Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., November 24, 2008 Cheshvan 26, 5769 | | Israel Time: 02:15 (EST+7)   Back to Homepage web haaretz.com Haaretz Toolbar Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate GA 2008 Travel Week's End Anglo File

Toward greenhouse gas reduction By Zafrir Rinat Tags: Israel news  In recent months the Environmental Protection Ministry has warned a number of times of the impact of climate change on Israel. It has emphasized that Israel must do its part in the international commitment to reduce greenhouse gases, ahead of an important international conference on the issue next year in Denmark. Israel, however, has not shown impressive achievements. On the initiative of the French Embassy, a conference was held last week in Tel Aviv on the implications of climate change for Israel and the region. The representatives of France and the European Union countries, the nations Israel would like to resemble in terms of environmental policies and other areas, explained how during the next two decades their countries intend to meet an ambitious goal of cutting greenhouse gases from current levels. Israel, in contrast, has no plans to reduce greenhouse gases. The best it can do - according to the Environmental Protection Ministry - is to reduce the growth rate of such gases in the coming decades. Expected growth according to a business-as-usual scenario (without taking action to reduce gases) is 63 percent in two decades. After various steps such as transfering to natural gas to generate electricity, or preventing the relase into the atmosphere of methane from garbage dumps, the growth rate will be reduced by two-thirds. Advertisement At the conference, a senior ministry official explained the constraints, among them the meager areas available to build renewable energy facilities, and Israel's inability to depend on nuclear energy as the French government does. For example, solar energy facilities that would produce a significant amount of clean electricity would take up a good deal of space. Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra revealed some Israeli chutzpah at the conference, and not in a good way. He proposed working to increase the Palestinians' awareness of the need to reduce greenhouse gases. We really should have a word about this with the Palestinians in Gaza, whose electricity consumption threatens to drown the world in greenhouse gases. Israel does indeed face many obstacles on the way to achieving far-reaching goals of reducing greenhouse gases, and it must be said that its impact on global warming is minuscule. We cannot fill the Negev, for example, with solar facilities or plant forests of greenhouse-gas absorbers because that would leave little left of the Negev, the last area in the country with significant open space. And yet, despite these difficulties, Israel must present an approach based on extensive changes in planning in energy, transportation and water. Streamlining energy consumption in buildings, reducing demand for electricity and household water, and increasing the use of public transportation are only some of the excellent changes that could further decrease greenhouse gas emissions. Of course, population growth must also be mentioned, which Israel is encouraging in every way possible with no consideration for its impact on the country's meager resources. A democratic country does not dictate its people's rate of reproduction, but it can change the trend by family planning, raising the level of education and bringing women into the workforce. The need to reduce greenhouse gases is not the only justification for an overall policy change in all the areas above; the release of such gases reflects an economy and society not making efficient and economical use of natural resources. Better use is good not only because it helps Israel get accepted to bodies like the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. It is essential in a country that has a dense population in an arid zone, but the lifestyle and consumer culture of countries much richer and more developed. Instead of defending itself and arguing that the reduction of greenhouse gases is a difficult goal to achieve, the Environmental Protection Ministry should sell the Finance Ministry a strategy that presents this reduction as streamlining, and therefore economically worthwhile. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Trailblazer Haula Abu-Bakar named first Arab female professor in Israel. Hills of hostility A stranger coming to Hebron Saturday would be confused.   1.   Israel is minuscule in regard to world`s environmental problems 20:21  |  S 23/11/08

Read & React Defense establishment paper: Golan for Syria peace, plan for Iran strike Responses: 107 Candidate for U.S. security adviser wants NATO force in the West Bank Responses: 133 Gideon Levy: America elects Obama, Israel elects its Bush Responses: 57 Report: Ya'alon said Israel must 'consider killing Ahmadinejad' Responses: 28 More Headlines 01:29 Report: Gaza militants agree to cease rocket fire if Israel opens crossings 01:27 Aide: Ex-IDF chief's Ahmadinejad remarks taken out of context 23:04 Olmert wants to generate 'final tailwind' on Syria, says aide 00:34 Israel jails neo-Nazi gang members for up to seven years 18:15 Barak: Israel is working day and night to bring Shalit home 02:00 U.K. urges Gulf states to press Iran over nuclear program 18:13 Israel appoints first Arab female professor in country's history 02:08 Poll: 70% of Israeli Arab women think slaps are not domestic abuse 22:56 Barak: Who will save the economy, Netanyahu? He took your pensions 20:44 Fearing attack, Iran militia holds massive defense drill 00:35 VIDEO / Shas Rabbi Ovadia Yosef: Secular teachers are 'asses' 22:41 Egyptian guards shoot and kill Sudanese migrant at Israel border 21:45 State given another year to scrap 'discriminatory' education budget system 14:56 Poverty at 10-year low, but nearly 1 in 4 Israelis still poor 22:21 PLO unanimously elects Abbas president of future Palestinian state Previous Editions Select Day 23 nov 21 nov 20 nov 19 nov 18 nov 17 nov 16 nov 14 nov 13 nov 12 nov 11 nov 10 nov

Special Offers Advertisement Living in Israel Studying in English Click & Meet our students from all around the world Living in Israel Studying in English Click & Meet our students from all around the world Dan Boutique Jerusalem New Dan Hotel in Jerusalem Young, Fun & Distinctively Dan Book Now Online! Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. Car rental in Israel Shlomo Sixt Receive $15.00 from our low rates. Dial 013 for your long-distance calls and get all your money back US CITIZENS Vote for real change. Request your ballot today! Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Jewish Singles Personal Ads Find the love of your life on JDate.com Israel's Premier Real Estate Website www. israel-property.com Hebrew Summer courses From $39.95 Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel

birthright Israel | Search engine marketing

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved