Israeli Climate Change Law Up for Discussion in Knesset Committee Tabled After Ministry Opposition – Haaretz
The far-reaching climate bill faced opposition from several ministries, warned of significant price increases for the for Israeli energy sector
Nir Hasson. Apr 30, 2023
The Ministerial Committee on Legislation postponed a meeting on Sunday to discuss the proposed Climate Law, which sets ambitious goals for Israel transitioning to renewable energy and zero greenhouse gas emissions, similar to most nations in the world.
The bill is expected to run into significant opposition, both from the Finance Ministery and the Energy Ministry – the latter of which is demanding to have the climate goals transferred to it from the Environmental Protection Ministry, and which for now is continuing to advance exploring new offshore natural gas fields.
Israel is one of the last developed countries in the world that has yet to pass legislation setting greenhouse gas emission targets. According to the proposed Climate Law, Israel will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030, and reach zero net emissions by 2050.
The proposal is considered to be far-reaching in terms of Israel’s energy industry, but are not relatively high when compared to European and other countries worldwide. In practice, similar laws were approved in most European countries a number of years ago. Cabinet ministers say that in order to avoid international embarrassment, Israel must pass an ambitious climate law before the next United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP28, scheduled for Dubai in November.
Different versions of the Climate Law have been brought forward in the past. Former Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg, who served in the previous government, succeeded in having the Ministerial Committee on Legislation approve a weaker version of the law, in which the interim target for reducing emissions by 2030 would be just 27 percent, instead of 50 percent. This law was also passed in a first vote in the Knesset, but the legislative process stopped when the previous government dissolved. The present law being advanced by Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman sets much more ambitious goals.
In addition to setting the goals, the proposed law also requires the Environmental Protection Ministry to prepare a national plan to reduce emissions; would establish a climate cabinet headed by the prime minister, which would monitor the implementation of the national plan; would formulate plans from all government ministries to deal with the climate crisis; and would set up a national committee of experts to advise the government on climate issues and an institute on climate and environmental affairs that would operate under the Chief Scientist’s Office in the Environmental Protection Ministry.
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Nonetheless, the law is expected to face opposition from a number of government ministries, and especially the Energy and Finance ministries. “The present version could well lead to critical harm to the energy industry and the continuity of its functioning, as well as significantly increasing electricity rates,” wrote the Energy Ministry in its official position that will be presented to the ministerial committee.
To achieve the goal of cutting emissions by 50 percent by 2030, a National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Ministry document suggests that Israel would have to generate 88 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. Today, just 10 percent of electricity comes from renewable energy. The Energy Ministry’s position also includes a demand to transfer the responsibility for climate matters and reducing emissions from the Environmental Protection Ministry to the Energy Ministry.
It is necessary to set far-reaching goals to make progress, as have all the other developed countries in the world, said the Environmental Protection Ministry in response. “There is not a single country that has not set ambitious goals for itself,” said Guy Samet, the director general of the Environmental Protection Ministry. “To set low targets is to say the climate crisis can wait. We are not obligated to be the leading country in the world, but there’s no reason whatsoever for us to be the last. The energy Ministry wants a skeleton of the Climate Law under with nothing underneath it, and we won’t be willing to serve as a fig leaf.”
“I’m determined to complete legislating the Climate Law before the climate summit in Dubai,” said Silman. “Global warming won’t be solved by setting low targets, such as some of the ministers would want.”
If the existing version of the law is passed, it will require rapid and sharp changes in many parts of the energy, industry, transportation sectors and more. So far, Israel has set very low targets for itself in comparison to other advanced nations, and it has not been able to meet these goals either. Last year, only about 10 percent of Israel’s electricity was generated from renewable sources, compared to about 40 percent in European Union nations.
About half of the renewable resources in Europe are hydroelectric sources, which are not available in Israel, but experts agree that without a national effort to drastically reduce emissions by 2030, the chances of reaching zero emissions by 2050 is miniscule. Zero emissions by 2050 for the entire world is the only possibility, to leave a chance for humanity to avoid the most severe consequences of climate changes, experts say.
