An Afghan environment official on Sunday said the country must be allowed to participate in future global climate talks, after returning from COP29 in Baku where Taliban officials attended for the first time.

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

It was the first time that an Afghan delegation had attended since the Taliban swept to power in August 2021, having failed to get an invite to the past two COPs (Conference of the Parties) held in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

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

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

“We participated in the conference this year so that we could raise the voice of the nation about the issues we are facing, what the needs of the people are, we must 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 have argued that their political isolation should not bar them from international climate talks.

The government has imposed an austere version of sharia Islamic law since taking power, severely restricting women’s participation in public life in what the United Nations has called a “gender apartheid.”

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

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

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

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Peaceful coexistence is the only option in an era of globalization and intermingling religions and cultures, said Kazakh Minister of Information and Social Development, Darkhan Kydyrali, at the forum World Governments: An Incubator for Tolerance, a side event of the Annual Investment Meeting held in Abu Dhabi on May 8-10, reported the ministry’s press service on May 10.

The forum was initiated to consider the role of tolerance and coexistence in achieving sustainable economic growth and to find solutions to discrimination and intolerance. 

According to Kydyrali, the values of tolerance, human brotherhood, and peace are vital in countering the challenges that the world is facing in the 21st century.

“I think that we were reassured of the importance of these values during the COVID-19 pandemic when familiar and unfamiliar people were able to overcome difficulties only by showing mutual understanding and unity of purpose,” he said. 

The minister emphasized that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been able to create an effective economic model based on tolerance and coexistence, which is consistent with Kazakhstan’s position of strengthening inter-ethnic and inter-confessional harmony.

“Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev constantly pays attention to the current issues on the world agenda and the stability of peace in the country. Kazakhstan has become a dialogue platform for world and traditional religious leaders. The Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, which unites religious figures, was held in Astana for the seventh time in September last year,” Kydyrali said.

He also highlighted the important role of the media in promoting tolerance.

“The media should exclude hate speech. It should instead appeal to unity and peace, and bring the people together spiritually,” he added.  

The forum was held under the patronage and presence of Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, and attended by leading officials from across the world.

Source: Astana Times

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