Taliban officials to attend UN climate summit for first time since Afghanistan takeover

The Taliban is sending officials to attend the UN climate summit in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku starting on Monday, in what will be the group’s first appearance at the forum since its forceful takeover of Afghanistan.

The Taliban-controlled foreign ministry’s spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said officials from the country’s National Environmental Protection Agency have arrived in Azerbaijan to attend the Cop29 conference. The Taliban’s leaders have controlled the environmental agency for more than three years now, after they took power in Kabul in August 2021.

The group’s government is not formally recognised by the UN and the international community owing to its restrictions on the basic rights of citizens, particularly women, who are banned from education and the workplace. The UN has stopped the Taliban from taking control of Afghanistan’s seat at the General Assembly and continues to back the appointed representatives from the previous Ashraf Ghani administration to represent the country on the global stage.

Azerbaijan has invited the Afghan environment agency officials to Cop29 as observers, allowing the former insurgent group to “potentially participate in periphery discussion and potentially hold bilateral meetings”, according to a diplomatic source.

But the Taliban will not be allowed to take part in the proceedings of full member states as the Taliban is not recognised within the UN system as Afghanistan’s legitimate leaders, instead as de facto authorities, the source said.

So far the UN has only invited the Taliban to talks specifically on Afghanistan’s future in Doha. China and Russia have expressed willingness to foster ties with the de facto administration and have invited its ministers to attend forums in China and central Asia in the past two years.

Afghanistan has been badly affected by a succession of climate emergencies, including flash floods, torrential rains and droughts, in the past year.

Flash floods have killed hundreds this year, sweeping away villages and people in remote parts of Afghanistan. The war-ravaged country is heavily dependent on agriculture, but successive floods and droughts have wiped away fields and produce.

International isolation has compounded the country’s economic struggles, making its population one of the poorest on the planet.

“Afghanistan is one of the countries that is really left behind on the needs that it has. It is a double price that they are paying,” said Habib Mayar, deputy general secretary of the g7+, an intergovernmental organisation of countries affected by conflict.

“There is lack of attention, lack of connection with the international community, and then there are increasing humanitarian needs.”

From news to politics, travel to sport, culture to climate – The Independent has a host of free newsletters to suit your interests. To find the stories you want to read, and more, in your inbox, click here.