Climate science in the civil service: The Minister of Environmental Protection Tamar Zandberg and the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Environmental Protection Prof. Nega Kronfeld-Shor revealed this morning (11/17) for the first time at the Israeli pavilion at the climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh the progress of the development of the national mapping tool for climate risks which is carried out by Ministry of the Environment. This, as part of an event that discusses the challenges of the climate crisis, and the solutions currently offered around the world, in order to provide a preparation tool for the policy makers. The first version of the technological tool will be published during 2023.
Minister of Environmental Protection Tamar Zandberg: “Today we present for the first time in a real line: what the national mapping tool for preparing for climate change will look like, which provides a tool based on science and knowledge that will allow policy makers and decision makers to analyze the risks arising from climate change and set priorities. The climate crisis is the greatest crisis of humanity in our generation, and we In Israel we are also happy to share our knowledge as a result of the tool we are developing with the countries of the world and the region in order to face and succeed together the consequences of the climate crisis”
The chief scientist of the Ministry of Environmental Protection Prof. Nega Kronfeld-Shor: “The climate crisis affects each region in a different way – the risk, the sensitivity to risk and the ability to prepare for the effects of climate change vary with a high spatial resolution. Therefore, detailed and accessible information is required for policy makers and decision makers that will help them and optimize policy making and setting priorities in preparing for climate change.”
According to the sixth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC, about 3.3 to 3.6 billion people live in a highly vulnerable situation due to climate change. Natural disasters have already caused global losses of approximately 280 billion dollars in 2021 alone. Those serious socio-economic losses harm the health, well-being and livelihood of the citizens, which further emphasizes the urgent need to find solutions, methods of action and long-term policy planning.
The vulnerability to climate events, the risks themselves, the sensitivity to risks and the ability to adapt to them vary between regions and spaces, and sometimes there are even real differences just a few meters away. Therefore, policy makers in the government, the local government, the private market and more have a critical need to map the risks and vulnerability of each region and its residents in the best possible way. Such knowledge will optimize the decision-making processes and the preparation actions at all levels.
The national climate risk portal developed by the Ministry of Environmental Protection with the assistance of the Israeli-American start-up company Tomorrow.io is a supporting tool for long-term planning. The analysis will enable an information and knowledge-based determination of priorities, priorities and schedules for individual spatial treatment, will lead to the optimization of public and private investments in the preparation steps and will improve the physical planning processes.
The portal will present integrated information for each authority and will access the information in three areas: exposure, sensitivity and preparedness for risk at a high level of spatial resolution, including forecasts. The data will be accessible to the local authorities for regular use. The local authorities that win the vote of the reader published by the Ministry of Environmental Protection to support the preparation of preparedness plans for the climate crisis, will be able to use the pilot of the risk maps.
At the event held at the pavilion, apart from the risk map portal developed by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the new OECD IPAC dashboard with climate risk indicators was also presented. The two innovative tools are expected to provide the necessary knowledge to the policy makers in order to prepare optimally for the climate crisis.