UN moves to unlock stuck climate financing for Afghanistan, agencies say

The U.N. is working to secure $19M in climate financing for Afghanistan, aiming to address droughts and floods without engaging Taliban authorities, as the country remains blocked from climate funds since the 2021 takeover.

The United Nations is working to unlock crucial climate financing for Afghanistan, one of the nations most vulnerable to climate change, which has not secured approval for new funds of this nature since the Taliban's 2021 takeover, two U.N. officials told Reuters.  

Plagued by droughts and deadly floods, Afghanistan has been unable to access U.N. climate financing due to political and procedural hurdles since the former insurgents assumed power. Two U.N. agencies are currently drafting proposals they hope to present next year to secure nearly $19 million from the U.N.’s Global Environment Facility (GEF), a financial mechanism under the 2015 U.N. Paris Agreement on climate change.  

The FAO hopes to secure $10 million to improve rangeland, forest and watershed management across up to four provinces in Afghanistan, while avoiding giving money directly to Taliban authorities. The U.N. Development Programme is pursuing $8.9 million to improve the resilience of rural communities where livelihoods are threatened by increasingly erratic weather patterns, the agency told Reuters. If successful, it plans to seek another $20 million project.  

“We’re in conversations with the GEF, the Green Climate Fund, the Adaptation Fund – all these major climate financing bodies – to reopen the pipeline and get resources into the country, again, bypassing the de facto authorities,” said Stephen Rodriques, UNDP resident representative for Afghanistan.  

Because the Taliban government is not recognised by U.N. member states, U.N. agencies would both submit the requests and implement the projects locally.

A Taliban administration spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.  

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