Afghanistan Taliban send delegation to climate conference

For the first time since the radical Islamic Taliban took power in August 2021, Afghanistan will take part in a UN climate conference. The country will send a delegation to the COP29 climate summit, which begins on Monday in Azerbaijan's capital Baku, the Afghan National Environment Agency announced on Sunday. The delegation will advocate for increased international cooperation in the fight against climate change, it added.

According to experts, the country in the Hindu Kush is feeling the effects of global warming in the form of devastating droughts, deadly floods and advancing desertification, among other things. The barely industrialized country contributes little to global greenhouse gas emissions. According to the UN Development Program UNDP, Afghanistan is one of the twelve poorest countries in the world. The Taliban are internationally isolated, particularly because of their disregard for human rights and especially women's rights.

Around 200 countries are meeting in Baku for two weeks to discuss, among other things, new financial commitments to poor countries so that they can mitigate the consequences of global warming. Developing countries and environmental organizations expect the rich industrialized nations to mobilize at least one trillion US dollars annually - ten times more than the 100 billion per year currently pledged.

SDA