Dr. Ikramul Haq & Abdul Rauf Shakoori
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has concluded its summit in Tianjin, China, with the adoption of the “Tianjin Declaration,” a wide-ranging document, reflecting the ambitions of its member states to strengthen cooperation across political, economic, and cultural domains. The declaration, while affirms support for multipolarity, regional stability, and integration, suffers from critical gaps, particularly in addressing the climate-related crises, threatening the region’s most populous nations.
The meeting came when two of the SCO’s major members, Pakistan and India, were reeling from devastating floods and weather-related disasters. Both countries, with nearly 1.7 billion people, faced massive human and economic losses from climate-induced events. While the leaders pledged support for a Regional Climate Summit in Kazakhstan in 2026, they failed to commit to any concrete mechanism providing immediate relief or cooperative frameworks for member states, battling the disastrous consequences of climate change.
The Tianjin Declaration, adopted on September 1, 2025, is ambitious. It underscores the SCO’s commitment for a multipolar world order grounded in international law and the centrality of the United Nations (UN). It also touches upon a range of issues, from counterterrorism and security to digital trade, transport corridors, and green industry cooperation.
A significant outcome of the declaration is the approval of the SCO Development Strategy until 2035 and the establishment of the SCO Development Bank. These institutional innovations are intended to deepen cooperation and reduce reliance on external financial systems.
The declaration also underscores decisions on strengthening cooperation in green industries, food security, e-commerce, energy transition, and environmental protection. However, when it comes to climate change, the document falls short of expectations. The most prominent climate-related announcement is the endorsement of a Regional Climate Summit in Kazakhstan in 2026 with UN’s support. Yet, this acknowledgment amounts to a deferment than a response to the urgent climate crisis already engulfing the region.
The summit coincided with unprecedented flooding in South Asia. In Pakistan, heavy monsoon rains triggered flash floods that claimed hundreds of lives, destroyed crops, and displaced thousands. The economic losses are estimated in billions of dollars, eroding fragile fiscal stability. Similarly, in India, severe flooding across several states destroyed infrastructure, displaced communities, and caused extensive agricultural damage. These tragedies highlight the crude reality that SCO member states are among the most vulnerable in the world to climate change. Ranked first and fifth globally in terms of population, India and Pakistan stand at the frontline of climate-induced disasters. The summit’s failure to create a coordinated forum to address these pressing challenges exposes an obvious gap in SCO’s cooperative agenda.
The Tianjin Declaration’s support for a regional climate summit in 2026 is commendable but insufficient. Climate disasters are not distant threats. They are already destabilizing economies, destroying livelihoods, and undermining security across Eurasia.
The absence of a permanent SCO mechanism to respond to climate-related emergencies reflects a lack of urgency and prioritization. Instead of waiting until 2026, the SCO could have announced the formation of a regional climate resilience task force or an SCO climate adaptation forum where member states pool expertise, coordinate disaster responses, and mobilize joint funding. Such an initiative would not only save lives but also strengthen SCO’s credibility as a platform capable of responding to modern challenges.
The declaration does mention the creation of the SCO Development Bank, which could become an important instrument for regional economic cooperation. Yet, the absence of explicit mention of climate finance is a missed opportunity. Across the globe, climate finance has become a lifeline for vulnerable economies to build resilience, transition to clean energy, and recover from disasters.
The UN has already set ambitious frameworks through mechanisms like the Green Climate Fund, the Adaptation Fund, and Loss and Damage facilities under the Paris Agreement. These funds are designed to support developing countries in both mitigation and adaptation efforts.
The SCO, representing nearly half of humanity, could have complemented these efforts by establishing a dedicated climate finance facility, pooling resources from wealthier member states such as China and Russia, to support vulnerable members like Pakistan, India, and Central Asian nations. Such a step would not only bridge the financial gap but also demonstrate leadership by regional powers in tackling one of humanity’s greatest threats. Instead, the Tianjin Declaration fell back on broad statements and future summits, ignoring the immediate urgency.
The SCO includes two nuclear-armed neighbours, India and Pakistan, whose relations remain tensed with political disputes and security tensions. Yet, climate change offers a rare area where cooperation is not only possible but essential. Both nations face common threats such as flooding, droughts, melting glaciers, and heatwaves that transcend borders. The two countries could initiate joint projects under the SCO framework focusing on shared water management of the Indus Basin to reduce the risks of flooding and ensure fair distribution of resources.
They could work together on joint early warning systems for floods, heatwaves, and cyclones, leveraging satellite and digital technologies. They could establish regional climate research hubs to produce data-driven policies and solutions, and they could launch cross-border renewable energy projects, including solar and wind energy, to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and build resilience. Such cooperative measures could build trust, reduce human and economic losses, and show that even rivals can find common ground when survival is at stake.
The summit also coincided with key developments in Pakistan’s economy and diplomacy. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held important meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during his stay in Beijing.
President Xi reaffirmed China’s support for Pakistan’s development, particularly through the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Both leaders expressed their determination to continue building a community of shared future and emphasized upgrading CPEC with new corridors for industrial, agricultural, and digital cooperation.
In his meeting with President Putin, Prime Minister Shehbaz agreed to boost Pak-Russia ties in trade, energy, and defense. Russia’s support for Pakistan during natural disasters, including the recent floods, was also highlighted. Both leaders reaffirmed their desire to enhance connectivity through regional trade corridors that could link Russia to South Asia through Central Asia.
On the domestic front, Pakistan’s economy is showing mixed signals. Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Jameel Ahmad, projected GDP growth of 3.25 to 4.25 percent for FY2026, citing improved foreign reserves, reduced inflation, and fiscal consolidation. He noted that reserves had grown to $14.3 billion, inflation had dropped to 3.2 percent, and remittances had surged to $38 billion. These indicators suggest a more stable footing compared to the crisis years of 2022 to 2023. Yet, challenges remain.
The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics reported that the country’s trade deficit widened by more than 30 percent year-on-year to US$2.87 billion in August 2025, with imports rising and exports declining. This indicates structural weaknesses in competitiveness and highlights the urgent need for export-oriented reforms. The Pakistan Textile Council has already warned that rising input costs and restrictive trade policies are undermining the country’s key export sector.
For the SCO to remain relevant, it must evolve from being a political and security platform to one that also delivers practical solutions to the most urgent challenges of the 21st century. Climate cooperation, climate finance, and regional solidarity must be central pillars of this evolution. India and Pakistan, despite their rivalries, have a unique opportunity to lead in this regard by working together on shared vulnerabilities.
For Pakistan, the summit coincided with positive diplomatic engagements with China and Russia and cautious optimism about its economy. However, without decisive action on climate resilience and export challenges, these gains may remain delicate. The Tianjin Declaration will be remembered for its vision of multipolarity and integration, but unless SCO leaders confront the climate crisis head-on, future declarations will ring hollow in the face of recurring floods, droughts, and human suffering.
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Dr. Ikramul Haq, an advocate of the Supreme Court and writer is an adjunct faculty at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). Abdul Rauf Shakoori is a corporate lawyer based in the USA.