According to a new international poll, Israelis are less concerned about the climate crisis. Climate change is not a theoretical scientific matter. It is happening here and now, and its effects are clear and palpable.

5 Climate Change Facts:

Warmer & warmer – Each of the past forty years has been warmer than the average in the 20th century. The year 2016, for example, was the warmest year in thousands of years, and 2015 and 2014 ranked second and third respectively.

Human activity – Scientific research shows that the main cause of this change is human activity (industry, transportation, agriculture, waste, etc.). By burning fossil fuels for energy: coal, natural gas and oil, these activities emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, trapping heat and raising the Earth’s temperature.

2 degrees C – In Israel the Government is committed to try and decrease the fossil fuel dependency by an unimpressive 30% by 2030, mainly by improving air conditioning efficiency and switching to natural gas. But we need to be off fossil fuels by 2050 completely and fully halve emissions by 2030 for the earth’s temperature to ”only” rise by 2 degrees C –so as to avoid the earth’s tipping points, and prevent setting ourselves on course for irreversible catastrophic climate change.

Public health – Climate change poses serious threats to public health in Israel. I keep this short as not to frighten your readers of the consequences we are all about to experience.

Public transportation – Regarding climate change mitigation, Israel declared its target of emissions reduction by 2030, including a 20% reduction in the use of private transportation. This continues the positive trend of increased public transportation use that occurred during 2010-2015. However, data from the Central Bureau of Statistics published in 2017 indicates a sharp increase (5.6%) in the number of private cars purchased in Israel in 2016.

Implications

Climate change has already had dramatic effects on people’s lives, which can be seen in Israel as well: global warming has accelerated the rate of sea level rise and increases the number and intensity of coastal flood events; studies show that winter in Israel is being shortened, the number of rainy days are decreasing, the dry season is lengthening leading to extreme forest fires during the dry winter months.

Climate change will adversely affect health, agriculture, water, energy, biodiversity, and more. Climate change will also have both political and security implications, and likely affect stability in the Middle East.

Conclusion

Long-term adaptation to climate change remains a challenge that requires political support, inter-ministerial collaboration, and considerable resources. We can’t wait for the people in power to make the right decisions, we have to start forcing them to act, whatever their politics. This means raising a new generation of young climate leaders getting into the debate and getting things done.

Empowering youth to take Climate Action

Even though more than half of the world’s population is below 30, youth worldwide face great barriers to land a job or start their own initiatives in the field of climate change. After they are aware of the climate crisis and get the right skills to act, young people still lack funding, networks and legitimacy to have a meaningful contribution.

Steps to reduce emissions will contribute to the Israeli economy, both directly and indirectly, through economic savings, energy efficiency, energy independence and the narrowing of social gaps. The state of Israel needs a new generation of climate leaders. Are you one of them?

What if you had the opportunity to take action and start your career in the field of climate change? – Well, now you can! Join the YCL immersion in August this year, a learning journey to learn about climate change in theory, understand it in practice and work on hands-on projects with other young people. 

“The best way to understand a complex problem like climate change is to experience its real implications in different contexts. On YCL international immersion you will learn about climate change in theory, understand it in practice and work on hands-on projects with other young people.” Cassia Moraes – Founder and CEO YCL.

To build the next generation of climate leaders in Israel, Youth Climate Leaders (YCL) has partnered with SDG Israel to encourage more young leaders to join and offers a unique experience for participants.

5 Facts about YCL Immersion and why it is a unique experience

1. Get exclusive access to leading organizations and experts from different sectors: discover your place within climate change and build the right connections to get there!
2. Multicultural life-changing experience, to understand in practice how climate change affects different countries and learn how to work as part of a global team.
3. Fast and efficient way to Improve your resumé by getting relevant professional experience in the field of climate change.
4. Exclusive access to the YCL Network, a powerful community of practice for Climate Leaders from all over the world.
5. Access to post-program opportunities, such as job vacancies, Field Placements and Delegations to global events.

The Whole Package

In the program, you will meet the most important NGOs, agencies like UNFCCC and foundations, and see how they’re working on the field. Through the power of travel, we want to teach and transform you. You will leave the program with an action plan to build your career on climate, with an amazing network and a field placement so you can have an immediate professional experience. And another great info, our immersion will be certified by Columbia Global Center in Rio. So we invite everybody that wants to work in climate to join us! Allow us to unleash the climate leader in you.

Applications for the 2019 YCL Immersion are open until 7th of May. You may apply here. Do you still have questions about the immersion or the application process? We invite you to check our Concept Note and our FAQ Session.

About SDG Israel

SDGIsrael is YKCenter’s Impact project. As a member of the UNGC, YKCenter “Makes global goals local business”. Our focus is to take Israel’s innovation, start-up know-how and to leverage our solution providing power to solve the world’s most pressing issues and bring forward game-changing players to the global game. The mission statement of SDGIsrael is bringing Israel to the SDGs and bringing the SDGs to Israel.

About Youth Climate Leaders (YCL)

YCL  is a social enterprise created to build an intergenerational movement to catalyze climate action by providing youth with training, networks and concrete opportunities to start their careers in the field of climate change.