Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Director General, National Environmental Protection Agency

In the name of God
The Merciful – The Compassionate

Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to avail myself of this opportunity to thank the Ministry of the Environment of Japan and the UNFCCC Secretariat for the invitation to participate in the online Platform on Sustainable and Resilient Recovery form COVID-19, in order to share our experiences and views on climate action and environmental protection measures that are being considered or implemented, in the context of the response to and recovery from COVID-19.

The COVID-19 and climate crises are monumental global challenges that, when tackled in tandem through the prism of sustainable and resilient development, can create opportunities for policymakers, the public sector and civil society to use climate action to support rapid and inclusive recovery from COVID-19, framed around the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement on climate change. The decade of climate action and delivery for sustainable development therefore provides a key opportunity for countries to lay the groundwork for a brighter, low-carbon future.

Afghanistan has been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic due to its weak health system and limited capacities to deal with this disease outbreak. This situation is worsened by the impacts of the ongoing conflict, instability and insecurity that result in internal displacement of Afghan communities and weak healthcare, water provision and sanitation systems. For example, approximately 30 percent of Afghanistan’s population only has limited access to basic healthcare services and adequate water, while access to sanitation facilities, coverage of vaccinations that strengthen immune systems and prevailing levels of hygiene remain low in the country. All of these factors constrain the ability to control various viral and bacterial infections.

In addition, loss of livelihoods is eroding communities’ resilience to shocks such as COVID-19 that overwhelm current coping mechanisms. More than 80 percent of Afghans are living below the international poverty line, leaving the munable to meet their needs and undermining their ability to maintain human dignity in their living conditions.

Currently, Afghanistan is in the respond and recover phases of dealing with COVID-19.The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has developed a master response plan for the health sector and established a High-Level Emergency Coordination Committee in the area of health with various technical working groups. These government bodies have the purpose of addressing the challenges raised by COVID-19, as well as overseeing the Emergency and National Aid Programs to provide an estimated 244 million US dollars of short-term economic relief impacted individuals and communities in Afghanistan. In addition, our Ministry of Finance allocated 25 million USD from the National Budget to table the COVID-19 outbreak across the country. The international community has committed 883 million worth of financial support, medical materials and food support to conduct the respond, recover and thrive phases in Afghanistan.

To address the challenges caused by COVID-19 in a manner that will also help to address the climate and environmental crises that the country is facing, the Government of Afghanistan already has plans to redesign policies and other measures to promote more sustainable and inclusive resilience. This includes actions such as:

・the revision of Afghanistan’s Nationally Determined Contributions and National
Adaptation Plan,

・preparation of the National Environmental Policy as well as the Third National Communications and Second Biennial Update Report under the UNFCCC,

・the implementation of projects for climate change adaptation and mitigation such as the Afghanistan Rural Energy Market Transformation Initiative, GCF Readiness II and Climate Change Resilient Livelihoods Advanced in Rural Afghanistan projects,

・establishment of a National Implementing Entity for the Adaptation Fund, and

・the 4rd annual celebration of the Global Climate Change Week across the country.

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is in close communication with bilateral and multilateral partners to actively engage Afghan citizens, civil society, the academic community, NGOs, and international partners in formulating and designing measures, plans and appropriate actions on both mitigation and adaptation to strengthen resilience against the climate and environmental crises. We thank these partners for their ongoing support for the efforts of the Government of Afghanistan towards addressing the growing threat of climate change. In line with this approach, the outcomes and follow-up actions resulting from our actions at both the global and national levels shall remain transparent as we continue to engage all Afghans –especially women, the youth and local communities–to address climate change.

To this end, we hope to maintain the current momentum of cooperation with bilateral and multilateral entities, sharing experiences and measures to build a sustainable and resilient society in the process of responding to, recovering from and thriving after the COVID-19 outbreak, and to increase international collaboration for high impact policy options to manage the multiple risks raised by COVID-19.