SCO countries are making green development an engine of growth
Member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) are navigating a common challenge: how to continue economic development and improve living standards while protecting the environment. To address this challenge, they are increasingly working together, sharing technologies, and leveraging their complementary resources to make green development part of their growth strategies.
That cooperation is taking shape in various ways: wind turbines turning the Kazakh steppe's strong winds into electricity, salt-tolerant plants taking root on the edge of the shrinking Aral Sea, electric buses running through Pakistan's busy streets, and mountains of waste in Kyrgyzstan being transformed into power.
Their emerging experience suggests that green development does not have to mean choosing the environment over the economy. These solutions can accelerate the energy transition, create new livelihood opportunities, and unlock investment, jobs and innovation across the region.
Powering the future: The SCO's shift to clean energy
With a population representing around 42% of the world's total and economies that are continuing to grow, SCO countries are facing rising demands for energy.
Meeting those demands without deepening dependence on high-carbon energy is a major challenge. But it also presents a significant opportunity.
SCO countries are rich in renewable energy resources, from abundant sunlight and wind to hydropower potential. They are increasingly turning these natural endowments into new sources of energy.
Making that transition work at scale also requires technology and regional cooperation. Sohail Khan, Deputy Secretary-General of the SCO, said high-tech products, particularly those produced in China, could help SCO countries implement energy projects and strengthen regional energy connectivity.
And the results are already significant. According to China’s National Energy Administration, SCO countries had a total renewable energy installed capacity of 2.31 billion kW as of the end of 2024, about 14.5 times the level when the organization was founded in 2001 and accounting about half of the world's total.
Kazakhstan offers one example of how such cooperation can work in practice and how it can create economic value.
In the country's Akmola region, about 50 kilometers away from the capital Astana, one of Kazakhstan's largest wind power projects is adding renewable capacity to an electricity system that has long relied heavily on conventional energy sources. Built and operated by a Chinese company, the project generates around 843 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, helping meet the power needs of local communities.
According to chief engineer Zhang Liang, the renewable electricity generated each year helps avoid nearly 690,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. This is roughly equivalent to taking more than 200,000 gasoline-powered cars off the road for a year, assuming each car travels 15,000 kilometers and consumes 10 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers.
Keeping the turbines running is not always easy. In winter, temperatures in the Akmola can plunge to minus 40 degrees Celsius, while heavy snow increases the risk of ice buildup on the turbines.
Engineers have adapted the turbines to these harsh conditions, using smoother surfaces to reduce ice formation. In addition, a control system periodically activates the turbines when conditions are safe, using the rotation of blades to shed accumulated ice.
Turning ecological restoration into opportunity
The SCO's green-development efforts extend well beyond the energy transition, with members also working together to address ecological challenges across the region.
Satellite images reveal the shrinking of the Aral Sea over several decades. [Photo: CMG]
The Aral Sea, once the world's fourth-largest lake, offers one of the region's most painful reminders of the ecological costs of development.
Since the 1960s, intensive use of water for agriculture, together with other human activities, has dramatically reduced the sea's size. Today, its area is only around 10% of its original size, according to NASA Science. As the water receded, more than 67,000 square kilometers of the seabed were exposed, forming a vast desert landscape. Salt left behind on the exposed land has contributed to soil salinization and alkalization, as well as salt-dust storms. The ecological disaster has become known as the “dry tears of Central Asia.”
Reversing such damage is a long-term task, requiring not only restoration efforts but also a better understanding of the changing ecosystem. Since 2013, China and Central Asian countries have worked together through the CAS Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia, headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
More than 80 monitoring stations have been established around the Aral Sea to track ecological conditions, surface and groundwater, and salt-dust storms. Based on the data collected, researchers have classified the region into seven ecological types, providing a scientific basis for restoration efforts.
One area of cooperation draws on China's experience in tackling saline-alkali soil, particularly methods developed through restoration efforts in Xinjiang. Researchers from China and Uzbekistan are testing and selecting plant species that can survive in highly saline soils and potentially help absorb or reduce salt in the soil. By 2026, five experimental plant gardens had been established, with two more planned.
Moreover, more than 40 salt-tolerant plant species from China have also been introduced for testing to determine whether they can adapt to the region's harsh conditions.
Apart from restoring the soil condition, some of the plants also offer economic opportunities. Bakhitjan Khabibullaev, director of the International Innovation Center for the Aral Sea Basin, pointed to cistanche as one example. The plant has medicinal value and is found in parts of Central Asia, but its potential has not yet been fully explored. China, he said, has developed a more systematic research and practical experience in utilizing the plant, offering lessons for Central Asian countries.
Green solutions for growing cities
The green transition is also reshaping how SCO countries manage their cities, from waste treatment to public transportation.
The first waste incineration plant in Central Asia began operations in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on December 27, 2025. A digital screen displays a live view of the facility. [Photo: VCG]
In Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, a new waste-to-energy plant is turning a longstanding environmental problem into a source of electricity. Backed by Chinese investment and built with Chinese technology, the first phase of the facility began operations late last year. Currently, it can process around 1,000 tonnes of waste a day and generate about 146 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the second phase of the project was held in June this year. Once completed, the entire facility is expected to process up to 3,000 tonnes of waste a day and generate around 480 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, making it the first waste-to-energy plant of its kind in Central Asia.
The project addresses a problem that had long plagued the city. Before the plant was built, much of Bishkek's waste was dumped at landfills, where decomposing waste generated methane and contributed to the risk of fires.
This offers more than simply an environmental solution. It also represents an investment of about $95 million and is expected to create nearly 100 local jobs, linking better waste management with economic activity.
The same principle is being applied to urban transportation. In Pakistan, where a population of more than 240 million generates enormous demand for daily mobility, cities are under growing pressure to expand transportation without worsening air pollution.
The government is responding with a push to accelerate the country's transition to electric mobility. In 2025, it set a target for electric vehicles to account for 30% of new vehicle sales by 2030.
Chinese companies are becoming part of that transition. In 2025, 400 electric buses made by Chinese manufacturer Yutong were delivered to 19 cities in Pakistan, creating around 1,500 job opportunities, according to project information. This year, another 600 electric buses from Beijing Automotive Group have been put into operation in the country.
Dr. Naveed Arshad of the Lahore University of Management Sciences sees new-energy transportation as an emerging opportunity for urban development. As Pakistan's electricity infrastructure improves, he said, electric vehicles can offer greater energy efficiency and lower operating and maintenance costs. Chinese companies, he added, have technological expertise and experience that can support Pakistan's development of new-energy transportation.
The SCO's green transition is increasingly becoming a development strategy in its own right. The goal is not simply to cut carbon, but to build a cleaner development model that can strengthen energy supplies, create livelihoods, improve cities and generate new economic opportunities.
As SCO leaders prepare to gather in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan over coming days, the focus will be on how to turn these emerging opportunities into deeper cooperation for a greener and more sustainable region.
