The Israel delegation traveling next week to the UN Climate Change Summit in Glasgow is second in size only to that of the United States, Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg said on Monday at a reception hosted for the delegation by President Isaac Herzog and his wife, Michal.
In fact, the delegation – which will be led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Zandberg and Energy Minister Karin Elharrar – numbers 140 people in comparison to the 90 member team that Israel sent to the Olympic Games in Tokyo earlier this year. In addition to the official delegation, there will be a support delegation of the Israel Manufacturers Association, said IMA president Ron Tomer.
A group of people across the road from the President’s Residence were demonstrating in the hope of persuading the government to declare a state of emergency with regard to climate change.
“We want to live,” they said, and voiced doubts that all the ambitious speeches being made in Glasgow and Jerusalem could lead to concrete results.
In addition to the addresses by Herzog, Zandberg and Elharrar, representatives and researchers of companies and institutions working in the realm of climate change; the damage done by climate change, monitoring its effects such as unbearably high temperatures, arid land, scarcity of water, lack of protein; and engaged in projects to combat those effects, made presentations about the importance of renewable energy, how ecology affects migration, economics and social interaction, and almost everything else in the world around us.
Whoever thought that climate change is something that will affect only future generations, or something that is still years away, was grossly mistaken, and did not read the situation correctly, said Herzog.
“The present situation is critical and we have to act quickly.”
In discussing some of the immediate needs such as greater focus on solar energy, Herzog said that whereas Israel was once a leader in developing solar energy resources, it has forgotten to keep going.
He also spoke of the need to find solutions for nutrition in food products that may become contaminated by climate change, and also the urgency of greater use of public transportation, and the creation of more green areas.
All sectors of the public must start acting on climate change “not tomorrow, but now,” he insisted.
LIKE THE demonstrators across the road, Herzog recognized that there is an emergency situation, but he did not call for specific legislation to that effect.
Instead he said “this is an opportunity to do tikkun olam [repairing the world] in the full sense of its meaning.”
Acknowledging that Israel is a small country without a central role in the wider collaboration of nations in dealing with climate change, Herzog said that nonetheless Israel must contribute all that it has to offer.
Although Bennett was not present, Herzog congratulated him for putting together a delegation of representatives of government ministries, Knesset members, environmentalists, people working in energy sources, academics, economists and more. He also conveyed congratulations via British Ambassador Neal Wigan, who was present, to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who is hosting the summit.
Herzog recalled that when his mother, Aura, founded the Council for a Beautiful Israel in 1968, she had told him that people don’t realize how important the environment is to human existence.
The summit, said Herzog, is a sign that something is about to change.
He said that he and his wife were deeply interested in the environment which is why he established a climate change forum headed by former MK Dov Henin.
“Together we can confront the challenges,” he declared. “This is a most significant mission.”
Zandberg, appropriately attired in an emerald green dress, said that there was considerable momentum around the summit as many countries want to show what they can do. The crisis generated by climate change is not only environmental and economic, she said, it is also political, though not in the sense of Left and Right.
The situation was exacerbated by the corona crisis, she noted.
“If there’s one important thing that corona taught us, it’s to pay more attention to science, technology and innovation.”
She was pleased that government ministries had all been able to work together to formulate a working plan that she and Elharrar presented to Herzog at the close of the enthusiastic gathering.
In commenting on all the different countries that will be sending delegations to Glasgow, Elharrar said a lot depends on cooperation. In fact, cooperation and collaboration were the operative words in everything that was said throughout the evening by different speakers.
“We must recruit as many people as possible so that we can expand our goals,” said Elharrar. “We are a start-up nation and we must exploit our potential not only to help ourselves, but to help the whole world.”
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