Israel ratifies the Paris agreement
The Israeli government has ratified the Paris climate agreement signed last year in Paris. It has joined the 109 parties that have already done so and account for about 80% of the world’s emissions. Israel’s ratification took place as this year’s UN Conference on Climate Change – COP-22 unfolded in Marrakech, Morocco. The Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Ze’ev Elkin, attending the conference, said “The Paris Agreement not only binds the state of Israel to reduce greenhouse gas emissions like all developed countries, but it is also a tremendous opportunity for the growth of the Israeli clean-tech sector, providing new technological solutions in the field of environmental protection and coping with climate change for the whole world”.
All participant nations have submitted Intended National Determined Contribution plans to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). By signing the landmark accord, Israel is committed to reducing its 2005 greenhouse gas (GHG) per capita emissions by 25 percent by the year 2030 - limiting residents to 7.7 tons of carbon dioxide per capita.
According to the most recent national GHG inventory prepared by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, Israel’s emissions in 2012 were 83.04 million tCO2e (tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent) or 10.5 tCO2e per capita. Under a business as usual scenario, GHG emissions in Israel are expected to increase by 27.05% from 2012 levels, reaching 105.5 million tCO2e (10 tCO2e per capita) in 2030. A reduction target of 7.7 tCO2e per capita will result in a reduction of 23.85 million tCO2e in 2030, bringing total emissions down to 81.65 million tCO2e.