Australia commits $283M to green hydrogen project by Orica
Australia has pledged $283 million to support a green hydrogen project led by explosives manufacturer Orica, aiming to boost renewable energy producti...
Climate change has become a critical destabilizing factor in Afghanistan, worsening the country's already severe economic and social instability.
A recent study by the Afghanistan Analysts Network shows that Afghanistan loses around 550 million dollars each year under normal rainfall conditions, with losses jumping to as much as 3 billion dollars in years of extreme drought.
Despite contributing almost nothing to global carbon emissions, Afghanistan remains one of the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
The economic damage from climate-related disasters is staggering. The World Bank estimates that floods alone cause about 54 million dollars in annual losses, with catastrophic flooding in some years exceeding 500 million dollars in damages. Droughts are even more devastating, costing Afghanistan 280 million dollars per year on average, and up to 3 billion dollars in the worst cases. Beyond floods and droughts, Afghanistan faces frequent avalanches in the Hindu Kush mountains, which destroy lives and infrastructure, particularly in winter.
According to the World Bank’s 2017 Disaster Risk Profile, around 2 million people and over 4 billion dollars in assets, including 10,000 kilometers of roads, are at risk from such disasters. Landslides, worsened by heavy rain, deforestation, and earthquakes, threaten more than 3 million people and 6 billion dollars in infrastructure, including hundreds of schools and health centers.
Other climate-related threats, though harder to measure, still take a heavy toll. Extreme heat, vanishing wetlands, sandstorms, hailstorms, and shrinking water supplies all contribute to Afghanistan’s growing instability. Forest fires, brutal cold waves, and disruptions to hydropower add millions more in damages each year.
International climate agreements like the Paris Accord emphasize that wealthy nations, responsible for most global emissions, should help poorer countries like Afghanistan cope with climate change. However, since the Taliban took power, donors have frozen 28 climate adaptation projects worth 826 million dollars due to sanctions. Only humanitarian aid has continued, while long-term climate resilience programs remain stalled.
Although Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities were excluded from the COP28 climate summit in the UAE, they attended COP29 as observers after an invitation from Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency has drafted a new climate strategy, seeking 3.48 billion dollars in funding from 2025 to 2030. But without formal international recognition, securing this money seems unlikely.
In the absence of foreign support, Afghanistan is turning to green energy projects. The country’s national power company recently met with a Turkish firm to discuss solar, wind, and other renewable energy initiatives. Yet these efforts are small compared to the scale of the crisis. Afghanistan has received almost none of the climate adaptation funds promised to the world’s poorest nations, leaving it increasingly exposed to environmental disasters.
As temperatures rise and extreme weather becomes more frequent, Afghanistan’s situation grows more dire. Without urgent action and international cooperation, climate change will continue to fuel instability, pushing an already fragile nation deeper into crisis.
The European Commission is set to propose allowing carbon credits from other countries to count towards the EU’s 2040 climate target, according to a leaked internal document.
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck off Japan’s Tokara Islands on Wednesday, with no tsunami warning issued but residents advised to remain vigilant.
The United States has rescinded licensing restrictions on ethane exports to China, allowing shipments to resume after a temporary halt and signalling progress in efforts to ease recent trade tensions.
Italy plans to grant approximately 500,000 work visas to non-EU nationals between 2026 and 2028, as announced in a cabinet statement. The initiative aims to address labor shortages by expanding legal immigration pathways
China has ramped up efforts to protect communities impacted by flood control measures, introducing stronger compensation policies and direct aid from the central government.
Brazilian authorities have arrested a suspect linked to a cyberattack that diverted more than 540 million reais (about $100 million) from the country’s banking network.
An unidentified North Korean man crossed the heavily guarded land border into South Korea and is currently in custody, according to the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Egypt on denounced Ethiopia’s completion of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), warning that the move lacks any legally binding agreement and undermines the water rights of downstream countries.
Turkish defence company Repkon will set up a 155-millimeter artillery ammunition filling facility in cooperation with Norwegian firm Nammo, aiming to boost Denmark’s national ammunition production.
Abdul Qader Husariya, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, said on Friday that Syria will not borrow from abroad.
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