These past two weeks, the critically important climate conference, COP26, has been taking place in Glasgow. Even much more so than previous such conferences, there is a widespread awareness of the urgency of the moment. Each year has seen an increase in extreme climate events, and this summer was no exception, with widespread fires, record temperatures and continued droughts throughout the Western US, and flooding, sometimes caused by hurricanes, in the South, Midwest and East Coast. The IPCC, the global scientific body monitoring climate change, released its latest report in August, warning the window is rapidly narrowing for the planet to stop warming at 1.5 degrees C over pre-industrial levels. (We are currently at 1.1 degrees; here’s what will happen at 1.5.)
Jewish organizations and communities are becoming more aware and involved. Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has spoken forcefully of the situation as a religious imperative for Jews to band with others and take systemic action:
“No one is an island, no one can say this has got nothing to do with me – we have to bear the responsibility individually and collectively for this horrifying situation which threatens our world and which threatens our grandchildren and our great grandchildren. All of us together must play our part in guaranteeing that we fulfil our religious obligation to do what we can.”
Hazon, the Jewish environmental organization, has recently ramped up involvement in climate education and activism. It is one of the Jewish organizations in Glasgow and has been conducting a podcast of conversations with people of other faith communities at the conference. (Here’s an article about some Jewish activists at the conference.) A couple of national Jewish organizations (Dayenu, Jewish Earth Alliance) are dedicated to organizing a Jewish presence in this global effort.
In Israel, a group of 37 Orthodox rabbis issued a statement exhorting the government to enact policies to fight climate change:
“Based on these and other Jewish teachings, we believe Jews should be on the forefront of efforts to help avert a climate catastrophe. Making this even more important is that Israel is especially threatened by climate change. The Middle East is a very hot, dry area and projections are that it will become hotter and dryer, making instability, violence, terrorism, and war more likely. Also, much of Israel’s population and infrastructure are threatened by a rising Mediterranean Sea inundating Israel’s coastal plain.”
A recent article in Foreign Policy spelled out how climate change is affecting the Middle East particularly hard, with spiking temperatures of over 120 degrees and higher becoming more frequent. Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection presents an overview of the expected impacts of climate change overall and in various sectors (agriculture, public health, energy use, sea level rise, etc.). Israel now has a special envoy for climate change and sustainability, Gideon Behar, who works on climate diplomacy with other countries (his assessment of regional issues can be found here).
Jewish day schools are increasingly teaching about climate change, and our students, rightfully concerned, are acting on a local and national level. Grow Torah has done pioneering work in spreading Jewish environmental awareness through its teaching in dozens of schools. Schools are holding seminars and conferences on the issue; teachers are including climate change in curricula; students are speaking about it in classrooms, at bnei mitzvah, and organizing. The national Jewish Youth Climate Movement now has 36 branches coast to coast, including several based in Jewish schools. The recently launched Einayich Yonim Fellowship works with Jewish high school students on a spiritual exploration of Judaism’s deep connection to the environment.
Good news for synagogues and Jewish schools: The just-passed infrastructure bill includes funding for nonprofits to upgrade their facilities’ energy efficiency. This is especially important because buildings, together with transportation and electricity, are the three biggest sectors contributing to carbon emissions (and number one in big cities such as New York).