4 | NOVEMBER 11 • 2021 

A

s the world’s leaders 
gathered in Glasgow 
last week to set new 
international standards for 
addressing the climate crisis, the 
report from the state comptrol-
ler here in Israel 
— which revealed 
the country’s lack 
of preparedness 
for the crisis 
— continues to 
reverberate and 
remind us that the 
“startup nation” is 
far from the forefront of global 
efforts when it comes to the 
climate.
The scientific community is 
in agreement that it is now too 
late for humankind to avert the 
climate crisis. All that remains 
now is to minimize the expected 
damage. States that do not adapt 
will simply be left behind. This 
is the proper context in which 
to examine and assess the gov-
ernment’s new initiatives, led by 
the Ministries of Finance and 
Environmental Protection, to 
influence the behavior of con-
sumers and corporations so as 
to reduce carbon emissions and 
environmental damage.
Important steps have been 
taken in this direction. At the 

initiative of Finance Minister 
Avigdor Liberman, the govern-
ment recently adopted plans for 
a carbon tax, which will gradu-
ally come into effect beginning 
in 2023. Once the real costs to 
the economy of emissions and 
pollution are taken into account 
and charged to those responsible 
for them, this may spur compa-
nies to adopt cleaner technolo-
gies or to refrain from polluting 
activities.
As most of Israel’s economic 
activity is based on exports, 
companies that fail to adapt will, 
in any case, have to pay similar 
taxes to the treasuries of other 
states. Clearly, local industry 
should be given time to prepare, 
and taxes should be imposed 
on products from industries in 
countries that do not institute 
similar reforms, so as not to 
discriminate against local pro-
duction. But overall, this is a 
welcome advance, despite falling 
under the category of “new tax-
ation.
”
Another and no less import-
ant reform is the congestion 
charge set to be introduced in 
2025, which will incentivize 
the use of public transport 
instead of private vehicles. A 
report published by the Israel 

Democracy Institute, which was 
prepared this year by Professor 
Natan Sussman and a group of 
researchers, finds that “the main 
consumer of energy in Israel, 
and particularly of polluting 
energy from fossil fuels, is the 
transport sector, followed by 
industry.
”
Consequently, the report 
states that improving the 
efficiency of transport, and 
electrifying it, using renewable 
energy, can be expected to have 
the greatest impact on reducing 
emissions. Thus, it is essential 
that government policy will 
ensure maximum availability 
of transport solutions and will 
promote urban planning that 
encourages walking and using 
bicycles, alongside financial dis-
incentives for private car use.
In this context, the purchasing 
tax on disposable tableware con-
taining plastic has attracted crit-
icism due to its disproportionate 
impact on families from lower 
socioeconomic brackets who 
are more likely to use paper and 
plastic tableware. It is important 
to note that this is not a tax cre-
ated to extract more resources 
from struggling families, but an 
economic incentive designed to 
change behaviors and purchas-

ing patterns.
Israel is a small, crowded and 
polluted country, exceptional-
ly so relative to the rest of the 
world. If current trends are not 
changed, this situation will only 
deteriorate until life in public 
spaces becomes unbearable. 
Around 90% of pollution on 
Israel’s beaches comes from 
plastic waste. Thus, instead of 
using a hard regulation approach 
and banning sales outright, it is 
perfectly reasonable to apply the 
principle of making the polluters 
pay the real costs of the results of 
their actions.
Unlike the COVID-19 pan-
demic, which arrived suddenly 
and brought the entire world to 
a halt, the climate crisis is here to 
stay. This is a real and threaten-
ing crisis that demands signifi-
cant changes in public behavior, 
the economy and public policy.
It is true that some of the steps 
needed may have an unequal 
impact on different segments 
of the population, and that the 
more vulnerable groups may 
suffer in the short term. But this 
suffering can be mitigated by 
complementary policy actions.
The climate crisis is also an 
opportunity, and by taking the 
right actions, we can foster 
growth and create jobs of the 
future that will raise employ-
ment rates. By the same token, 
failing to act methodically 
against the crisis will result in 
even greater damage to the 
entire population, and particu-
larly to the most vulnerable. 
The early policy decisions 
taken in this area are the first 
steps in the right direction, plac-
ing us on a path that will sup-
port low-carbon and sustainable 
economic growth. 

Yohanan Plesner is president of the 

Israel Democracy Institute. He served 

as a Member of Knesset for the Kadima 

party from 2007–2013. He lives in Hod 

HaSharon with his wife and four daugh-

ters.

commentary
Israel’s Climate Crisis:
An Opportunity to Improve

Yohanan 
Plesner

s the world’s leaders 
initiative of Finance Minister 
Democracy Institute, which was 

their actions.

demic, which arrived suddenly 
and brought the entire world to 
a halt, the climate crisis is here to 

Trash on an Israeli beach, from a presentation by MK Miki Haimovich during a Knesset 
Interior Affairs and Environment Committee meeting on waste, June 2, 2020.

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