Foreign Ministry Sees Opportunity in UN Climate Report

The U.N. report on global warming that made gloom-and-doom headlines on Monday has been received at the foreign ministry as an opportunity for Israeli diplomacy and technology.

While it wouldn’t be fair to say that the ministry exactly welcomed news that the planet is heating up and heading for cataclysm even faster than had been thought—calling the report “a warning light”—officials were seeing a silver lining in the latest climatological cloud.

“Israeli experience and knowledge can help countries around the world in the fields of water technologies and seawater desalination, drought-resistant agriculture and climate change, renewable energies and energy storage, development of animal protein substitutes, reforestation, and other areas that will help all of us face the challenges,” Foreign Ministry Director Alon Ushpiz said, according to The Times of Israel.

The ministry envisages a special role for itself, advancing “climate diplomacy” at international events on climate issues where they can promote Israeli technologies that offer solutions to the crisis.

The foreign ministry said that international cooperation and the sharing of knowledge could prevent the “extreme scenarios” predicted in the U.N. report, with Israel leading the way.