Afghanistan excluded from COP28 as climate impacts hit home

Afghanistan excluded from UN climate talks for 3rd year; humanitarian concerns raised over worsening drought, floods. Taliban's takeover of govt institutions means country unable to access key U.N. climate funds. Efforts to engage Taliban in climate talks seen as confidence-building measure.

Humanitarian concerns have been raised over Afghanistan being left out of United Nations climate negotiations for a third year in a row, as the country grapples with worsening drought and floods.

Dozens of people were killed in Afghanistan, one of the world's most vulnerable countries to climate change, after heavy rains triggered flash floods that swept across drought-stricken land earlier this year.

But the country is absent from the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, having been left out of such U.N. talks since the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021.

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No foreign government has formally recognised Taliban leadership, and it does not have a seat at the U.N. General Assembly.

Foreign officials have cited the Taliban's restrictions on women as the reason for current isolationist policies, particularly its barring of girls and women from high school and universities.

However, some have questioned the country's continued exclusion. Humanitarian and international officials told Reuters they made efforts this year to allow Afghan representatives to be able to attend, coinciding with broader talks among foreign governments and multilateral institutions on how to deal with the Taliban.