The State of Play - October 11, 2023

In this edition: Earthquakes in Afghanistan, more on climate finance and carbon taxes, and Turkey keeps NATO waiting.

---

Devastating earthquakes in Afghanistan

Overshadowed this past weekend by Hamas’s attack on Israel, a string of earthquakes hit northwest Afghanistan in quick succession on Saturday.

Source: The New York Times

The Taliban is saying that over 2,400 people have died from this natural disaster.

Source: Reuters

While much of the country is situated near major active fault-lines, these earthquakes occurred in a location outside of the high-risk area, making the destruction all the more expansive.

Prior to these events, the UN’s World Food Program estimated that around half of Afghanistan’s 39mn people face severe hunger, including 3mn on the brink of starvation, in what UN officials claim is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis since the Taliban seized power in 2021. Last winter, the cold temperatures were devastating for many in the region, and with autumn slowly creeping along, there is not much time for aid to arrive, much of which has dried up post-2021, and reconstruction to occur.

To make matters worse, another 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the area earlier today (October 11).