Israel and Germany to Sign Climate Change Agreement

JERUSALEM, Israel, June 12, 2006 (ENS) - In a meeting that would have been unthinkable just a few decades ago, Israeli Environment Minister Gideon Ezra met with the German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel in Jerusalem last week.

The ministers agreed to accelerate cooperation between their two countries on environmental issues and to promote a Memorandum of Understanding on trade in greenhouse gas emissions according to the Kyoto Protocol. Reducing emissions is intended to limit global warming.

The new memo has been agreed among Israel, Germany, Egypt and Jordan for cooperation on Clean Development Mechanism projects. It is expected to be signed within two weeks.

Israeli Environment Minister Gideon Ezra (left) shakes hands with German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel. (Photo courtesy Environment Ministry of Israel)

The mechanisms are designed to make it easier and cheaper for industrialized countries such as Germany to meet their greenhouse gas emission reduction targets under the protocol.

The CDM allows industrialized countries to generate emission credits through investment in emission reductions projects in countries without targets, such as Israel, Egypt and Jordan.

The mechanism also is intended to assist developing countries to achieve sustainable development.

According to the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat, the clean development mechanism is, as of June 9, estimated to generate more than one billion metric tons of emission reductions by the end of 2012, when the first commitment period ends.

More than 800 projects are presently in the CDM pipeline, of which 210 are registered and another 58 are requesting registration. Last year, only around 140 activities were registered or being considered for registration.

“We have crossed an important threshold with these emission reductions”, said Richard Kinley, acting head of the Climate Change Secretariat. “It is now evident that the Kyoto Protocol is making a significant contribution towards sustainable development in developing countries.”

In an interview with the "Jerusalem Post" over the weekend, Gabriel said Germany favors renewable energy sources such as wind power and solar thermal energy, and improving energy efficiency, over nuclear power to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming.

Primary concentrator at the DLR solar furnace in Cologne, Germany. Solar thermal technology is well suited for desert areas. Mirrors direct the Sun's rays towards a control tower where the energy is used to make steam out of water, which turbines then convert into electricity. (Photo by Allen Lewandowski courtesy NREL)

Last month at UN Headquarters in New York, Gabriel called on German industry to make increased use of the opportunities for climate protection investments in developing countries provided by the Kyoto Protocol.

At the annual meeting of the UN Sustainable Development Commission, Gabriel announced that his ministry would offer advice and support to German companies to help them develop and implement sound projects. As an exporter of technology, Gabriel says the protocol can help bring about employment and growth, as well as cost-efficient opportunities to reach Germany's climate protection targets.

"By investing in climate protection measures in developing countries, we are killing several birds with one stone," he said. "We are transferring future-oriented technologies to the developing countries, we are reducing their dependency on energy imports, we are cutting energy costs and - last but not least - we are contributing to the protection of the global climate."