PM Bennett to address the UN Glasgow Climate Conference today
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is now in Glasgow for the UN Climate Change Conference together with Energy Minister Karine Elharrar and Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg.
PM Bennett boards plane for Glasgow
Photo by Haim Zac, GPO
The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held from Sunday, October 31, to Friday, November 12. The COP26 summit will bring parties together with the intention to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The organizers of this summit boast that it is poised to be one of the most consequential climate events since the negotiation of the Paris Agreement in 2015. ”In order to build a more sustainable, resilient and zero-carbon future, we need a whole economic transformation in which non-state actors will play an increasingly vital role,” they say.
While there, Bennett is expected to meet with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Today, 1 November, Bennett will address participants in the conference and present the Israeli concept on dealing with the climate crisis.
The Prime Minister will also participate in the opening ceremony of the conference which will be hosted by British Prime Minister Johnson and the reception that will be hosted by British Crown Prince Charles.
Before his departure, Bennett told the media, “We will take off immediately for the climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland where I expect to meet with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many others.”
He added that it is important to understand that Israel’s international standing is strengthening on a daily basis and that taking action in Scotland it will further raise Israel’s standing in the world.
“Here at home we can expect a crazy week, that will become wilder on a daily basis, as the date of the vote on the budget approaches,” said Bennett. “I leave behind me a State of Israel that has taken control of the coronavirus, of the Delta strain. The state is under control and is experiencing 7.1% economic growth, the highest economic growth in many years. The country is in a good direction.”
The Prime Minister also spoke with the British Times on Sunday, ahead of his departure. He said that there is tremendous potential in the Middle East for the creation of partnerships in the field of energy.
The Prime Minister added that “the strong growth, beyond greater prosperity for Israelis, allows us to invest a lot in strengthening our military capabilities.”
Bennett referred to the Iranian nuclear program saying, “It is no secret that Iran is currently in the most advanced state in terms of uranium enrichment capabilities. We are in a cold war with Iran. For the past 30 years, Iran has positioned itself around us to distract us.”
The prime minister further clarified that combining significant military capability, diplomatic and economic pressure, from Israel as well as from the US and other powers, “Iran will slow down and then stop. We will do everything necessary to neutralize this threat. To act against them, we will use all our power, innovation, technology and economy to reach a point where we are a few steps ahead of them,” he said.
In the interview, Bennett also detailed the State of Israel’s national climate goals, mainly: zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and a gradual cessation of coal use that will begin in the next three years.
Bennett noted that in his vision, Israel can lead in the development of technologies for resolving the global climate crisis and that he sees this as a way in which Israel can advance its policies in the Middle East. “There is tremendous potential in the region to create energy partnerships,” he said, “For the world to reach zero emissions by 2050, changing our behaviour will do less than half the work. The other half will come from technology that has not yet been developed, and that is where Israel can lead.”
