An official delegation of the State of Israel, led by Na’ama Kaufman Pess, the Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, will hold a special events day during the conference, with the aim of exposing the hundreds of thousands of participants to the achievements of the State of Israel in developing practical and technological solutions for production and in providing responses to climate challenges

Special emphasis will be afforded to the subject of water reclamation and the uses thereof in agriculture. This is an area of crucial importance for strengthening global food security, in which Israel is a world leader: About 87% of the treated wastewater in Israel is streamed for agricultural uses, the highest rate in the world

Na’ama Kaufman-Pess, the Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, stated: “Israeli innovation in the fields of agriculture is critical to the global response to the climate crisis and is an important and integral part of the agricultural reform. Our participation in this important forum positions the State of Israel among the leading forces in the world in effectively contending with the consequences of the climate crisis, and will help to establish international cooperation to increase regional climate resilience”

The Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Na’ama Kaufman-Pess, will lead the official delegation of the Ministry to the annual United Nations Climate Conference (COP27) that will be held between November 6 and 18 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The conference is held under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), with the aim of coordinating global efforts to deal with the climate crisis and is considered the largest event of the United Nations, attracting approximately 130,000 participants, officials as well as civilian actors.

The Israeli delegation to the conference this year includes dozens of participants, from a wide range of Government Ministries (including The Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Environmental Protection, Energy, Health, and the Water Authority), research and academic institutions, and leading Israeli agro-tech companies, who will hold a day of concentrated events in the Israeli pavilion, which is being set up for the first time this year at the conference. The pavilion will showcase methods and techniques of acting to deal with climate change and tools for alleviating the results thereof. Furthermore, the representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture in the delegation held a concentrated activity day for the participants of the conference which was held on November 14 at the Israeli pavilion, and included 3 major events:

(1) An innovation panel in collaboration with the Growing IL community, with the participation of representatives of leading agro-tech companies from Israel including Hortica, CropX, Seetree, Salicrop, Roots, Agmatix, and Trendlines V.

(2) Presenting advanced solutions for saving water in agriculture and presenting advantages and disadvantages of using treated wastewater for agricultural uses. This is a strategic area for bolstering global food production, which has the ability to significantly reduce the pressure on water resources that are shrinking worldwide. In the reality of an increasingly worsening climate crisis, it is of crucial importance to establish sustainable and environmental agriculture, which properly utilizes natural resources and provides stability to global food production systems. The State of Israel is a world leader in this field, where, as of this point in time, approximately 87% of the wastewater treated in Israel is streamed for agricultural uses. This is the highest rate in the world in relation to agricultural use of recycled wastewater. In second place is Spain, where the rate of utilization of recycled wastewater for agriculture is only 18%!

(3) A resolute display of Israeli endeavors in all sectors to promote sustainable solutions to promote food security and to establish food production systems at the regional level. This event will be attended by representatives from various Government Ministries and non-governmental representatives (NGOs) and will showcase the collaborations between the various entities, as part of the holistic preparation of the State of Israel for food production under the effects of climate change and for the promotion of food security from the perspectives of sustainability and proper nutrition, especially from the aspects of a Mediterranean diet.

The COP27 conference is an important platform for increasing global cooperation and coordination regarding the fight against the climate crisis and, as such, it is expected to deal with a variety of issues including The implementation of the resolutions taken at the previous conference in Glasgow; in setting global goals for adapting to the climate crisis; increasing global climate financing to more than 100 billion dollars per year and the compensation policy for climate damage.

The Ministry of Agriculture is a leading government agency in the field of preparing for climate change as a tool to bolster national food security, which is at the heart of the reform in agriculture promoted these days by the Minister of Agriculture, Oded Forer, and the Director General of the Ministry, Na’ama Kaufman Pess.

In view of this, the Ministry views prominent Israeli participation in this event with exceptional importance, it being a massive global event that calls for cooperation in dealing with climate challenges.

Many countries show enormous interest in the knowledge, solutions, and research that the State of Israel presents and this event is an opportunity to continue to establish the position of the State of Israel as a major actor in the climate negotiations, providing practical, diverse, and innovative solutions for food production under changing climate conditions. As a result, the Ministry of Agriculture believes that the exposure events at the Israeli pavilion will also strengthen the information and technology export system of the Israeli agro-tech industry.

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About Israel pavilion, COP27 Sharm El sheik

Spearheaded by the ministry of foreign affairs and the ministry of Environmental Protection the Israel pavilion at COP27 is a place of innovation and technology. The pavilion showcases some of the latest technologies that help fight climate change, and promote sustainability. The pavilion is designed as an open space where COP 27 participants are encouraged to attend events happening at the pavilion and experience the latest technologies in the environment tech industry.