Limited Israeli Delegation at COP28 Amid High Tensions
Israel initially planned to send a thousand personnel to the United Nations climate summit, COP28, which commenced at the end of November. However, a delegation of only 28 officials was ultimately dispatched. This decision coincided with heightened tension within the international community, primarily attributed to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“This is the first UN Climate Conference where I didn’t wear my kippah in the secure Blue Zone,” said Yosef Abramowitz, an Israeli-American environmentalist, president and CEO of Energiya Global Capital. The Blue Zone is the location where the official sessions, meetings, side events, and press conferences take place.
Abramowitz played a key role in the construction of the only solar field in Gaza. When encountering individuals unsure of how to interact with him, he often shares pictures to provide clarity and context.
“Most of my meetings centered around bringing solar energy to African countries, including Muslim states with whom Israel does not yet have relations,” he added.
During the ongoing COP28 in Dubai, numerous heads of state have voiced their opposition to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Concurrently, pro-Gaza protests have emerged, advocating for a cease-fire. Activists have utilized the platform to amplify their calls for a cessation of hostilities on both sides, with the Israeli delegation using the same platform to appeal for the release of hostages held by Hamas.
“The president was present at COP at the leader’s summit, and he met with the president of the UAE, the emir of Qatar, and other heads of state and of course, they were talking about the war in Israel and of course of the hostages which is a top of priority. Other than that, we are using our pavilion to speak about climate as it was planned from the beginning,” said Liron Zaslansky, consul general of Israel during a phone interview with The Media Line.
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“We wanted to be there on a much larger scale this year, we should deal with it on a regional level. It’s a common challenge, we need to be giving a solution, we are committed to that with our neighbors,” added Zaslansky.
“We were supposed to have a bigger delegation but due to the situation we narrowed down and the delegation was only headed by the president,” Zaslansky explained.
However, Israel did sign a joint work program on Tuesday, December 5 with Germany in the energy sector for the year 2024. The signed agreement is about a shared work plan in the energy field for 2023 as part of the global climate conference COP27, held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, last year.
In the framework of the 2023 agreement, teams from Israel and Germany will share knowledge and methods in the field of energy on subjects such as power-grid management, hydrogen, cybersecurity, agrivoltaics, and more, to enhance and strengthen Israeli and German energy.
During the event, Start-Up Nation Central, an independent organization, participated to
showcase Israel’s climate tech ecosystem and its contributions to addressing climate change. The Israeli climate tech sector has an established, vibrant, and growing ecosystem with more than 850 startups in different subsectors.
“Some of the elements blocking change include the private-public sector collaboration. Moreover, the challenge of scaling innovations—this requires longer cycles, more funding, and more corporates willing to work in a partnership model with young startups and growth climate tech solutions,” said Michal Seror, the director of Ecosystem Development at Start-Up Nation Central, an independent nonprofit organization.
“But also, the ability to match technologies with needs requires a thought-out strategy and infrastructure to allow for scaling, enabling them to be really impactful,” Seror added.
Israeli companies have made several notable announcements during COP28. Keter Plastics, for instance, revealed a new line of eco-branded products titled “Made with UBQ,” which are sustainable and crafted from unsorted municipal waste. In a separate development, SNC has been officially recognized as a partner in the newly launched climate platform coalition by NextEnergy Nexus, Masdar City, and Tencent.
Moreover, there has been a selection of the finalists of the Climate Solutions Prize, awarding $2.32 million in prizes to researchers and startups developing solutions to the global climate crisis, and global corporate engagement packages.
