trade cooperation demonstration area, and the ecology and environment innovation base.

The SCO member states have been committed to environmental protection and have been increasing their cooperation in relevant fields, including environmental safety and the prevention of the negative consequences of climate change. The year 2024 has been declared the Year of Environment as all member states of the SCO unanimously agreed on Kazakhstan's initiative, featuring a number of thematic events in educational institutions and individual initiatives organized by the SCO Secretariat.

The SCO has pushed forward a series of framework documents to guide the member states on promoting sustainable development, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving infrastructure, establishing and expanding cooperation in relevant fields and others.

In 2018, the Concept of Cooperation of the SCO Member States in the Field of Environmental Protection was adopted at the SCO summit held in Qingdao, eastern China's Shandong Province. In 2019, its related Plan of Action was approved at the SCO Heads of State Council Meeting in Bishkek, which has opened vast prospects for developing practical cooperation, including the establishment of expert groups on biodiversity preservation, adaptation to climate change and mitigation measures, waste management, and raising environmental awareness and education at all levels, as well as scientific and technical cooperation.

In 2021, the SCO Green Belt Program was approved at the Dushanbe summit to introduce a wider range of resource-saving and ecologically clean technologies. In 2022, the 22nd SCO summit issued a statement on tackling climate change, underscoring the importance of enhancing international cooperation on the basis of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It said the member states agree that the implementation of the Paris Agreement is based on the principle and basis of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.

With these solid steps, the SCO has provided a framework for the implementation of practical actions. As one example, the SCO member states agreed to work together to protect the snow leopard species and the natural ecosystem in which it lives and thrives. By 2021, the number of wild snow leopards in China had increased by 22 percent. China and Russia also carried out cross-border cooperation on the protection of Siberian tigers and leopards to ensure the free movement of these animals along the border. Today, all the SCO member states are striving to reduce their carbon emissions and achieve a state of carbon neutrality, which, in turn, will lead to a number of positive effects on people's well-being by helping ensure food security, preventing natural disasters and strengthening energy independence.

Representing more than 40 percent of the world’s population and having a contribution to global GDP of over $23 trillion, the SCO has become a well-functioning multilateral body that helps mobilize funding, promote dialogues and experience exchanges, and promote efforts to facilitate sustainable development.

Environmental issues and the climate crisis can never be solved with any one country's efforts. Multilateralism is something indispensable. The SCO is one of the powerful platforms where multilateralism is fully implemented and all the member states gather their efforts to combat the challenges of climate change.

(Cover via VCG)