A new report by the state comptroller has outlined the government's failure in preparing for the global climate crisis.
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It has been 13 years since Israel joined the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and began operative actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
However, the report states that as of 2021, there has been an increase in Israel's absolute emissions.
According to the 659-page report by State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman, absolute carbon emission rates have risen 103% since 1990 and 12% since 2005.
"The actions of the Israeli government and its preparation for the climate crisis" ranked Israel 10th out of 29 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries that emit the most gas per capita in 2016. This means that Israel's emission rates were the same as those of a medium-sized country.
The report continued: "The State of Israel is not prepared for the climate crisis and there has not yet been a change of perception in Israeli policy on the issues. There are substantial gaps between the perception in Israel and in the world."
This report comes days after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett declared the tackling of climate change as a new national security interest of Israel.
"The climate crisis is one of the major issues on the world agenda. It concerns the lives of all of us, and also the lives of our children and grandchildren. We are obligated to deal with it in Israel; it is at the core of our being."
In June, the Environmental Protection Ministry published a special report in which for the first time ever it calculated the overall monetary cost of emissions to the Israeli economy: NIS 31 billion (around $9.6 billion) annually. Within this total, the external cost of greenhouse gas emissions cost the Israeli economy NIS 11.3 billion ($3.5 billion).
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"The report presents an alarming picture and, for the first time, a price tag in shekels for air pollutants," said Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
