Rockets? Climate Change Waits for Nothing

With war raging, it’s understandable if the recent Israel government Hebrew website headline “Readying for the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan” seemed a bit out of place to some. In fact, it was spot on.

That headline referred to Israel’s decision last month to focus on climate innovation during its participation at the mid-November event; the announcement also reiterated its commitment to pushing the climate law passed the legislative finish line. While first and foremost a domestic achievement, passage of the climate law is also considered relevant to the Baku conference and beyond.

Another recent development with international ramifications has to do with adoption of a carbon tax, already implemented by other countries and recommended to Israel by the OECD. After years of deliberations, the Finance Committee of the Knesset (parliament) just agreed on regulations that clear the way for the law to come into effect this January. While understandably overshadowed by war headlines, Israeli climate experts tell me that’s a major positive development.

The news at a sustainability impact conference I recently attended in Tel Aviv was less encouraging. There, a senior official from the Environmental Protection Ministry emphasized that Israel is noticeably behind in implementing its own climate action goals; as per 2022 data, the country will only achieve a 12% emission reduction by 2030 (instead of the 27% commitment it made in 2021).

According to the Ministry’s latest annual emissions report, released in July, government ministries have only completed about 25% of 241 reduction measures decided on two years ago. Delays in closing four aging and highly pollutant coal-fired installations figure prominently in the report’s list of ongoing challenges.

Frustrating, to say the least. Suffice it to consider the findings of a study published in August, conducted in Haifa and the central-Israel city of Rishon Letzion, which found a clear connection between the early-age exposure of children to air pollution and the frequency of respiratory problems (Ben-Gurion University, hospitals and government ministries partnered in the study).

The issue is clearly too vital to just give up. In this spirit, last month the Energy Ministry released for public comment its own comprehensive technology-based program to achieve net zero emissions in the energy market by 2050. The Ministry recently allocated 30 million shekels to local municipalities to accelerate their move to sustainable energy, and also secured approval for new regulations requiring the installation of solar panels for electricity production in various residential and non-residential buildings.

Climate action opportunities are also rising from the ashes of Israel’s October 7 tragedy. One example is the government decision to allocate an initial sum of 33 million shekels, as part of a five-year plan, to develop a clean energy and energy security strategy for the communities devastated by the Hamas invasion.

Apropos: Anyone familiar with the country’s challenges this past year knows that the Hamas attack significantly harmed an area that produces 75% of  Israel’s total vegetable production, 20% of its fruit output and 6.5% of milk products. Furthermore, the terror organization’s rockets have burned eight square kilometers of our land since it launched the war.

In the north, fires caused by Hezbollah missiles and rockets have destroyed 146 square kilometers of vegetation there since its unprovoked attacks began on October 8. And after almost a year of destroying agriculture and poultry closer to the border, this week one of its rockets killed 30 cows on a Jezreel valley moshav (photo).

The effects of war on food security have led to a series of forward-looking government allocations. These include 40 million shekels to rehabilitate the agricultural storage and processing capabilities of the attacked communities bordering Gaza; 16 million shekels for ag-tech projects there; 10 million shekels to increase the scope of vegetable growing; and another 10 million shekels to strengthen agriculture and agricultural infrastructure specifically in Israel’s Arab community.

As in other areas of sustainability, the public-private partnership remains critical to Israel’s efforts to advance food security and climate action. The Environmental Protection Ministry’s offer of 14 million shekels to support relevant civil society organizations is encouraging in this context; so is these NGOs’ welcoming of the government decision not to raise the crude oil quantity entering Eilat port.

All good news. But if anything really keeps me optimistic, it’s this: while it deals with the effects of war, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority recently filed an unprecedented 600,000-shekel damages suit against an individual convicted of killing a protected gazelle.

That, too, is environmental protection in wartime. Way to go.