Israeli team set to attend UN climate confab in Azerbaijan under tight security
Delegation of over 100 will be subject to restrictions on movement given country’s proximity to Iran; Israeli pavilion to hold dozens of events, with 20 companies exhibiting
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
An Israeli delegation of more than 100 people will attend the upcoming annual United Nations climate conference, COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, which kicks off on November 11 for two weeks.
The visit will take place under tight security, given the country’s proximity to Iran, though Azerbaijan itself is seen as an ally of Israel.
President Isaac Herzog will represent the country, arriving during the second week.
Three ministers representing the environmental protection, energy, and transportation ministries plan to attend, along with dozens of officials.
As in the past two COP events, Israel will have a pavilion, and as it did last year, it will include a corner focusing on Israeli hostages held by the Hamas terror group in Gaza.
The pavilion will showcase 20 climate startups (out of 80 that applied), with 10 exhibiting each week with the support of the Israel Export Institute.
Dozens of events are planned at the pavilion emphasizing the importance of regional and international cooperation. Talks will be given by organizations such as Startup National Central, MASHAV (Israel’s international development agency), and the KKL-JNF Jewish National Fund.
Israeli figures will also take part in events outside the pavilion. For example, Rabbi Yonatan Neril, founder and director of the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, will participate in several interfaith sessions at the Faith Pavilion.
Foreign Ministry climate envoy Gideon Behar told The Times of Israel, “We attribute great importance to our participation at COP. We cannot [give the impression] that the war has closed us off. We are part of the international community; we have a voice, can influence, want to contribute to the global battle on climate change, and have solutions and technology to offer.”
This year’s COP will focus on increasing the contributions of developed nations to developing nations. The former are primarily responsible for causing global warming by burning fossil fuels. The latter may bear the brunt of the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels, drought, floods, and increasingly devastating storms.
After pledging in 2009 to provide $100 billion annually to the developing world by 2020, Western nations reached this goal only in 2022. The developing world says this is insufficient and that nations that have become developed since they were categorized as developing should start stepping up to the plate and help to double the $100 billion.
The second main issue will be finalizing the rules for Article 6 of the 2015 Paris climate agreement. This will allow countries with reduced global warming emissions to earn money by selling carbon credits to help other countries balance their emissions.
Due to Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza and Lebanon, a UAE-brokered deal signed three years ago to have Jordan provide solar energy to Israel and Israel channel desalinated water to the Hashemite Kingdom is frozen. A renewed memorandum of understanding between the parties was signed two years ago at COP27 in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh.
Under the radar, meetings on the climate crisis have continued in Cyprus, with a recent confab attracting representatives from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, and the Gulf, in addition to Greece and the European Union.