“If the present version passes and becomes law, it will be a revolution for the legal foundation for Israel in everything concerning handling the climate crisis,” said Tammar Ganot, the deputy CEO of the Israel Union for Environmental Defense organization. “If the law is approved, it will put Israel back on track. We may not be the world leaders, because Europe is in a far more advanced place, but at least we’ll be back on track,” said Ganot.
The proposed law is the first step to putting Israel on the same level as the developed nations, said Dr. Tamara Lev, the director of climate policy at the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. “It sets, for the first time, goals to reduce emissions, with the required scope to moderate the accelerating climate crisis,” said Lev.
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel petitioned the Supreme Court last week against Energy Minister Yisrael Katz, his ministry and the supervisor of oil affairs in the ministry. The petition requests to cancel the process for marketing new natural gas exploration permits that span over an area of about 6,000 square kilometers. The petition argues that the decision to expand gas exploration was made without an adequate examination and contradicts both efforts to protect Israel’s marine environment and biological diversity – and also the policy to reduce emissions.
The petition further claims that expanding gas exploration has no economic logic behind it. This is because Europe, which is the main export destination for Israeli natural gas, is rapidly switching to produce energy from renewable resources – mostly wind and solar power – and it is not reasonable that it will need Israeli gas in another decade, the time when this gas could be expected to be produced as part of the new licenses.
The National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Ministry said they welcomed the advancement of the essential part of the law, and see great importance in approving it before COP28 in Dubai. But in light of the great responsibility the ministry has and the need to “preserve the necessary balances between guaranteeing energy security and reliable supply to the economy, and the necessity to fight the climate crisis and the need for reducing emissions in the Israeli economy, it’s necessary to provide an adequate professional infrastructure before deepening the emissions targets and to base it on professional inter-ministerial work, and mostly on dramatic policy steps, and this is so the government will meet its commitments,” said the Energy Ministry.
Knesset fails to advance Climate Bill due to internal opposition – Jerusalem Post
An affirmative vote by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation is required to advance the bill to the Knesset and make it law.
By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN APRIL 30, 2023
(photo credit: studiovin/Shutterstock)
The Ministerial Committee on Legislation failed to advance the Climate Bill on Sunday due to opposition from several government ministries.
Instead, the committee ordered the government ministries to hold in-depth discussions this week. The committee will then reconvene next week to re-discuss the bill.
An affirmative vote by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation is required to advance the bill to the Knesset and make it law.
“We are determined to complete the legislation and pass a Climate Law by the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai” in November 2023, Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman said. “This should be the mission and commitment of the government and the Knesset. Human-generated greenhouse gas emissions lead to unprecedented global warming, which will not be solved by setting low goals.”
Silman added that Israel cannot afford not to meet the ambitious goals in the Climate Bill – reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% compared to 2015 by 2030 and becoming a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.
A previous Climate Bill set the 2030 goal at only a 27% reduction.
“It seems as if some government members do not believe that there is a climate crisis,” Silman charged. “The commitment of the entire government is required to stand in line with the other developed countries of the world for the sake of public health and the environment.”
Silman called a request by the Energy Ministry to take over handling the climate crisis illogical, since dirty fuels are among the leading causes of emissions. Instead, she said, “We will hold talks in the coming week to reach agreements.”
Israel is one of few without a Climate Law
Israel is one of only a few developed countries to have not enacted a Climate Law. US President Joe Biden has championed his country’s Climate Law. Moreover, over the weekend, the president signed an executive order that created a new Office of Environmental Justice within the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
Some 194 states, including Israel, and the European Union signed up to the 2015 Paris Agreement, committing to limit the increase in global warming to “well below 2°C,” with a goal to keep it to 1.5°C by reducing emissions by 45% by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050.
The United Nations has said that the world needs to catch up to meet the agreement’s goals.
Tammy Gannot Rosenstreich, deputy executive director of Adam Teva V’Din, told the Jerusalem Post that Israel’s Climate Law is a “fundamental law.”
“Israel is far behind the rest of the modern world regarding climate legislation and climate protections in general,” she said.
https://www.jpost.com/environment-and-climate-change/article-741701