Nine days before the United Nations Climate Change Conference is set to take place in Sharm El Shiekh, one march organizer says ‘The indifference of the politicians is killing us’
Lee Yaron Oct 28, 2022
Thousands of people are participating in the climate march in Tel Aviv, to protest what they deem Israeli politicians’ inaction in dealing with the global climate crisis which is expected to disproportionately affect the country.
The march is being held nine days before the United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP27, is set to take place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
“We are here to remind the politicians that the climate crisis is already here, that there is only a narrow window of opportunity to deal with the crisis and prepare for disasters that can no longer be stopped,” said 43 year-old Nir Davidzada from Binyamina. “Apart from a few lawmakers from one or two parties, there is no discourse at all on this topic in the current election campaign,” he added.
Demonstrators emphasized that they are afraid for the future of Israel specifically, since it is warming at twice the global average rate. The country is expecting a sharp increase in the number of dangerous heat waves as well as a sharp decrease in annual rainfall alongside an increase in brief but heavy rains – a phenomenon that will lead to flooding, a rise in sea levels, and damage to agriculture.
- Israel is in danger of drowning
- Israel walks back on Bennett’s promise at UN climate summit last year
- Israeli government to require all its ministries to submit climate crisis prep plan, again
The average age of those participating in the march is under 20. Unlike most parties and politicians in Israel who barely acknowledge the crisis, these youths know every statistic and forecast. “Do you know that emissions need to be reduced by 40 percent in order to save the world this decade?” says 10-year-old Gaya Elster.
Thirteen-year-old Guy Pinchas from Petach Tikva holds a sign reading “It’s sad to be a student in a world without a future.” He came to the march with a group of his friends from school and their teacher. In school, they hold lectures on the topic of climate change, which are organized by the students themselves.
Elad Hochman, director of Green Course — one of the NGOs that organized the march — warns that “time is running out. The indifference of the politicians is killing us. This march starts in Tel Aviv and ends at the ballot box. It’s time for the public to punish those who destroy our future.”
Hochman added that “the time has come for the government to enact an advanced climate law like in the West — reduce the air pollution that kills thousands of Israeli citizens every year, improve public transportation, preserve nature, protect local agriculture and the animals that are severely affected by the climate crisis — and move towards a clean, efficient and innovative economy that is suitable for the 21st century.”
“We all have a common interest,” Abed Namarni, CEO of the Life & Environment organization. “The climate crisis doesn’t take borders into consideration, nor nationality, religion or community. Here in the Middle East, the consequences of the crisis are clear and more difficult than other places in the world. The Arab-Jewish partnership is an essential tool in saving the earth and rehabilitating nature and society.”
A recent survey revealed dwindling commitment among Israel’s leading political parties on efforts to address the global climate crisis. Only three parties vying for Knesset seats in the upcoming election have promised to take concrete steps toward addressing climate change – Meretz, Labor and Hadash-Ta’al, according to the survey.
Israel also failed to revise its target for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in documents submitted ahead of the UN climate summit in Egypt. Speaking in front of the UN last year, then-Prime Minster Naftali Bennett announced that Israel is committed to zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, while in practice, it is still only committed to an 85 percent reduction.