"While we meet here today in Glasgow, we know that history will judge the response of our generation to this threat - not by the measure of our ambitions but by the practical steps that we take. Israel is at the start of a revolution on the subject of climate change," Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told the UN COP26 Climate Change Conference in Scotland today.
In Glasgow Bennett pledged to reduce Israel's gas emissions to zero and to mobilize Israel's startup ecosystem to fight climate change through climate-tech initiatives.
Bennett came to Glasgow with no Israeli achievements to show on this issue, after the country failed to meet the emissions reduction target it set for itself at the Paris conference in 2016. On the conference stage Bennett said that Israel was pledging for the first time, "To reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050," as did the world's other developed countries, as well as many developing countries. Such a plan has yet to be approved by the cabinet and Israel still has no road map to achieving targets, after the targets set for 2020 were missed.
Bennett promised that Israel would change its direction in the field of reducing emissions. He said, "Recently we have begun to implement our "100 stages plan," which says that we are moving forward more on clean energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions more than at any other time in the history of our country."
This follows the multidisciplinary plan for reducing emissions approved by the cabinet last week, which seeks to prevent the catastrophes brought about by climate change including preventing flooding and fires and preparing cities for higher temperatures. The measures set out in the plan will cost NIS 725 million, although a large part of the plan had been presented and approved previously.
Israel's strength in the struggle: technology
In his speech in Glasgow Bennett strove to convince the world leaders as well as the Israeli public that Israel can make a unique global contribution to solutions to the climate crisis through technology.
Bennett said, "Israel is a small country. We are one third the size of Scotland. Our carbon footprint is maybe small but our influence on climate change could be mighty. "If we’re going to move the needle, we need to contribute Israel’s most valuable source of energy - the energy and brainpower of our people. This is what fuels our innovation and ingenuity. This is where Israel can make a real difference."
In his speech Bennett drew the audience's attention to the way Israel has successfully fought desertification. He said, "Israel is perhaps 60% desert but we have succeeded in making it bloom. We are perhaps in one of the driest places on earth but we have succeeded in making the country number one in the field of innovation in water.
"As the country with the largest number of startups per capita in the world, we must channel our efforts to saving our world. Just changing our behavior cannot bring us to our target. For that we need new inventions and new technologies that have not yet been imagined."
As of today, Israel is not a global climate-tech power. According to a recent report from the Israel Innovation Authority only 9% of Israeli startups founded over the past year are developed technologies in the field of climate-tech, and most of the large funds worldwide in this sector are not investing in Israel.
According to a recent State Comptroller report, in 2018 the level of public investment through the Israel Innovation Authority in the fields of energy, water and the sustainable environment was just 4%, the third lowest amount of all the sectors surveyed.
But if Bennett's speech in Glasgow is anything to go by, this is about to change. He said, "I say to our entrepreneurs and innovation people. You can be what makes the change - the game changer. You can help save our planet. Instead of building more apps, you can launch startups that will help solve this global threat.
Bennett spoke about the new national task force he has set up to transform Israel into a state in the forefront of climate tech initiatives. "I have set up a task force called Green Sandbox to inject capital that will help and ensure that the way will be clear of bureaucratic obstacles.
"We will work so that our children will breathe cleaner air, drink cleaner water and live in a world that relates better to the planet than we do. Israel is the climate innovation nation and we are ready to lead the way."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 1, 2021.
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