The Climate Change Conference in Lima, Peru, closed after two weeks of negotiations (1-12 December 2014) towards a global climate agreement, which is due to be finalized in Paris next year. This was the 20th annual session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 20) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) aimed at reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, and the 10th session of the Meeting of the Parties (CMP 10) to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

The delegates in Lima agreed on a framework for setting national pledges, which is the first to commit all countries to cutting their greenhouse gas emissions. The Lima agreement was reached not without obstacles, as differences emerged over the level of support provided to developing countries by the rich countries for fighting the effects of climate change.

The Israeli delegation was headed by Mr. David Leffler, Director-General of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and Mr. Ehud Eitam, Ambassador of Israel to Peru, and included representatives from the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economy, and Keren Kayemeth Le'Israel.


Statement by Ehud Eitam, Ambassador of Israel to Peru on behalf of the State of Israel
UNFCCC COP 20 and CMP 10
Lima, Peru

Let me first open by thanking the government and people of Peru for organizing this conference. The atmosphere of cooperation and compromise reflects the manner and style of our hosts.

Israel is one of those countries which will be deeply affected by a new Climate Agreement. Israel is currently a non Annex-1 country. Yet, we are fully committed to a process whereby all member parties of this framework provide Intended Nationally Determined Mitigation Contributions in a transparent, quantifiable and comparable manner. This should be accompanied with sufficient up-front information to enable a clear understanding of what each country is doing and how it compares to others.

Mr. President,

We support a consultative assessment which will assist us in moving forward to achieving the global goal. Every country can and should play its part - each according to national circumstances and characteristics. Israel is currently working on its mitigation contribution which we intend to submit in the first half of 2015.

Commonly assessed mitigation actions will not result only in emissions reduction but also in energy efficiency and technological innovation, Those are the cornerstones of Green Growth and part of the positive outcomes of a robust and well-focused emissions reduction policy.

A new agreement with clear accounting guidelines, which moves away from the previous bifurcated approach, will encourage all countries, Including Israel, to become more ambitious in its reduction commitments.

That ambition must not harm economic progress but rather harness it to low carbon climate resilient policies consistent with our national characteristics.

Israel may be relatively poor in natural resources but blessed in human resources, innovation, initiative and creativity.

One of the understandings to come out of this conference is the need for countries to share their best practices and therefore I will very briefly mention a few of the steps being taken in Israel, together with the private sector, towards energy and water efficiency:

•    Shifting from coal to natural gas in electricity production.
•    Developing a national program on oil alternatives in transportation.
•    Promoting solar energy production, from large-scale solar power plants to rooftop energy production.
•    Subsidizing the replacement of non-efficient appliances.
•    The imposition of green building standards, including retrofit and urban renewal projects.

Mr. President,

As a result of being a country on the desert's edge, Israel has gained extensive experience over the years in combating desertification, afforestation and adaptation. Israel, with her arid and semi-arid climate, has been at the forefront of agricultural and water technologies which provide sustainable solutions to the major challenges of climate change.

Israel welcomes cooperation and knowledge sharing, particularly regarding desalination, waste water management, water efficiency, especially in agriculture and early warning systems for floods. Israel hopes that its expertise will be available to other countries through the CTCN.

We have reasons for optimism: Major emitters have recently made substantial commitments; the Secretary General's Summit galvanized political and financial commitment and the updated IPCC report has further shattered climate change skepticism.

Encouraged by this process in Lima and on the road to Paris we have to craft decisions which are nationally appropriate, flexible enough to accommodate future developments, whether economic or technological. At the same time these wise decisions should set in motion a spiral of ever increasing ambition and action to which Israel is deeply committed.

Thank you.