KABUL (TOLONews): The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross called on world leaders and negotiators at the UN climate conference to pay greater attention and mobilize funds for conflict-stricken nations that are among the most vulnerable to climate change.
ICRC Director-General Robert Mardini told the Associated Press Thursday that people in countries like Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa, where conflicts have been raging for years, are facing “double challenge, double adversity, double risks.”
“We are here to shine a spotlight on the very acute situation for people affected by armed conflict, and extreme weather events as a result from the climate change. And also to make the case that climate action and climate finance should go to those communities. And today, close to zero amount of climate finance is reaching people in places like Yemen, like Somalia, like the Sahel region, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger,” Mr. Mardini said.
Robert Mardini further added: “The clear ask is climate finance and climate action should benefit people in Yemen, in Somalia, in Afghanistan, in the Sahel region. Today, this money is not reaching those places because the decision-makers, who decide to allocate those funds, consider that it is too risky to invest in places like Yemen, Syria and others.”
However, the Ministry of Economy, said that Afghanistan’s economy has been damaged by the recent floods and drought, and attention from the international community is needed to improve the situation. “We ask the international community to allocate a budget to improve the climate situation in Afghanistan so that it can be effective in solving our difficulties,” said Abdul Latif Nazari, deputy minister of the Ministry of Economy.
“The Afghan government is currently unable to address the climate crisis, it is essential that other nations and responsible organizations take the issue of Afghanistan’s climate more seriously,” said Shakir Yaqoubi, political analyst.
Meanwhile, Abdul Hadi Achakzai, an unofficial representative from Afghanistan at COP27 in Egypt said that attention should be paid to improving the climate situation in Afghanistan.
“I ask the world to pay attention to the issue of Afghanistan, and we are concerned about the situation there. If Afghanistan is not paid attention to, this country will face a big crisis,” Achakzai said.
Today is the sixth day of the the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. There is no official representative from Afghanistan in this conference.