The Knesset's Environmental Protection Committee completed the final wording of the climate bill on Tuesday. After years of passing the responsibility between the different ministries and committees, after debates and amendments, promises and failures, the bill is on its way to a second and third vote for final Knesset approval. If you think this is the time to congratulate them, then you are mistaken. Anyone who reads the draft of the bill understands that it is ineffective and that they are making fun of us.
The goal of the climate bill is to create a legal and organizational framework which will force all government ministries and national authorities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation) and to prepare for the climate crisis (adaptation). Such a law should also indicate the economy's direction and help individuals set objectives for reducing emissions to align with the government's actions.
Why is a climate bill needed? Israel's governments decided to set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and that includes accompanying decisions in the field of energy efficiency: transition to renewable energies, transition to a low-carbon economy, promotion of clean and low-carbon transportation, and more. There are also government decisions regarding Israel's preparations for adapting to climate change.
The law is supposed to connect various fields in a broad and comprehensive way. In general, most government decisions are not implemented. Unlike a government decision, a climate bill would be binding, and will allow the public to demand that the state upholds what it promised to do.
The main problem is that the proposed law has no teeth, with most of the important elements that should be in the law are absent. The goal outlined by the Israeli government in the bill is underachieving with a 27% reduction by 2030. The bigger problem is that we stand no chance of reaching no emissions by 2050 as the world is aiming to achieve.
In the section after the goals, the bill states that the government is authorized to change them and the years set out in the law, "taking into account new data relating to the matter, decisions that may be made from time to time in accordance with the Climate Convention, or by other member states of the Climate Convention in accordance with the said Convention, and the national circumstances of Israel." In short, the goals are not set in stone.
The bill mandates the formulation of a national plan to reduce carbon emissions with various tools including sectoral goals, measures, actions, budgets, and more. But it also allows the Energy Ministry of and the Finance Ministry to examine the effects of the plan's components on the energy sector and the economy, and in fact to oppose the plan, as they have done until now. Furthermore, the law does not stipulate any mechanism for sanctions if the government does not meet the goals it set.
The law also requires every government ministry or organization to prepare a climate change preparedness plan, all of which will serve as a basis for preparing an appropriate national response to the climate crisis. However, it remains unclear where the budget for preparing these plans will come from. Therefore, the bill allows any entity to delay preparations if it did not receive the necessary funding.
Another section in the Climate Bill is a section on "climate risk assessment," which means preparing a document that will assess the effects of any plans on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. But not only does this requirement not apply to every plan, there is no possibility to prevent a plan that has a significant impact on the climate. So what did the wise men do in their regulation?
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Even the Climate Council, which was established by law to advise the government and ministers on the emission reduction plan and the climate change preparedness plan, is not doing its job. Most of the representatives come from government ministries and government bodies, and are not necessarily experts on climate. The real experts from the academia and environmental organizations are outnumbered by those with ulterior motives.
Prof. Adi WolfsonPhoto: Dudu GrinshpanThe climate bill, which was submitted to the Knesset by the Environmental Protection Committee, is nothing more than a PR stunt. The Israeli government will be able to tell its citizens and declare to the world that we have a law and that it has goals, and nothing more. It is a law without a plan and without content. A law that would be better not to legislate at all. The Israeli government continues to ignore the climate risks and the threats to the economy, society, security and national resilience, while avoiding responsibility.