Released on: 2024-12-01 – 12:20Changed: 2024-12-01 – 12:18

2 minutes

The Afghan delegation was invited as “guests” of the Azerbaijani hosts, not as a party directly involved in the negotiations.

It was the first time an Afghan delegation attended since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, after failing to receive an invitation to the last two COPs (Conference of the Parties) held in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

“Afghanistan must participate in such conferences in the future,” Matiul Haq Khalis, director general of Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency, said at a press conference on Sunday.

He described Afghanistan’s presence last month at the talks as a “great achievement”.

“We attended the conference this year so that we could raise the nation’s voice about the issues we face, what the needs of the people are, we need to share these things with the world.”

He said the Afghan delegation had meetings with “19 different organizations and governments”, including with delegations from Russia, Qatar, Azerbaijan and Bangladesh.

Afghanistan is among the countries most vulnerable to global warming, despite minimal emissions, and the Taliban government has argued that their political isolation should not bar them from international climate negotiations.

The government has imposed a strict version of Islamic Sharia law since taking power, severely limiting women’s participation in public life in what the UN has called “gender apartheid”.

Among the poorest countries in the world after decades of war, Afghanistan is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which scientists say is spurring extreme weather including prolonged droughts, frequent floods and declining agricultural productivity.

The UN has also called for measures to help Afghanistan build resilience and for the country’s participation in international talks.

Developed countries have committed to providing $100 billion a year in climate finance until 2025 to help developing countries prepare for worsening climate impacts and wean their economies off fossil fuels.

© 2024 AFP