The work of the Samuel Neaman Institute in the field of the environment is considered significant and is an important resource for decision makers in Israel.
One of the Institutes’ main roles is to bridge between academia, industry and governmental decision makers by offering the capability of providing government agencies with applicable and timely information that has been developed by various academic institutions in Israel.
In the years 2009-2011 the Energy and Environment Team at the Samuel Neaman Institute served as a professional advisor to the Ministry of Environmental Protection in developing the National Plan for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation. This document, the seventh in number, is a continuation of the Team’s work.
Apart from the commitment of the State of Israel to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as stated by Israel’s President Peres at COP-15 in Copenhagen in December 2009, the issue of GHG emissions reductions is vital to the Israeli economy as well. The actions required to achieve emissions reductions will also result in reducing the burden on the power sector, ease the need for power generation reserves, increase the size of the power reserves, reduce the emissions of pollutants that cause negative health effects and increase mortality. On the whole, the economic benefits of GHG emissions reductions will be much greater than the initial costs of the actions taken while also aiding in reducing social disparities.
The document provides a brief overview of the information gathered in Israel and around the world on the issue of national policies aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The report further provides a recommendation for an Israeli National Plan for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions that was formulated by an inter-governmental committee headed by the Director-General of the Finance Ministry, and approved by the government of Israel on November 2010, allocating a 2.2 Billion NIS budget for the next decade.
This plan addresses critical issues associated with GHG emissions reductions and is an important first step. Yet, it is not enough, and a long-term, more comprehensive, road map is needed. Under the current conditions and the current plan, Israel will not be able to meet its commitment.
In this National Priorities Report on the Environment, the Team presents an array of topics that were not addressed during the work of the inter-governmental committee – issues such as clear indices to evaluate emissions reductions, evaluations of the entire Israeli market, and the issues of introducing renewable energies and the change in the fuel mix in the production of electricity. All these issues, and others, are reviewed in this document in order to lay the ground for the needed road map to achieve the goal of 22 million ton CO2 emissions reduction by 2020.
Vision and courage are required to decide on and implement long-term decisions, decisions that will not necessarily bear fruit in the short term, but rather in the more distant future. The vision and courage involved in taking actions to reduce GHG emissions is an existential necessity and not a mere option.
We are proud that this document is an important tool for the Knesset Committees and the Information Center of the Knesset, which use it to track the implementation of the National Plan for GHG Emissions Mitigation.
