Afghanistan's NEPA criticises lack of Afghan representation at COP27

Kabul: Afghanistan's National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) has criticized the lack of Afghan representation at the COP27 held in Egypt. Hafiz Aziz Rahman, the acting head of the NEPA, in a press conference, raised questions over the absence of an official representative from Afghanistan at COP27, TOLO News reported.
The statement of Hafiz Aziz Ahmed comes as the United Nations Climate Change Conference, most commonly referred to as COP27, is being held in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt from 6 November to 18 November. Aziz Rahman said that climate change has no national boundaries and should not be politicized. He said that Afghanistan had not played any part in causing climate change. However, it has been most impacted by climate change. Hafiz Aziz Ahmed said that Afghanistan is witnessing its worst drought in more than 20 years. He called climate changes and warm waves worldwide, particularly in Afghanistan, "one of the biggest environmental challenges," TOLO News reported. Notably, Afghanistan did not have official representation at the COP27 in Egypt.
"The climate changes and warm waves around the world and particularly in Afghanistan has been one of the biggest environmental challenges," TOLO News quoted Hafiz Aziz Ahmed as saying.
Meanwhile, Zainul Abideen, deputy head of the department, criticized the international community for stopping 32 environmental protection projects amounting to USD 805 million, as per the news report. He Abideen urged officials of the relevant departments to help them with financial and technical assistance and not politicize the humanitarian issues.
Rohullah Ameen, an official of the National Environmental Protection Agency, stated that halting these projects demonstrates that Afghans are deprived of financial support to tackle climate change. According to United Nations, the 2021 Global Climate Risk Index ranked Afghanistan as the fifth most affected country globally by climate-related threats.
"We call on the officials of the relevant departments to help us in financial and technical affairs of climate change and to not politicalize the essential humanitarian issues," TOLO News quoted Zainul Abideen as saying.
Furthermore, Afghanistan is one of the least prepared against climate shocks, according to the United Nations. Earlier on November 6, the UN in Afghanistan called for urgent collective action to stop the destructive effect of the altering climate in the country. It stressed that Afghanistan is already prone to frequent natural disasters that cause loss and damage to lives. (ANI)