Samarkand – 3 June 2026
The 6th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Environment, held under the overarching theme “New Horizons for Enhanced Regional Environmental Action through Collaborative Solutions”, concluded today in Samarkand, Republic of Uzbekistan, with the adoption of landmark documents that will navigate on regional environmental cooperation for the next five years.
The Meeting was chaired by H.E. Mr. Aziz Abdukhakimov, Advisor to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Chairman of the National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, and attended by Ministers and Heads of Environment Authorities from ECO Member States, alongside the ECO Secretary‑General, Dr. Asad M. Khan.
In a decisive stride, Ministers endorsed the ECO Cooperation Framework on the Environment (2026‑2030) and its two Thematic Annexes – the ECO Work Program on Climate Change (2026‑2030) and the ECO Work Program on Biodiversity (2026‑2030). These documents provide a structured, actionable roadmap for addressing the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, while promoting resource efficiency, circular economy, and clean energy transition.
The Meeting also adopted the Samarkand Declaration on Regional Environmental Cooperation, a unified political statement reaffirming the commitment of ECO Member States to enhanced regional coordination, stronger cooperation, and mobilization of means of implementation, including finance, technology transfer, and capacity‑building.
Ministers welcomed the progress of the High‑Level Dialogue Platform on Environmental Cooperation and the RESCUE Initiative on circular economy, and instructed the ECO Secretariat to continue working with partners such as UNIDO to advance project development.
The Meeting expressed profound gratitude to the Government of Uzbekistan for its exceptional hospitality and leadership in hosting the Ministerial Meeting, which took place immediately before the 8th Assembly of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
