Letters | Israel is ready for climate cooperation with Hong Kong
- Readers discuss climate cooperation across borders, rail safety in Hong Kong, and how Earth Day should be about climate action
Due to its location in the desert and scarcity of natural resources and water, Israel is a living laboratory for the development of climate and environmental solutions that are practical, applicable and relatively inexpensive.
Israel purifies 94 per cent of waste water, of which close to 90 per cent is reused for agriculture, while water loss in urban systems is minimal, standing at only a few per cent. The Israeli experience is to move as much as possible to irrigation-based agriculture, like drip irrigation, which results in higher yields and significant water savings. These practices are thanks to the groundbreaking technologies developed in Israel and the knowledge accumulated over the years, which can be applied in large parts of the world.
Animal protein substitutes produced in laboratories are another vital area that increases food security and reduces the pressure on the natural systems that are currently overexploited to raise livestock for human consumption.
In the early days of the founding of the state of Israel, the first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, saw the field of solar energy as an area Israel should lead. Today, more than 200 companies and start-ups in Israel are engaged in renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy storage.