Environment and Sustainability

Balmy weather greeted the hundreds of delegations that arrived in Cancun Mexico on the first week of December for the United Nations Climate Change Conference. The Paths to Sustainability Coalition, run by Life & Environment and funded by HBS Israel, sent a delegation of three NGO representatives to participate in the conference following their participation in preparatory meetings with the official Israeli delegation. In addition, the coalition published a position paper in English and Hebrew critiquing Israel's climate policy thus far. The NGO representatives' participation is part of an overall strategy of the coalition to engage decision makers and advance climate policy in Israel. The Coalition’s position paper and more»

The Institute for Desert Environmental Research at Ben Gurion University's Sde Boker campus together with the Heinrich Boell Stiftung’s Israel office hosted a workshop in May which allowed for an objective, international, peer review of the McKinsey / Israeli greenhouse gas mitigation policy. Three top international experts were recruited for the workshop and participated in the day of multi-sector learning and dialogue together with a group of leading academics, environmental leaders from civil society, top officials from the Ministry for Environmental Protection and business leaders from Israel. The next day, the international experts were invited by the Knesset Environment/Health Sub-Committee to present their findings and recommendations. read more and see a video of the workshop»

The paper examines whether democracy at the country level and global climate change matter for another. It raises the question of how to support democracy’s advance in the face of multiple challenges that include the adverse effects of global warming and extreme weather events merits much more attention than it has received so far.

The recent earthquake damage to a number of reactors in Japan has again highlighted the potential hazards of nuclear power in a dramatic way. The description of nuclear power as reliable, secure, and a source of unbeatable energy has turned out to be a myth. To address the myths of nuclear power, the Heinrich Böll Foundation has commissioned renowned international nuclear experts to deliver reports that provide the public with an overview of current, facts rich, and nuclear critical know-how. On April 6th, 2011 the Heinrich Boell Foundation in Israel will be co-hosting a conference on the issue of nuclear energy as an option for civilian use together with the Hartog School for Government and Policy at Tel Aviv University and the Israel Energy Forum. We will be launching the book, "Myth of Nuclear Energy", written by Dr. Gerd Rosenkranz and translated into Hebrew with a chapter on the Israeli context written by Dr. Shahar Dolev. More about the conference and the guide»

According to an ambitious initiative launched by some of Europe's largest companies, the Sahara will become a power hub to provide renewable energy to Europe by the mid of the century. This project should become a cornerstone of a new European Community for renewable energies. By Ralf Fücks, Co-President of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung

The controversy about the use of nuclear power continues. In connection with the debate about climate change and what can be done about it, the nuclear industry and political forces that support it have undertaken efforts to present the use of nuclear power as a means of combatting climate change. The Heinrich Boell Foundation has published a paper “Nuclear Power – Myth and Reality” as early as February 2006, which argues against this notion. The heated debate has recently become more evident also in Israel. In the Israeli newspaper Haaretz from August 7, 2009, Gal Luft demanded a serious debate on the use of nuclear energy in Israel, while practically proposing its use. Joern Boehme, the director of the Israel office answered the claims made by Gal Luft concerning the debate in Germany in a letter to the editor, published in Haaretz on August 18, 2009. Read the op-ed by Gal Luft followed by the response letter by Joern Boehme»

The Heinrich Boell Stiftung has defined the issue of climate change and sustainable development as being central to its work internationally, both in the areas of mitigation and adaptation. It advocates and advances an agenda for development rights for developing nations and contributes to seeking solutions in many international forums while at the same time, adapts its work to the specific context of each of its 28 offices around the world.