President Herzog establishes Israeli Climate Forum
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog has announced the establishment of the Israeli Climate Forum, which will lead discussions about the climate crisis and Israel’s role in the fight against it.
Sunset over Tel Aviv. Photo by Nadav Goldstein/TPS
The forum will include representatives from the Knesset, Israeli academia, local authorities, and the business and industrial sector, and will convene several times a year.
Herzog appointed former Member of Knesset Dr Dov Khenin to manage the forum, which will operate with Life and Environment, the umbrella organization of groups active in this field.
The establishment of the Israeli Climate Forum will underscore the country’s commitment to “stand at the forefront of the global debate about the climate crisis, raise awareness among all parts of Israel’s leadership about the crisis and its severity, promote collaboration between government ministries involved in the matter together with different groups and sectors in Israeli society, and promote regional and international collaboration to push for a response to the climate crisis.”
Life and Environment is the official umbrella organization of the environmental organizations in Israel, bringing together over 130 groups.
Ahead of the departure of the Israeli delegation, headed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) Summit in Glasgow in November, Herzog will host a special conference in collaboration with Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg and Energy Minister Karin Elharar with the aim of raising the matter of global warming to public discourse through the public, business, and social sectors in Israel.
Herzog emphasized the importance of collaborative relationships to the resolution of the climate crisis and asserted that “the global climate crisis has become an international emergency. It is having an impact on our lives in every respect, from the economy to national security.”
“We must wake up, change habits, and stop the climate crisis from getting worse,” he declared.
He further noted that the “crisis is also creating opportunities that must not be missed. The State of Israel’s advantage is its ability to contribute to solving this problem through social and technological innovation and revolutionary changes to global habits.”
TPS
