Israel's Environment Min Zandberg eyes opportunity to promote peace & climate action at UN

Israel's new environment minister Tamar Zandberg has set some high objectives, believing that she can utilise her position to make a significant contribution to the worldwide fight against climate change while simultaneously supporting peace and climate action in the turbulent Middle East. Speaking to The Associated Press (AP), Zandberg outlined her plans for the upcoming United Nations climate conference (COP26) in Glasgow. Despite its modest size and inability to meet the global target of zero net emissions by 2050, she believes Israel has the potential to be a major participant. Zandberg stated that Israel is keen to share its green technology skills. In sectors like solar energy storage, sustainable protein alternatives, agriculture technologies, and desalination, Israel is largely regarded as a world leader, reported The AP.

"These are domains where Israel is already at the forefront of global innovation. We think that this is something that modest Israel can give to help larger countries adjust to the new climatic reality," she was quoted as saying by The AP. Meanwhile, China and India, among other major countries, have become crucial markets for Israeli environmental technologies. Zandberg said she had previously met with her counterpart in the United Arab Emirates, which established diplomatic ties with Israel just over a year ago, and that the two nations are cooperating on subjects such as agriculture and water in the parched Middle East. Last week, Israel and Jordan signed a new water-sharing agreement, and Zandberg said the two nations are in "intensive talks" on a number of environmental concerns, reported The AP. 

Israel intends to cut emissions by 85% by 2050

Israel has admitted that it will fall short of the international community's aim of achieving zero net emissions by 2050. By that time, it intends to have cut emissions by 85%. Previous governments' lack of political will, as well as the country's reliance on newly discovered natural gas for energy, have been blamed by environmentalists for the lower target, reported the news agency. Tamar Zandberg said this figure was derived largely from the situation inherited from the previous administration. She also mentioned that Israel's very rapid population expansion is a challenge. While Israel is falling short of its own renewable energy targets, she said the government is committed to helping the world achieve the zero-emissions target through technology exports and doing more at home, reported The AP.

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