Afghanistan says to attend UN climate talks, first since Taliban takeover

An Afghan delegation will attend the upcoming U.N. climate change summit in Azerbaijan, the foreign ministry spokesman told AFP on Saturday, marking a first since the Taliban government came to power.

Afghanistan is ranked as the sixth most vulnerable country to climate change, and Taliban authorities have pushed to participate in COP summits, arguing that their political isolation shouldn't prevent them from engaging in international climate talks.

Having previously failed to attend U.N. climate change summits in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, this year an invitation from COP29 hosts in Azerbaijan came through.

"A delegation of the Afghan government will be in Baku" for the summit, which opens on Monday in the Azerbaijani capital, said foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi.

It was not immediately clear in what capacity the delegation would participate at COP29, but sources indicated it would have observer status.

No state has recognized the Taliban authorities since they swept to power in 2021, ousting the Western-backed administration.

Officials from the country's National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) have repeatedly insisted that climate change should not be politicized and called for the reinstatement of environment-related projects put on hold due to the Taliban takeover.

"Climate change is a humanitarian subject," deputy NEPA head Zainulabedin Abid told AFP in a recent interview.

"We have called on the international community not to relate climate change matters with politics."

Azerbaijan, a fossil fuel-rich former Soviet republic wedged between Russia and Iran, will host COP29 from November 11-22.

Baku reopened its embassy in Kabul in February this year, though it...