The UN climate conference, which is expected to take place next week in Baku, is a critical opportunity to raise the pace in the fight against the climate crisis - especially in the case of Israel, which can contribute a lot to the world in the field of climate innovation. Opinion
By Gideon Bacher, Angle - Science and Environment News Agency
United Nations Climate Conference (COP29) To be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, next month is an important milestone in the global fight against climate change. This conference will deal with a wide range of key issues, from increasing the common ambitions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the issues of financing the struggle in the climate crisis and aid to developing countries. This is a critical opportunity for world leaders to commit to actual actions that will help curb global warming and meet the goals Paris Agreement.
Why do I have a climate conference?
The UN climate conferences are held every year, and of those held in the last decade, COP29 is expected to be one of the most important. The world is experiencing severe climate change with devastating effects - such as fires, droughts and floods - causing enormous economic and social damage. Therefore, the conference could be a turning point in which The countries will commit to increasing investments and resources for the transition to renewable energies, improving infrastructure and preparing for disasters The conference will also enable a dialogue between the developed and developing countries around the mobilization of resources and international economic support, when the countries most vulnerable to climate change require a more urgent and effective response.
Among the topics that are expected to be on the agenda at the conference are the following issues that require broad agreement:
- Climate finance: One of the most important issues at COP29 is the definition of a new financial target under The New Quantitative Collective Goal for Climate Finance (NCQG), with the goal of being higher than the previous target amount of 100 billion dollars per year. This is an amount of money that rich countries transfer to developing countries, and which is intended to be used to finance mitigation (mitigation) and adaptation (adaptation) actions to climate hazards.
- The operation of the fund for the treatment of loss and damage (Loss and Damage): The fund founded at COP28 is designed to help countries affected by climate disasters such as Hurricanes and floods. The goal now is to make sure that the fund will indeed be activated and provide an economic solution to those countries.
- Article 6 of the Paris Agreement: This issue is about in carbon dioxide markets international and cooperation mechanisms between countries in order to meet greenhouse gas emission targets. The ambition is to settle the issue and reach clear agreements regarding the use of carbon markets. This is a mechanism designed to give an incentive and allow offsetting of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere; If a certain country is working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its territory, it can sell this as "credits" to another country to offset polluting activity that takes place in the country that buys those credits. Israel has a great interest in activating this clause due to being a country where many practical solutions are being developed for the capture and fixation of carbon dioxide.
- Increasing national ambitions: The participating countries are expected to submit More stringent goals for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (NDCs), coordinated with the ambition to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Israel is also expected to present more ambitious targets for reducing emissions. transfer Climate law in Israel before the conference will help in this and in improving Israel's image in the world.
Israel is expected to emphasize its contribution in the fields of climate innovation. Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo: unsplash
Israel on the map
Israel is an active player in the climate conferences, led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Environmental Protection, with aspirations to be part of the global effort to combat the climate crisis and encourage the use of climate technologies. At the previous climate conferences we committed to zero our greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and at COP29 we are expected to emphasize Israel's contribution in the fields of climate innovation such as wastewater treatment, water saving technologies, desalination, prevention of water loss, renewable energies, agriculture adapted to climate change, solutions Nature-based, green construction, development of new materials such as plastic substitutes and materials whose production requires less emission of greenhouse gases and substitutes for animal protein.
In the Israeli pavilion, 20 Israeli start-up companies from the field of climate innovation will present their capabilities. It will also serve as a venue for holding dozens of events to promote regional and international cooperation, for the signing of memorandums of understanding and agreements, and of course for meetings and hosting official delegations and visitors. In Israel we face climate challenges ourselves, such as a lack of rainfall, warming, sea level rise and an increase in the frequency of extreme events, therefore Israel has a clear interest in promoting global solutions to climate change.
COP29 is an important opportunity for the countries of the world, including Israel, to show a real commitment to the fight against the climate crisis. The decisions that will be made there will affect the future of all of us, so it is important that Israel, along with other countries, continue to work towards reducing carbon emissions, strengthening preparation for the climate crisis (adaptation), and promoting climate innovation.
Ambassador Gideon Bacher is the special envoy for climate change and sustainability at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Editor's note: The article was published on the Angula website before the US elections, when Trump's election is expected to worsen the climate crisis as we mentioned In an article published following the election of Trump
