Foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi, representing Israel at the international Earth Day climate summit, released a statement detailing Israel's involvement with the event.
For this first-of-its-kind event, remarks were also sent by the Foreign Minister of Germany, Heiko Maas; former UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon; the first Israeli actress to be nominated for an Emmy in the ‘Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie’ category, as well as for a Golden Globe in 2021, Shira Haas; Minister of Environmental Protection, Gila Gamliel; , Costas Kadis Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Cyprus, and others.
The event, which was broadcast live across the world, was organized by the global agenda Task Force for Advancing Global Agendas, which was recently established at the Foreign Ministry as part of the Foreign Minister’s decision to centralize this issue in diplomatic work.
During the evening, Foreign Minister Ashkenazi launched a virtual exhibition of fifteen Israeli tech companies that are providing solutions to environmental problems. Minister Ashkenazi also presented the activities that 83 Israeli diplomatic missions around the world carried out for Earth Day, including social activities, tree planting, beach cleaning, professional seminars, the promotion of Israeli environmental tech, green energy, and water.
To connect the young generation with the global agenda, the ‘Young Ambassadors’ of the Center for Young Leadership from the ‘Cross-Border Leadership’ program were invited to prepare a TikTok challenge encouraging clothes recycling, which they presented during the evening. The challenge has garnered over 1.5 million views thus far.
This event is part of the Foreign Ministry’s adaption of its core goals for global change and the international agenda. The task force that was established at the Ministry, headed by Deputy Director-General Aliza Ben-Noun, will lead a series of activities in the global agenda arena with the aim of turning Israel into a central and leading player in the field and promoting Israel’s green technologies.
Ambassador Gideon Behar, Israel’s Special Envoy for Climate Change and Sustainability, is also working to promote international cooperation on these issues.
Minister Ashkenazi ended by saying that “Israel is a world leader in the field of climate innovation, and is cooperating with the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinians on various protects for environmental protection”.