Israel Sets Emissions Reduction Target of 85%
The Government of Israel sets to approve an unprecedented decision: by 2050 the State of Israel will transition to a low carbon economy while combatting the Climate Crisis threatening all of humanity
In a joint statement Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Ministers Tamar Zandberg, Avigdor Lieberman, Yair Lapid, Karin Elharar, Merav Michaeli, Orna Barbibai and Ayelet Shaked announced that they are setting a national goal to reduce carbon emissions by at least 85% from Israel’s 2015 levels.
On Sunday July 25th Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and a group of leading ministers brought for approval by the government of the State of Israel a historic decision to set a national target to reduce GHG emissions by 2050 by 85% in comparison to 2015, and an intermediary target of 27% by 2030. The State of Israel recognizes the importance of reaching a target of zero GHG emissions by 2050 in accordance with the Paris Agreement and international obligations aiming to prevent global warming from crossing the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius. The new decision will carry out Israel’s international obligations within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. By so doing, Israel joins the many countries that have already decided on a vision and strategy for a carbon neutral economy, led by the US, the EU, Canada, Japan and China.
In order to reach the 2030 intermediary target, the decision includes a variety of targets for different sectors, including:
- Reduction of GHG emissions from solid wastes by 47% compared to 2015.
- Restrictions on emissions from new passenger cars to 5% in comparison to 2020 levels. From 2026, all new municipal buses to be purchased will be environmentally friendly vehicles.
- Reduction of GHG emissions from electricity production by 30% compared to 2015.
- Reduction of GHG emissions from manufacturing by 30% compared to 2015.
To reach these targets, the government ministries are allocating a dedicated budget for meeting the targets by 2030, including investments in procurement of electric buses, promotion of EV charging stations, reduction of emissions in industry, businesses and municipalities and more. The investments will be executed in cooperation with representatives from local governments and industrial entities.
Recognizing that it is in the national interest of Israel’s economy, environment and society and to meet Israel’s international commitments, at the end of 2018 the Ministry of Environmental Protection initiated a strategic process across industry sectors to develop a joint vision and strategy to transition to a flourishing and low carbon economy. The process involved collaboration by government ministries, municipalities, representatives from the OECD, from industry, commercial businesses, academia, experts and consultants from Israel and from around the world, including environmental associations.
Fulfilling these key and crucial targets will require the dedicated efforts of all sectors of Israeli society. GenCell salutes the Israeli government on this monumental step and reiterates our commitment to climate action and the accelerated transition to a renewable energy economy, in Israel and throughout the world.
To read the full press release, click here.
