Israel may miss climate targets, despite rising risk

Significance

Public environmental awareness is relatively poor, though a February oil spill affecting beaches was a wake-up call. Green issues are also not a national political priority. Ahead of March 23 polls, the Vote Green organisation noted that dominant right-wing parties were increasingly putting the environment on their platforms but still had little implementation track record.

Impacts

• Environmental failures will impose increasingly heavy costs on the strategically significant agricultural sector.
• The common climate threat could potentially be a catalyst for greater cooperation with Arab states.
• Early adoption means Israeli firms could have a comparative advantage in the production of meat substitutes and other green-tech areas.