KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), has called for Afghanistan’s inclusion in the 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP 29), scheduled for November 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
In a statement shared on X on Wednesday, October 17, Otunbayeva emphasized Afghanistan’s vulnerability to climate change, saying, “We cannot go another year without Afghan voices in this important global discussion.” She made the remarks during a climate change conference in Kabul, highlighting the severe impact environmental changes have had on the country.
Afghanistan was notably absent from COP28, held last year in the United Arab Emirates, sparking protests from Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency, now under Taliban control. The agency called the exclusion an “injustice.”
The International Crisis Group reported that the UN organizers did not invite the Taliban due to their lack of international recognition.
Although Afghanistan contributes just 0.3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, it ranks among the ten countries most vulnerable to climate change, facing increasingly severe environmental disasters.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) ranked Afghanistan as the third worst-affected country by climate change in 2023. This ranking shift from the worst in 2022 reflects the worsening conditions in East Africa rather than any improvement in Afghanistan’s situation.
The IRC’s annual Watchlist includes countries such as Yemen, Chad, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic, noting that these nations contribute “little” to global greenhouse gas emissions while bearing the brunt of climate-induced disasters.