Shadow PATHS TO SUSTAINABILITY Shadow Report to the Government of Israel’s Assessment of Progress in Implementing Agenda 21 presented at The World Summit for Sustainable Development Johannesburg 2002 An Initiative of Environmental and Social NGOs Israel 2002 This project was initiated by Life and Environment and Friends of the Earth Middle East, and has been carried out with the support of the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Porter Foundation. A generous grant from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund has been provided to support attendance at the World Summit on Sustainable Development by Israeli NGO representatives. Shadow The Adva Center Alrazi Association for Environmental Education in Tira Friends of the Earth – Middle East (FoEME) The Green Network The Healthy Cities Network The Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) The Israeli Forum for Ecological Art The Israel Union for Environmental Defense (Adam Teva v'Din) Life and Environment - Israel Union of Environmental NGOs LINK to the Environment The Coalition for Public Participation in Planning SHATIL, the New Israel Fund’s Empowerment and Training Center The Society for the Preservation of the Historical Sites and Natural Beauty of Modi’in The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) Sustainable Jerusalem Transport Today and Tomorrow (TTT) Shadow A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Shadow Report is the product of over a year and a half of collaborative effort. The editorial staff would like first of all to thank all the writers for their patience and cooperation throughout the various stages of writing and editing. Many other individuals played a role in giving direction to the project, and provided input throughout the writing process: Valerie Brachya, Deputy Director-General for Planning and International Relations at the Ministry of the Environment made the governmental report available to the NGOs a year and a half before the Johannesburg summit, and wholeheartedly supporting the NGO initiative. We are grateful to Ori Livne, Head of International Relations from the Ministry of the Environment and Mordecai Yadid, Deputy Director-General for International Organizations at the Foreign Ministry, for being supportive of the process initiated by the NGOs. Dr. Shmuel Brenner and Dr. Alon Tal peer-reviewed the governmental report and the draft of the Shadow Report, and assisted the NGO process by formulating a set of professional policy recommendations. Dr. Raanan Boral supervised the writing of the chapters on Land Use, the Mediterranean Coast and Biodiversity. The editorial staff would also like to thank Jeremy Benstein for his comments on the Introduction and the chapter on Minorities. Dr. Lia Ettinger and Dr. Dov Henin provided feedback on the Introduction. Fran Ran helped with the editing of the chapter on Solid Waste Management. Angela Godfrey assisted in the editing of the chapter on Regional and International Cooperation. Orit Greif assisted with editing and proofreading of the Hebrew version. Dr. Midhat Osman edited and proofread the Arabic versions. Ofra Wolf translated the chapter on the Mediterranean Coast. Dahlia Scheindlin edited and proofread several chapters. Special thanks to David Pearlman for his translation of the chapters on Land Use and Public Participation and for his meticulous care and expertise in the editing and publication process. vi Paths to Sustainability Shadow Report to the Government of Israel’s Assessment of Progress in Implementing Agenda 21 Editorial Committee: Gidon Bromberg, Friends of the Earth Middle East Orr Karassin, Life and Environment - Israel Union of Environmental NGOs Orly Ronen, The Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership Philip Warburg, Israel Union for Environmental Defense Report Editor: Ilana Goldberg, The Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership Contributing Writers: Eyal Artzi/ Israel Union for Environmental Defense (Adam Teva v’Din) Ofra Auerbach/ The Society for the Preservation of the Historical Sites and Natural Beauty of Modi’in Gidon Bromberg/ Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) Milka Donchin/ Healthy Cities Network David Dunetz/ The Green Network Raid Fadila/ Alrazi Association Yaakov Garb Ilana Goldberg/ The Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership Iris Hann/ Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel Meira Hanson/ Transport Today and Tomorrow Orr Karassin/ Life and Environment - Israel Union of Environmental NGOs Noga Kronfeld-Schor/ Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel Marganit Ofir-Gutler/ LINK to the Environment Nir Pappai/ Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel Orly Ronen/ The Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership Eilon Schwartz/ The Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership Barbara Swirski/ Adva Center Naomi Tsur/ Sustainable Jerusalem, SPNI Robin Twite/ Israel/Palestine Center for Information and Research Alona Vardi/ SHATIL and the Coalition for Public Participation in Planning Philip Warburg/ Israel Union for Environmental Defense (Adam Teva v’Din) Shai Zakai/ The Israeli Forum for Ecological Art vi vii SHADOW REPORT An Israeli Visual Report to the Johannesburg Summit The Shadow Report is accompanied by a visual report contributed by members of the Israeli Forum for Ecological Art, who chose examples of their work that relate to environmental issues. The works of art are not illustrations of the texts, but rather indicate a growing interest on the part of artists in environmental thinking. This innovative approach, the incorporation of a “visual report” alongside the written one is in itself a call for collaboration and dialogue between artists, scientists and the community – on behalf of the environment. Curators of the Visual Report on behalf of the Forum: Rachel Sabag, Racheli Yosef, Galia Gavish. vii Shadow C ONTRIBUTING O RGANIZATIONS The Adva Center is an action-oriented policy analysis institute focusing on equality and social justice issues. Policy analysis, especially budget analysis, form the basis of Adva's activities. In addition, Adva engages in advocacy, organizing and public education work. Alrazi Association for Environmental Education in Tira was founded in 1998 by a group volunteer university graduates from Tira, an Arab town of 20,000 residents in the center of Israel. Alrazi works to improve achievement and environmental education and awareness in Tira’s ten schools, and among residents, most of whom make a living in petty commerce or as employees in neighboring Jewish cities. Alrazi organizes day-long conferences for school children, as well as clean-up campaigns, and neighborhood restoration. The organization has recently received support for the development of youth leadership for the environment. Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) founded in 1994 is a regional non-governmental organization that brings Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians together to deal with common environmental concerns. The organization advocates sustainable development issues around shared ecosystems such as the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba and lobbies decision makers on regional policy issues dealing with water, trade and transboundary investment projects. The chapter enclosed is the responsibility of the Tel-Aviv office of the organization. 2 The Green Network in Israel promotes schools in developing a sustainable perception of the natural and social world, as central to their educational agenda, while engaging young people in active change in their community. Serving more than 30 schools around the country, the Green Network supports teachers and schools through in-service training and networking, national and regional conferences, financial aid to green projects in the schools, and leadership training for teachers and young people. The Healthy Cities Network, which has operated in Israel since 1990, promotes partnerships and coordination within municipalities to help design their health development plans on the basis of a city health profile. All 37 member cities and towns have adopted the principles and strategies of “Health for All”, “Agenda 21” and an equity agenda. Members develop active collaboration with service providers and citizens in the city to identify the population’s needs, the inequalities in health, and the aspirations of the citizens as a basis for inter-sectorial discussions and a participatory process for priority setting and planning for intervention. The Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership was founded in 1998, with a mandate to enhance the intellectual leadership for the Israeli environmental movement, and serve as a central address for Israeli environmentalism, while supporting the expansion of the local environmental movement. The Center works to put forth a vision of a sustainable society in Israel, and to catalyze initiatives within key sectors toward building a sustainable society. Activities focus on fellowship programs and professional seminars, network-building, empowerment of activists and organizations, and producing strategically targeted publications Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) is dedicated to the promotion of Israeli/Palestinian cooperation. It is managed jointly by Israelis and Palestinians and is based in Jerusalem. Its environmental program has been in existence for ten years and has dealt primarily with issues relating to water supply and distribution and the influence of environmental pollution on public health.