JERUSALEM - Israel said on Sunday that by mid-century it would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 85% from 2015 levels, as part of an international push to limit global warming.
The government approved the 2050 target and set an interim target of 2030 to reduce emissions by 27% from levels in 2015, the year when global climate accords were agreed in Paris.
The Paris deal aims to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, and preferably by 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared with pre-industrial levels.
הסטוריה: ממשלת ישראל אישרה כעת פה אחד החלטה על מעבר לכלכלה דלת פחמן. קבענו יעדים והצגנו תכנית ממשלתית כוללת לעמידה בהם. משבר האקלים נוכח ודרמטי. ישראל עולה מדרגה בהתמודדות איתו. למעננו ולמען הדורות הבאים
— תמר זנדברג (@tamarzandberg) July 25, 2021
"We set significant goals, we met our international commitment on time, and most importantly, we mobilized the entire government," Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg (Meretz) said.
Israel's Foreign Ministry said national targets included a 96% reduction in carbon emissions from transport, an 85% reduction from the electricity sector and a 92% reduction in the municipal waste sector.
However, others in the Knesset are saying the plan doesn't go far enough, instead hoping Israel would meet the significantly higher goals outlined by the United Nations, similar to those seen in the US' proposed 'Green New Deal.'
Last week, Joint List leader MK Ayman Odeh of the Hadash Party appealed to the Energy Ministry to match Israel's greenhouse gas emissions goals to those recommended by the United Nations: a 50% reduction by 2030 and a 100% reduction by 2050, Odeh announced in a tweet on Sunday.Last November, then-energy minister Yuval Steinitz' climate plan was criticized by then-environmental protection minister, Gila Gamliel, for proposing only a 30% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and for its overreliance on natural gas extraction.The new plan seems to rely less on natural gas, but didn't cut emissions goals much more than the previous government had expressed a desire to do.