Malaysia and Thailand are facing a second wave of heavy rain and potential flooding this week, authorities said Monday following days of torrential rain that caused massive flooding in northern Malaysia and southern Thailand. 

Authorities say these have been the worst floods in decades, resulting in the death of at least 27 people across the two countries. 

Malaysia alone was forced to evacuate over 150,000 people on Sunday and rivers burst their banks and water levels steadily increased. 

By Monday, authorities said the immediate situation had improved in some areas and water levels had eased but weather experts warned that more rain and possible floods were forecast again for Wednesday. 

The northeastern state of Kelantan, which has been the worst hit, was also expected to face a fresh deluge from Wednesday, December 4.

The head of Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency Mati-ul-Haq Khalis says comprehensive discussions were held at the recent COP29 summit on Afghanistan’s vulnerabilities to climate change.

He stated that the participation of IEA’s delegation at (COP29) marks a significant milestone, presenting a comprehensive and transparent overview of Afghanistan's current environmental and climatic conditions to the global community.

“During COP29, concerted efforts were made to emphasize that climate change and environmental challenges transcend political considerations,” Khalis said in a statement.

He said the delegation urged the international community to treat these issues as critical social and humanitarian concerns.

This was the first time that Afghanistan was able to send a delegation to the annual UN climate summit since the Islamic Emirate’s takeover in August 2021.

According to Khalis, the delegation meanwhile used the opportunity to emphasize the need for urgent implementation of effective mechanisms to combat adverse effects of climate change and called for the acceleration of financial assistance in this regard.

The IEA delegation also advocated for enhanced engagement, coordination, and collaboration among relevant stakeholders in the fight against climate change, and advocated for Afghanistan’s active participation in regional and international forums.
Khalis said Afghanistan’s representatives also stressed the urgency of resuming suspended environmental and climate-related projects, which are crucial for addressing the country’s climate challenges.

“By introducing Afghanistan’s national focal point for the Green Climate Fund, the delegation sought to garner international support for the effective governance and management of environmental projects within the country,” Khalis stated.

Milestone for Afghanistan

Last year, the COP28 conference was held in the United Arab Emirates, but the Islamic Emirate was excluded. However, this year, Azerbaijan authorities decided to include an official delegation.

Afghanistan remains one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and also has major environmental challenges.

But some experts believe that the rationale in some quarters for engaging with Afghanistan on environmental policy is its potential for resourcing key minerals for the green transition - key to this being Afghanistan’s enormous lithium deposits.

Lithium has certain unique properties which make it very suitable as a metal for batteries needed for the green transition, an a Chinese company recently expressed interest in investing $10 billion in Afghanistan’s lithium resources in the south.

The Islamic Emirate stated that the lithium deal would generate up to 120,000 direct and many more indirect jobs in the country.

Afghanistan has long been known for its wealth of mineral resources and the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum estimates it may hold 60 million tons of copper, 2.2 billion tons of iron ore, 1.4 million tons of rare earth elements such as lanthanum, cerium and neodymium, and vast amounts of aluminum, gold, silver, zinc, mercury, and lithium.

The finance agreement reached at the COP29 summit late Sunday night has sparked outrage around the world as countries criticize negotiators for failing to meet the scale of the challenge.

After days of negotiations in Azerbaijan, rich countries agreed to raise their contribution from $250 billion to $300 billion a year by 2035.

According to BBC, the African Group of Negotiators described it as "too little, too late"; the representative from India dismissed the money as "a paltry sum" and a group of NGOs warned that the $300 billion pledge does not go far enough to help those most vulnerable to climate change.

Poorer countries had asked for $1.3 trillion to help them fight the climate battle.

Meanwhile, China and India are still defined by the United Nations as "developing" countries and as a result they have no formal obligation to cut their greenhouse gas emissions or to provide financial help to poorer countries.

Both countries are technically eligible to receive climate aid, although China chooses not to do so. Beijing, one of the world's largest economies, does step in to support countries with the impact of global warming, via bilateral agreements.

India, however, does accept support from "developed" nations.

Speaking to BBC, one source said there had been one positive during the summit. This was China.

"The only bright spot in all of this is China," the source said.

According to him, not only was Beijing’s negotiating style markedly different to previous years, but "China could be stepping forward".

In the past, China has released minimal information about its climate policies and plans, but this year, for the first time, officials said they have paid developing countries more than $24 billion for climate action since 2016.

“That’s serious money, almost nobody else is at that level,” another COP insider said.

Where does Afghanistan fit into this?

Afghanistan is considered one of the most vulnerable countries when it comes to climate change and for the first time in three years, the Islamic Emirate was able to participate at the summit.

Leading a delegation to COP29 was Matuil Haq Khalis, who’s head of the country’s environment protection agency. He said Afghanistan needs international support to deal with extreme weather like erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts and flash floods.

“All the countries must join hands and tackle the problem of climate change,” said Khalis.

Afghanistan has been hard hit by climate change, with a recent assessment by experts ranking it the sixth most climate vulnerable country in the world.

In March, northern Afghanistan experienced heavy rains resulting in flash floods, killing over 300 people. Climate scientists have found that extreme rainfall has gotten 25% heavier over the last 40 years in the country.

Khalis meanwhile said Afghanistan has prepared national action plans to deal with climate change and will be updating its climate goals within the next few months.

Contributing nations

There are 23 “developed” nations, which are industrialized countries with a strong economy, that have to contribute and reach the annual target of $300 billion.

However, many developed countries want to see this group expanded, arguing that the global landscape has shifted a lot since these classifications were drawn up as part of the original UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992.

China, India and the Gulf states, for example, are still classed as developing nations despite their increasing contributions to global warming.

Outcry over deal reached

Sunday’s night’s finance deal has sparked heated reaction from developing nations but some global leaders, however, maintain that the agreement will keep climate action going.

US President Joe Biden said: "While there is still substantial work ahead of us to achieve our climate goals, today’s outcome puts us one significant step closer".

EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, who attended the talks, said COP29 "will be remembered as the start of a new era on climate finance" and the deal was "an ambitious and realistic goal and an increased contributor base".

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: "I had hoped for a more ambitious outcome - on both finance and mitigation - to meet the scale of the great challenge we face, but the agreement reached provides a base on which to build."

But for many others, the deal was not welcomed.

ActionAid UK described the agreement as "a complete catastrophe and farce" and warned the amount is "a drop in the ocean" compared with "the trillions needed to help climate-hit communities".

Environmental group Friends of Earth said the talks have "failed to solve the question of climate finance", adding that developing nations are being "hammered by climate extremes"

India’s representative meanwhile lashed out and said the $300 billion deal showed that intense frustration still remained over the agreement.

“We cannot accept it … the proposed goal will not solve anything for us. [It is] not conducive to climate action that is necessary to the survival of our country,” Chandni Raina told the conference, saying the amount was too small.

Raina said the decision-making process was unfair and excluded nations, a comment which was met with cheers and applause in the room.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's envoy Nkiruka Maduekwe described the deal as an "insult".