While thousands gathered to participate in the Jerusalem marathon on Friday, thousands of others gathered to protest climate change in Tel Aviv this same day, the Jerusalem Post reports.
Approximately 10,000 people gathered to take part in the annual climate march in Tel Aviv on the 29th of October, the second to take place since 2019, as last year’s event was canceled due to corona.
The primary focus of the march was to raise awareness and call for individual, public and governmental accountability for the climate change crisis, the largest environmental event in Israel this year.
Several key Israeli environmental organizations, including the Society for the Protection of Nature (SPNI), Green Course, Greenpeace and the Israel Union for Environmental Defense, participated in and led the march.
Israel has not met its goals in pollution limitation in various sectors and is far behind other OECD countries in preparing for the global warming crisis, according to the State Comptroller's report published by the Jerusalem Post.
State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman said: “The climate crisis affects all areas of life – the environment, the economy, health, transportation, and more,” he said ahead of the report’s release. “I see the importance of Israel being a partner in the global effort in assessing the climate crisis. We owe it to ourselves and even more to our children and future generations.”
Despite these statements, he also expresses worries that Israel is one of the only developed countries in the world without a budgeted and approved plan in place to fight the climate emergency, and 84% of the country’s public bodies have no plan at all to deal with the effects of climate change.
The march started at 10:30 a.m. in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square and drew to a close at Rabin Square at 1 p.m. where they regrouped to listen to speeches from leading Israeli climate activists. Throughout the march, there were educational activities, stalls and exhibits.
Several MKs and ministers. including Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg of Meretz, Labor leader and Transport Minister Merav Michaeli, MK Limor Magen-Telem of Yisrael Beytenu and MK Alon Tal of Blue and White also participated in the march.
On Friday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Energy Minister Karine Elharrar agreed to raise the government’s target for reducing emissions to net-zero by 2050, after listening to criticism of their previous goal to reach a reduction goal of only 85%.