Israel Climate Change Information Center on adaptation to climate change recently established

The Center will initially focus on compiling the scientific knowledge available on climate change issues in Israel in such areas as regional climatic forecasting, water management, urban planning, green building, the economy, public health and biodiversity. It will then incorporate this information in policy documents and will incorporate the knowledge in the work of the different government ministries. This will form the basis for the formulation of a national action plan on adaptation to climate change in Israel, in accordance with government decision.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection has commissioned Haifa University to coordinate the activities of the Center, under its guidance and financing, and in cooperation with Tel Aviv University, the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and the Samuel Neaman Institute for National Policy Research. The Center is headed by Prof. Mordechai Shechter of the University of Haifa.

The Center will focus on seven primary fields:

• Climate changes anticipated in Israel between 1990 and 2010, 2020, 2030, 2040 and 2050;
• Impacts of climate change on public health;
• Impacts of climate change on the water sector;
• Impacts of climate change on biodiversity;
• Impacts of climate change on the nature of urban construction;
• Impacts of climate change on Israel's economy;
• Impacts of climate change on geo-strategic issues related to Israel's neighbors.

The objectives of the information center include:

• To become the leading professional center of information in Israel on climate change, impacts of climate change and optimal adaptation to climate change;
• To integrate this knowledge in the strategic systems of public, social , economic and environmental sectors in Israel;
• To disseminate the accumulate knowledge among countries with similar characteristics to Israel who may benefit from this Israeli knowledge.

In 2008, the Ministry of Environmental Protection published a preliminary report on the impacts of climate change in Israel, entitled "Israel's Preparations for Global Climatic Changes, Phase I - the Implications of Climate Change on Israel and Interim Recommendations, 2008. The aim of this phase is to further expand the knowledge on specific subjects with special importance and to formulate the necessary action plans.