Pre-COP29 Conference in Kabul
It has been 5 years since Afghanistan has been excluded from international climate change conferences, including the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP). This exclusion has significantly affected the country’s access to the financial and technical commitments that developed countries have pledged to provide to developing countries through these international forums.
Each year, the least developed countries (LDCs) and the Middle East eagerly await for the implementation of the Paris Agreement, specifically Article 9[1], which calls for developed countries to provide financial support to developing countries for climate actions and Article 4[2], which aims to establish binding commitments by all Parties to prepare, communicate and maintain a nationally determined contribution (NDC) and to pursue domestic measures to achieve them.
In addition to this, the global financial and technical mechanisms, such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Adaptation Fund, the LDC Fund, the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF), and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), are meant to provide additional financial and technical resources to LDCs and other developing countries including small islands. However, Afghanistan’s exclusion from these processes has prevented the country from accessing these critical climate finance and support mechanisms.
Previously Afghanistan actively participated in global campaigns to reduce the impacts of climate change in the world. In this process Afghanistan submitted the first draft of its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in 2019 to the UNFCCC. This NDC was aligned to the article 4, of the Paris Agreement. The NDC outlined its climate change adaptation and mitigation needs, which amount to $17.405 billion[3]. However, the final NDC to follow up the comments has not been submitted due to the current sanctions on Afghanistan.
Despite being among the top ten most vulnerable countries to climate change, Afghanistan is not benefiting from any of the financial pledges and commitments made by developed countries through the various global climate conventions and mechanisms. This is an extremely concerning situation, given the country’s high vulnerability to the adverse impacts of climate change.
To address these issues and be prepared for the COP29 conference, the EPTDO organization will conduct a pre-COP29 conference. The conference will bring together representatives from UN agencies, international organizations, NGOs, CSOs, academia and other stakeholders to discuss the pressing issues in Afghanistan and identify the key issues to be addressed in the COP29 conference. [1] https://unfccc.int/topics/climate-finance/the-big-picture/climate-finance-in-the-negotiations
[2] https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/english_paris_agreement.pdf
[3] https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/NDC/2022-06/INDC_AFG_20150927_FINAL.pdf
EPTDO organization management will attend COP29 Conference
The EPTDO organization nominated management team to attend the upcoming COP29 conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2024. Considering Afghanistan’s extreme vulnerability to climate change, the delegates will actively participate in events to raise awareness about the country’s situation and advocating for its inclusion in the global climate change discussions and supporting mechanisms.