IEA official says it should have been invited to COP28 summit

The State Ministry for Disaster Management said on Sunday that since Afghanistan has also been affected by climate change, a representative of the Islamic Emirate should have been invited to the ongoing United Nations climate summit in the UAE.

Mullah Janan Sayeq, a spokesman for the State Ministry for Disaster Management, said that if a representative of the Islamic Emirate had been invited to the summit they could have had discussions on finding solutions to the problem in Afghanistan.

“Due to climate change, floods and droughts have caused a lot of human and financial losses to people in recent years. Based on government statistics and United Nations data, nearly 20 million people were severely affected by poverty, natural disasters, droughts, floods and earthquakes last year,” Sayeq said.

He said funds should be provided to countries that play a major role in the fight against climate change.

The 28th United Nations conference on climate change started four days ago in Dubai.

UNAMA in a statement on Friday stressed that Afghanistan cannot go another year without a voice on climate change.