How Israel can get to net-zero by 2030 - comment

• Published date: 06 November 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Strangely echoing his predecessor's speech six years earlier at the Paris Climate Conference, Bennett stood before 120 heads of state last week in Glasgow and extolled the virtues of Israeli innovation. By doing so, he avoided taking a stand on any of the key climate issues facing Israel, other than the welcome but empty pledge that Israel will be carbon net-zero by 2050.

But Bennett seemed to be genuinely moved by what he heard and saw here in Glasgow, and Alma, Lia and their friends may shortly be in for some pleasant surprises.

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Bennett's main achievement at Glasgow was getting Bill Gates excited about the future of Israeli climate innovation. The prime minister knows full well that for Israel and Israeli technology to be a showcase for the world, we have to get our burning house in order quickly.

Israeli ministers and directors-general of the relevant ministries – Energy, Environment, Interior, Finance, Transportation and more – all complain how complicated it would be for Israel to join the international community's ambitious goals for renewable energy.

On the other hand, if the US and the EU – far larger and more complicated political entities – have declared climate emergencies, passed ambitious climate laws, took complicated and coordinated government decisions, stood up to their gas and oil lobbies and prioritized green growth, then certainly tiny Israel can as well.

There are six things that Bennett can do, working together with his relevant ministers.

1. Declare a climate emergency, like dozens of other Western countries have done. By doing so, key government bodies like the Public Utilities Authority – the electricity regulator that is the major stumbling block to a solar Israel – need to take climate into serious consideration in all their decisions and accelerate the roll out of renewables – centralized and dispersed – for climate and national security reasons.

2. Create an open market. Solar quotas are one of the last vestiges of Israel's socialist roots, choking market forces that would accelerate investments, scale and innovation and create thousands of green jobs. As Prince Charles said here in Glasgow, the private sector can move much faster than governments. Today in Israel, there is no framework for an open-market for green energy companies to develop projects and sell to willing customers, like from...