President Shimon Peres is representing the State of Israel as he joins 120 other heads of state in addressing the issues of climate change at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15). The three-day conference is set to begin Wednesday in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The president is also expected to light Chanukah candles with approximately 1,000 members of the local Jewish community at Copenhagen’s central synagogue Wednesday evening.
Earlier in the day, he and Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan were invited to charge an electric car with entrepreneur Shai Agassi, founder and CEO of Better Place, a company which is partnering with Renault and Nissan Motors to manufacture the first electric car in Israel. Agassi is a major proponent of alternative energy and has focused his efforts on "green transportation infrastructure" in the Jewish State, winning the support of the government in the process.
Mr. Peres is slated to join other global leaders at a special state dinner hosted at the palace Thursday evening by the Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, in honor of the conference guests.
Among those attending the conference will be U.S. President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and heads of state from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, India, China, the UK, Netherlands and more.
Outside the conference, thousands of activists amassed to protest against the lack of progress on finding ways to stop climate change. Police gathered to rein them in behind barriers as they shouted and banged drums. Hundreds of protestors were arrested there earlier in the week.
President Peres will deliver a speech at the three-day gathering in which he will discuss the environmental challenges facing Israel and the world. In the speech, he is also expected to stress Israel’s obligation to participate in the debate on climate change, and her active role in developing solutions to greenhouse gas emissions through innovative technology. Peres will meet with CleanTech industry executives to present the leading renewable energy technologies developed in Israel as well.
He will also attend a special signing ceremony for the climate change treaty along with other global leaders at the conclusion of the conference on Friday. The new treaty will replace the Kyoto Protocol which was adopted in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997, but which only became active on February 16, 2005.