Taliban attends UN COP29 climate conference for first time

(CLO) This is the first time Taliban government officials in Afghanistan have attended the annual United Nations Climate Summit (COP) since the force took power in 2021.

Taliban officials in Afghanistan will attend the United Nations COP29 climate conference, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said on November 10.

Officials from the National Environmental Protection Agency have arrived in Azerbaijan to attend the COP29 conference, according to Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi.

Azerbaijan's capital Baku is hosting this year's United Nations climate summit. Photo: Reuters

The COP29 conference in the Azerbaijani capital Baku will be one of the first multilateral events attended by Taliban government officials since they took control of the Afghan capital Kabul after 20 years of fighting with NATO-backed forces.

Taliban officials have attended UN-hosted meetings on Afghanistan in Doha, and Taliban ministers have attended forums in China and Central Asia over the past two years.

But the COP Office of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has postponed consideration of Afghanistan's participation from 2021, effectively excluding the country from the negotiations.

The United Nations does not allow the Taliban to hold Afghanistan's seat in the General Assembly, and the Afghan government is not formally recognized by UN member states, largely due to the Taliban's restrictions on women.

Afghan NGOs have also struggled to participate in climate talks in recent years.

However, host country Azerbaijan has invited Afghan environmental agency officials to COP29 as observers, allowing them to “participate in discussions on the periphery and hold bilateral meetings,” according to a diplomatic source.

Because the Taliban is not officially recognized by the United Nations system as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, officials do not have credentials to participate in member state procedures, the source said.

Ngoc Anh (according to Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/taliban-lan-dau-tham-du-hoi-nghi-khi-hau-cop29-cua-lien-hop-quoc-post320840.html