Environment has remained as an important agenda in the SAARC process. Successive Summits have underscored the need for intensification of regional cooperation in the area of preservation of environment and disaster management to ensure that development process in the Member States were not undermined. Six SAARC Ministerial Meetings on Environment have been held so far. These meetings have been held annually with a different thematic focus each year.

Soon after the establishment of SAARC, a Technical Committee on Environment was formed in 1992 to coordinate regional cooperation in Environment and related areas. One of the first tangible outcomes of cooperation in the field of environment saw the production of two Studies as mandated by the Leaders. The Studies have since provided a strong basis for cooperative regional initiatives.

The SAARC Regional Study on the Causes and Consequences of Natural Disasters and the Protection and Preservation of the Environment
The Leaders during the Third SAARC Summit (Kathmandu, 1987), deeply concerned at the fast and continuing degradation of the environment including extensive destruction of forests and resulting in natural disasters commissioned the Study for the Protection and Preservation of the Environment and the Causes and Consequences of Natural Disasters in a well-planned comprehensive framework. Accordingly, a Group of Experts with members from all the SAARC Countries was constituted to prepare the Study. The Group finalized the format of the Study which was completed in 1991. Its main recommendations were endorsed by Heads of State or Government at their Sixth Summit (Colombo, 1991). The recommendations outlined in the study are categorized as follows:

Measures to protect and manage the environment;
Measures and programme for strengthening disaster management capabilities; and
Implementation mechanisms for the measures outlined in the study.

The SAARC Regional Study on Greenhouse Effect and its Impact on the Region
The Fourth Summit (Islamabad, 1988) noted with serious concern the extensive damage caused in many SAARC Countries during the year due to unprecedented floods, cyclones and earthquakes, recalled their earlier decision to enhance regional cooperation with a view to strengthening disaster management capabilities. They urged that a Study on Greenhouse Effect and its Impact on the Region should be completed in the shortest period to provide a basis for an action plan for meaningful cooperation among Member States.

The Fifth SAARC Summit (Malé, 1990) noted with satisfaction the methodology recommended for the Study on the Greenhouse Effect and its Impact on the Region. Following two meetings of a Group of Experts and one of the Group of Coordinators, the Study was finalized in 1992. During the Seventh SAARC Summit in Dhaka in 1993, the Leaders recognized that the completion of the Study was a significant step forward in promoting regional cooperation in this vital area. The Study had the following components:

Regional measures in sharing experiences, scientific capabilities and information on climate change; and
Global collaboration in Monitoring Climatology, Sea Level Rise, Natural Disaster, Technology Transfer and Finance etc.

SAARC Plan of Action on Environment
The Third Meeting of Environment Ministers (Malé, 1997) adopted the SAARC Plan of Action on Environment. The Action Plan is based on the recommendations of the two Studies outlined above. The Plan seeks to evaluate the status of SAARC cooperation in the field of environment, identifies the concerns of Member States at regional and global levels, and sets out parameters and modalities for enhanced cooperation. Member States are called upon to mobilize financial resources from regional and international organizations. The main responsibility for the implementation of the Action Plan rests with the Member States. Each Member State is called upon to prepare a National Action Plan. In order to make an environment assessment to facilitate the implementation of SAARC Plan of Action on Environment, Member States are called upon to produce a National State of the Environment Report. A SAARC State of the Environment Report will then be prepared based on these reports and on an agreed common format. The SAARC Plan of Action also highlights the need to study the feasibility of a Regional Treaty on Environment, which will ensure a sound environment protection regime for the region. The Twelfth Summit has called for expediting the preparation of the Report and the drafting of the Treaty.

The Colombo Declaration for a Common Environment Programme
The Fourth Environment Ministers Meeting adopted the Common Environment Programme (Colombo, 1998). The Programme recalled various major international instruments and declarations on environment and noted the importance of enhanced cooperation in sharing information in the region to promote effective management of the environment for the benefit of all the Member Countries. The Common Environment Programme while calling for early implementation of the SAARC Plan of Action on Environment recommended, inter-alia, compilation of a regional directory of scientific and technological institutions in the field of environment and state-of-the-art report on eco-friendly technologies.

Regional Centres
The Action Plan on Environment provides for the establishment of two Regional Centers of Excellence in the field of environment. The Twelfth Summit welcomed the early establishment of the Coastal Zone Management Center in Maldives. The Center has since been established and the First Meeting of the Governing Board of SAARC Coastal Zone Management Centre was held on 30 June-1 July 2004.

The Twenty-fifth Session of the Council of Ministers (Islamabad, July 2004) approved the establishment of the SAARC Forestry Center in Bhutan. The modalities for the establishment of the Center will be finalized by the Technical Committee on Environment and Forestry.