'Afghanistan must participate in future climate talks'

An Afghan environment official on Sunday said the country must be allowed to participate in future global climate talks, after returning from COP29 in Baku where Taliban officials attended for the first time.

The Afghan delegation was invited as "guests" of the Azerbaijani hosts, not as a party directly involved in the negotiations.

It was the first time that an Afghan delegation had attended since the Taliban swept to power in August 2021, having failed to get an invite to the past two COPs (Conference of the Parties) held in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

"Afghanistan must participate in such conferences in the future," said Matiul Haq Khalis, the director general of Afghanistan's National Environmental Protection Agency, at a press conference on Sunday.

He described Afghanistan's attendance last month at the talks as a "big achievement".