Climate Innovation Nation: Israel at COP26
By Tzivia Appleman
From October 31 to November 12th, 2021, world leaders gathered in Glasgow for COP26, the U.N.’s conference on climate change. This was the largest such event to date, with 120 world leaders, 50,000 delegates, and 194 countries in attendance. Ok, enough with the numbers: What actually went down in Scotland?
Well, the main outcome was The Glasgow Climate Pact, which the participating countries developed together in order to focus on four main goals regarding climate change: Mitigation, Adaptation, Finance, and Collaboration. There were several successful outcomes: 153 countries put forward new 2030 emissions targets (NDCs) and the Paris Rulebook (a modified version of the Paris Agreement) was finalized. Commitments include distancing the world from coal power, reversing deforestation, and reducing methane emissions.
Representing Israel was an all-star lineup: Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, energy and environmental protection ministers, a representative of the Finance Ministry’s budget division, a research economist from the Bank of Israel, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman, and 120 others rounded out the delegation.
For Israel’s delegation, the conference got off to a rocky start. Israel’s energy minister was unable to physically enter the building due to a lack of wheelchair accessibility. This sent shockwaves throughout the entire environmental community, and will hopefully serve as a wakeup call for all world leaders to create a disability-inclusive culture for people of all abilities.
Once Israel was able to enter the front door, their environmental success was able to shine through. As mentioned above, one of the more salient issues tackled at the conference was methane emissions. In Israel, the primary source of methane emissions is the landfilling of organic waste without prior treatment. Shortly before the conference, Israel entered an American-European initiative to cut down methane emissions to 30% by 2030. The Minister of Environmental Protection, Tamar Zandberg, and the Minister of Energy, Karin Elharar, met with John Kerry, the U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Affairs, about this initiative and subsequently presented it at COP26.
More than 130 countries (including Israel) pledged to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030. Israel also signed a declaration that will “work towards all sales of new cars and vans being zero emission globally by 2040, and by no later than 2035 in leading markets.”
In his speech, PM Bennett addressed the conference about Israel’s accomplishments and commitments as a “Startup Innovation Nation.” He said that by 2050, Israel aims to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions. By 2025, Israel plans to phase out its coal usage. And, despite being 60% desert, Israel leads the world in water innovation. Invoking the themes of Chanukah, Bennett declared, “Israel’s a small country… our carbon footprint may be small, but our impact on climate change can be mighty.”
As PM Bennett mentioned, Israel has a plethora of environmentally friendly policies. For example, Bennett started a Green Sandbox Initiative, which offers grants to entrepreneurs that would help them achieve their environmental goals without having to jump over bureaucratic hurdles.
In addition to the previously mentioned goals, Israel plans to drastically reduce carbon emissions by 2030 by focusing on the emissions of municipal waste, vehicles, electricity, and greenhouse gas. For 2050, the ultimate goal is a “96% reduction in carbon emissions from the transportation sector, an 85% reduction from the electricity sector and a 92% reduction in the municipal waste sector.”
With the promising outcomes of COP26 and Israel’s own environmental policies, the future is looking bright green.
