Afghanistan delegation in Baku to attend COP-29 moot

KABUL (Pajhwok): National Environment Protection Authority (NEPA) chief Maulvi Matiul Haq Khalis has traveled to Azerbaijan at the head of a technical delegation to participate in the UN Global Climate Change Conference (COP-29).

The COP-29 conference will be held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, from November 11 to November 22.

Leaders, environmental ministers, and experts from many countries around the world are expected to attend the huddle.

According to a statement from NEPA, this is the first time since the reestablishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) that an Afghan delegation has been invited to attend the Global Climate Change Conference.

It said: "The Afghan delegation will use this opportunity to strengthen international cooperation on environmental protection and climate change, discuss Afghanistan's access to existing financial mechanisms for climate change, and share their requests related to adaptation and combating climate change with the global community."

NPEA chief Maulvi Khalis called the participation of the Afghan delegation in the COP-29 conference a great opportunity for Afghanistan.

He said they would make every effort to gain maximum benefit from this participation and engage in discussions with various stakeholders.

Earlier, UNAMA (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) head Roza Otunbayeva met with the head of the National Environmental Protection Agency and said that the adverse impacts of climate change are harming the people, and this issue should be viewed not from a political perspective, but from a humanitarian one.

UNAMA Deputy Head Andrika Rtwati also said they were committed to continuing cooperation in the fight against climate change and said that technical and other forms of support would continue between UNAMA and Afghanistan's environmental agency.

sa/ma