Afghan Taliban to attend UN climate change conference

Afghanistan's Taliban regime, which is not approved by most countries around the world, will officially attend this year's UN Climate Change Conference.

According to foreign media, Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Kahar Balki said he has been invited to the General Assembly of the Convention on Climate Change to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from the 11th.

He also said officials from Afghanistan's National Environmental Protection Agency were represented.

This is the first time the Taliban will attend a UN climate-related conference since retaking power in 2021.

The Afghan delegation is expected to attend the meeting as an observer.

Afghanistan is considered a country heavily affected by climate change, including drought and floods, and signed on to join the Paris climate agreement in 2015 before the Taliban's re-occupation.

Azerbaijan has not approved the Taliban, but it is seeking a resumption of ties by reopening its embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul in February.