Israel is a Climate Leader

Key Findings:

Israel is punching way above its weight in a field that is particularly urgent today: climate technology. 

This essay highlights Israel's significant contributions to this field, and showcases its innovative prowess in addressing climate-related challenges.

• Transition from Agriculture to Climate Tech: Israel's journey from a focus on agriculture, where it developed technologies like drip irrigation, to climate technology reflects its ability to adapt to changing global needs.
  
  

• Climate Tech's Urgency: Climate technology, defined as technologies explicitly aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, is crucial today due to global commitments to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
  
  

• Historical Context: Israel's innovative culture in agriculture emerged out of necessity in its early years as a struggling nation, facing challenges like food security, limited resources, and immigration waves.
  
  

• Innovation Continues: Israel's culture of innovation, fostered by elite tech units in the IDF, has expanded into climate tech, agriculture tech, and food tech, with 880 innovative companies currently operating in the climate space.
  
  

• Substantial Investment: Israeli climate-tech companies have attracted significant investments, with $8 billion invested since 2019, and $2.9 billion invested in 2022 alone.
  
  

• Ecosystem Support: Israel's climate-tech sector is supported by academic institutions, government initiatives, large corporations, and a tight-knit community of entrepreneurs.
  
  

• Food Systems Innovation: Israel excels in alternative proteins, with start-ups attracting substantial investments, providing scalable solutions to reduce industrial animal farming. Israeli alternative protein companies focus on cow-free dairy protein, plant-based meat substitutes, and cultivated meat and seafood.
  
  

• Circular Economy: Israeli companies contribute to the circular economy by using household waste and wood waste to create recyclable materials and products.
  
  

• Carbon Capture: Israel participates in carbon capture, including innovative approaches to removing carbon dioxide from the oceans.

Remaining Challenges: 

Climate-tech companies in Israel face challenges related to limited climate-focused investment funds, access to global markets, and regulatory barriers that necessitate setting up production facilities overseas. In addition, whilst Israel's regulatory landscape is improving, it must align with global standards to support the growth of climate-tech and food-tech start-ups. 

Engaging global corporates with Israel's climate-tech sector could drive more entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to enter the field. Friends of Israel can contribute by supporting its innovation role in the global climate battle.