The Russian Federation has voiced support for Afghanistan’s representation in the upcoming international climate change summit commonly known as the COP 29, scheduled to be held in Azerbaijan’s Baku. The Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Change of the Russian Federation, has recently visited Kabul and discussed the Russian Federation’s bilateral relations with the Islamic Emirate in the fields of economy, trade, and cooperation in the area of climate change. The Islamic Emirate urged the Russian Federation to cooperate in providing training to the Afghan staff in environmental protection and forestation to coup the grave risks associated with global warming.
Afghanistan has been left out of the multiple UN-hosted global Climate talks in recent years after the Taliban took control of the country in August 2021. The Islamic Emirate had been barred from participating in COP 26, COP27, and COP 28 Summits held in recent years even though Afghanistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change, due to worsening droughts, recurrent earthquakes, and flash floods. Afghanistan has gone through a large-scale humanitarian and environmental crisis over the past years. The country’s economic issues further deeper by the prolonged droughts, whereas, the changes in rain, snow, and heat patterns caused water shortages, damage to farming, and a lack of livelihood as more than 80% population depends on agriculture in one or the other way. The rising temperature triggered glacier melt that prompted water scarcity and greatly affected water resources and agrarian communities in the country. However, Kabul was not invited by the UN Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC) to various climate Change summits held in the past two years and a half.
Historically, the Afghanistan interim rulers have experienced deep diplomatic and political isolation from the global community after they regained power in Kabul. The political boycott of the Islamic Emirate seriously hurt the Afghan people and businesses and largely undermined the economic development and social uplift of the country. The Central Bank of Afghanistan (DAB) is unplugged with the global Banking and Financial System commonly known as SWIFT, whereas, the interim government failed to secure a single recognition from the global community so far. The reasons for the global no recognition and noncooperation with Taliban rulers are mostly political as the United States and its allies have linked their diplomatic recognition, bilateral trade, economic ties, and Humanitarian aid with the human and women rights situation and terrorism issues that are also important clauses of the famous Doha agreement, which pave the way for US withdrawal and Taliban return to power in that country.
In fact, Climate change-induced disasters are neither restricted to geographical regions nor do they impact communities based on religion or political affiliation. If Afghanistan experiences a humanitarian crisis or a natural calamity this can spill over onto other regions, triggering displacement, political instability, and insecurity.
The multilateral global forums like the UN, and the Global Climate Change Summits are aimed at the Universal protection and well-being of mankind, which act as knowledge-sharing, technology, and resource adaptation platforms to tackle grave challenges relating to human survival on the earth. Despite no contribution to global carbon emissions, Afghanistan is one of the biggest victims of climate change and is seriously vulnerable to the worst effects of global warming. Hence, permanently blocking Afghanistan’s access to those global forums is not only disastrous for the country and its people but conversely jeopardises the global efforts against global warming. It is a sane idea that if the global community does not recognize Taliban rulers on a bilateral level, it must not resist Afghanistan’s presence at the multilateral forums including the UN Global Climate Summit to carry forward the universal agenda in their country. So, the global endeavour regarding climate change is not undermined due to mutual differences and political tussles of the nations in the world.
