Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-taliban-climate-change-cop29-azerbaijan-baku-ae785b05ba11ec6bd0ea3093fc2b917e
On Monday for the first time since the Taliban once again took power in Afghanistan in 2021, Afghanistan sent a delegation to the United Nations climate discussions in Azerbaijan in order to contribute to the global fight against global warming. According to the Afghan government, the state must combat global warming in order to fight against the extreme weather conditions berating the country as an effect of climate change. The Afghan delegation is officially recognized as an observer as the Taliban are not recognized as the Afghan government. According to the head of the Afghan EPA, the country has developed plans for dealing with climate change but requires international support and assistance to put them in place.
This article is important because it highlights a major global issue, climate change, and how states and non-state actors are forced to come together to fix the issue, even when nations may not fully agree with one another on other issues or ideologies. One prevalent example of this is that the Taliban, a terror group, acts as the government of Afghanistan, and is not recognized as such by many countries in the United Nations. However, they are allowed to participate in the discussions as an observer. I think that Afghanistan being permitted to attend the climate discussion will lead to action against global warming in the region being funded and carried out by the U.N. for the greater goal of mutual benefit of the world as a whole.
I believe that the UN is making a statement by allowing the Taliban-run Afghanistan state to participate (even in an observatory manner) in this delegation, but I believe it will end up going peacefully and even having positive results down the line as the world can take steps towards reducing the effects of global warming. I think that by joining this discussion and involving Afghanistan into an international discussion on such a topic, that the Middle East as a region can reap the benefits of UN finances and resources in terms of fighting against the effects of climate change that have been affecting the states of the area.
In class, we have been discussing status quo and revisionist powers. Afghanistan, as now ruled by the Taliban, is an example of a revisionist power because it desires more power and influence as the way to its security and success as a state in the global system. Ruled by a terror group and located in a fluctuating region of power, the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan is a revisionist power according to the theory of realism as they seek to overturn the current global status quo. An example of a status quo power would be a state such as the US, who is focused on self-security and the upkeep of the current international system of American hegemony and not seeking out more power, influence, or territory.