A number of officials from the Islamic Emirate said during this program that due to the exploitation by some industrial powers, the environment worldwide is facing a crisis, which has also caused serious damage to Afghanistan.
Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Islamic Emirate’s deputy prime minister for administrative affairs, referring to the Islamic Emirate’s efforts in constructing large and small water canals and check dams, called on countries and international organizations to also strive to combat the environmental crisis in Afghanistan.
Hanafi said: “Continuous droughts, floods, earthquakes, and other natural disasters contribute to the destruction of the environment in Afghanistan; however, the role of humans is even more significant.”
Representatives from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee (NAC), who participated in the program, also emphasized addressing the environmental crisis in Afghanistan.
The United Nations Development Programme Resident Representative for Afghanistan, Stephen Rodriques, said: “Afghanistan contributes very, very little to global climate change but is one of the countries most severely impacted by it.”
Richard Trenchard, FAO Representative in Afghanistan, said: “Everywhere one goes one sees the inescapable mark of climate change. One feels the thirsty grip of drought. One sees once fertile lands that are now dry, parched hillsides once thick with trees now bare, and wells that are pumping deeper and deeper, year after year.”
Terje Watterdal, the country director of the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee, said: “An important problem is climate change knows no geographical or political boundaries. As a result, Afghan children, youth and adults from the north in Badakhshan to the south in Nimroz have been affected by the unpredictable climate changes.”
Meanwhile, officials from the National Environmental Protection Agency said that although Afghanistan is a member of 16 international environmental conventions and agreements, it currently does not receive any financial or technical support from international organizations for implementing these agreements. Furthermore, environmental and climate change projects in the country have been suspended.
Aziz Rahman, head of the National Environmental Protection Agency, said: “Rehabilitating the land through forest development, land use planning, and management helps us reduce poverty and misery and mitigate climate change and climate risks.”
The National Environmental Protection Agency said it has significant plans for expanding forests and creating national parks in various provinces. The agency said that by the year 2031 (1410 solar year), 25 million saplings will be planted annually across the country.