COP 27: Israel greenwashes on the world stage
The 27th UN Climate Change Conference (Nov. 6-18 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt) was the first COP in which Israel participated. With a large delegation led by President Isaac Herzog and a $1.4 million pavilion hosting 36 events, Israel utilized the forum as a major public relations exercise and business opportunity showcasing its technological prowess and water expertise.
As President Herzog told the gathering on Nov. 7, Israel “has the capability and know-how to deflect severe water shortages and to offer solutions to food insecurity. We are eager to share all our expertise and practical tools: that is what a Renewable Middle East is all about.”
With Israel poised to inaugurate a far-right government that has vowed to accelerate the seizure of West Bank land and water resources, Herzog described the ‘Renewable Middle East’ as “a regional ecosystem of sustainable peace.”
As an example of a “creative, win-win-win partnership,” he pointed to the deal negotiated by Israel, Jordan and the UAE last year under which Israel would annually export to Jordan 200 million cubic meters of potable desalinated water in return for 600 megawatts of solar power exported from a solar park to be built by the UAE in Jordan. With much fanfare, Jordan, Israel and the UAE signed an MOU for the agreement at the beginning of the COP.
The COP-timed message that Israel has innovative solutions to solve the world’s water problems was given a full court press from the US to the Philippines in opinion pieces signed by Israel’s ambassadors.
It was given the US stamp of approval in a panel in Israel’s pavilion on ‘Water reuse to address climate challenges’ that included an administrator with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who, in glowing terms, underscored Israel’s water accomplishments. The EPA in 2018 had signed a deal with an Israeli water start up brokered by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, the Republican party’s largest donor, who also lavishly funded Israel’s settlements.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh’s description at COP27 of Israel’s theft of Palestinian water resources, uprooting of olive trees and destruction of the environment made no discernible ripple at an event resembling at times a trade fair and lobbyist jamboree, with 10 Israeli companies presenting their wares in a ‘Climate Action Innovation Zone’ and no fewer than 636 fossil fuel lobbyists in attendance.
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