Avery Eitan from the Hebrew University, the leader of the study, explains: "The international agreements signed by Israel, as well as the pressure exerted on it by various countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing the use of renewable energies, are indeed bearing fruit and actually influencing the Israeli policy discourse on the subject, which tends to neglect issues concerning to adapt to climate change"
Many testimonies from around the world show that the effects of the climate change phenomenon are increasing over time, therefore this requires the adoption of a variety of methods to deal with them. The ways of coping relate to two main aspects: one is mitigation or "mitigation" - the collection of actions that should be carried out to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce climate change; The second is adaptation or "adaptation" - adapting human activity to the climate change that cannot be prevented anymore. Renewable energies are currently considered an important policy tool in reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional electricity systems, therefore they play an important role in climate change mitigation strategies. At the same time, renewable energies also play a crucial role in climate change adaptation strategies, because they can reduce the vulnerability of energy systems to extreme events such as fires, floods, droughts and more.
A new article carried out by doctoral student Avri Eitan from the Advanced School of Environmental Studies at the Hebrew University, and recently published in the journal "Sustainability", examines whether policymakers in Israel tend to focus on mitigation strategies or on strategies for adapting to climate change, as part of the discourse concerning the promotion of energy The study reviews the discussions that took place in the Knesset committees over the years 2007-2018 - a total of about 40 discussions in the various committees and over 2000 pages of minutes. The qualitative analysis of the discussions in the Knesset committees shows that the discourse concerning renewable energies as a tool for adapting to climate change almost always deals with local issues, such as reducing the vulnerability of the Israeli energy economy, through Decentralization and diversification of energy systems. On the other hand, the discourse concerning renewable energies as a tool for development Climate change focuses mainly on global issues, such as reducing global environmental risks and Israel's compliance with international agreements.
In the Knesset, they mainly talk about green energies and not about adaptation
Beyond that, the quantitative analysis shows that most of the statements in the Knesset committees dealt with renewable energies as a tool for mitigating climate change (64%), while a minority of the statements referred to the issues of the adaptation of the local economy (36%). The committee with the most statements regarding renewable energies as a tool to deal with climate change was the Science and Technology Committee (45% of all statements), which by definition is supposed to deal with such issues. Other committees where the number of statements was relatively high are the Economy Committee (23% of all statements) and the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee (17%). The statements in these commissions were significantly biased in favor of climate change mitigation over adaptation. In particular, it is evident that this trend is more significant among members of the Knesset, most of whose statements (68%) referred to renewable energies as a tool for mitigating climate change, compared to 32% of statements that referred to adaptation efforts - with the frequency of referring to both increasing over time.
In addition, the total number of statements relevant to the use of renewable energies, over time, between the years 2007 and 2018, was examined. Here, too, according to Avri Eitan's article, the results indicated that "renewable energies as a tool for mitigating the climate crisis continued to be mentioned more often than statements about adaptation (to the climate crisis) over time, without noticeable trend differences over the years. However, some participants in the discussions The committees expressed doubts about Israel's ability to contribute effectively to global efforts to mitigate climate change through the promotion of renewable energies."
Therefore, the research findings indicate that, surprisingly, despite Israel's small impact on greenhouse gas emissions at the global level, policy makers focus more on promoting renewable energies as a tool for mitigating climate change (which actually relates to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions) and not as a tool for adaptation. In the scientific article it is further emphasized that "The findings shed light on the important role of international influence - which tends to emphasize mitigation over adaptation - in driving the domestic policy discourse on renewable energies as a method of dealing with climate change."
The researcher adds and concludes: "The results obtained can shed light on the significant global influence on the policy discourse on environmental issues at the local level. That is, the international agreements signed by Israel, as well as the pressure exerted on it by many countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through increasing the use of renewable energies, are indeed bearing fruit and actually influence the local policy discourse on the subject, which tends to neglect the discourse concerning adaptation to climate change, although it may have Greater influence, especially for a relatively small country like Israel. This global influence may also be related to the specific characteristics of Israel, which, due to its complex political situation in the Middle East, makes efforts to communicate with various foreign countries and international institutions, in order to be part of the global community."
- This article was written before the fire broke out in the Jerusalem mountains, August 2021.
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