Montreal – Afghanistan participated at the opening of 11 th United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Montreal on Monday.

The Afghan delegation was headed by H.E. Omar Samad, Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Canada. More than 10,000 experts from 180 countries are in Montreal in the largest such gathering as part of the Framework Convention on Climate Control since the Kyoto protocol was signed in 1997 by 140 nations.

Climate change is the single most important environmental issue facing the world today, the conference president and Canada’s Environment Minister Stephane Dion said.

The 10-day long Conference, which will include a ministerial-level meeting next week to discuss any changes to the Kyoto agreement, is focused on environmental challenges such as deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions – the cause of deterioration of the earth's atmosphere - global warming and research and technology.

Ambassador Samad said, “Afghanistan has suffered tremendously as a result of more than 20 years of war, environmental decay, deforestation, change in overall climate patterns, and now, pollution.”

He added, “It is important for Afghanistan, a signatory to the Framework Convention on Climate Control since 1992, to present its case to the international community and find solutions that will help its development strategy.”

The Convention was ratified by Afghanistan in 2002.

Embassy of Afghanistan