Opinion: This is how we can learn from Israel on greenhouse gas

The global climate and water crises are two sides of the same coin. On the obverse side, the climate crisis is increasingly exacerbating the water crisis. In contrast, water behaviors (how we consume water, transport it and do not treat it properly as wastewater) accelerate the climate crisis and cause unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions. As the climate crisis progresses, it creates a growing shortage of water. The paradox is that attempts to meet this shortage intensify the climate crisis. Therefore, we must separate the global climate crisis from the global water crisis.

In Israel, our experience arose out of necessity, and necessity, as the saying goes, is the mother of all inventions. Israel is located in a dry region with little precipitation. About 60% of its area is desert and the rest is semi-arid. Israel's primary water sources are water from Lake Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee), groundwater, desalinated water, and purified wastewater, used for agricultural purposes. Since its inception, the country has struggled to maintain efficient agriculture, produce its own food, and supply water to a steadily growing population. At the same time, the amounts of available water have remained relatively consistent and even decreased.

This presents a significant challenge — how do we bring water at an equal price to every citizen, regardless of where they live or how far they are from the water source? How do we maintain quality of life and even constantly improve it? How do we ensure the water is high quality, clean and healthy? And how do we leave enough water in the environment for nature and ecosystems?

Moreover, Israel supplies water to its neighbors: about 100 million cubic meters of water are delivered to Jordan annually, and close to that amount to the Palestinians. This demonstrates that not only does Israel meet its own water needs, but increasingly also helps its neighbors meet theirs.

Added to all these issues are the global challenges resulting from the climate crisis, which leads to a decrease in precipitation, an increase in temperature (and hence higher evaporation), a change in the distribution of precipitation throughout the year and extreme events (such as torrential rains that fall in short periods of time with reduced benefits to nature and agriculture).

Perhaps unintentionally, but as a necessity of Israel's reality, a circular water economy was created, one that is still not complete but that, as the years pass, is getting closer to embodying that innovative approach.

Israel's circular water economy comprises four steps: seawater desalinization, desalinated water for urban needs, wastewater treatment, and agricultural water practices.

Seawater desalination is the first step in Israel's circular water economy. It is done at several facilities spread along the Mediterranean coast, at relatively short distances from consumers. Today, about 600 million m3/year, about 80% of the country's potable water, is sourced by desalination. In the near future, desalinated water will be transported via the national carrier to the ​​Kinneret in northern Israel to help maintain the lake's water level and prevent the salting of its waters.

The second station is the use of desalinated water for urban needs. About 92% of Israel's population lives in cities, and cities are its primary consumers of water. The desalinated water is mixed with groundwater to improve its quality and undergoes processes that guarantee its healthiness to consumers.

At the end of its use, almost all water is transferred to wastewater treatment plants, the third station in Israel's circular water economy.

Purification is done in wastewater facilities operated on an economic basis, usually with several cities or local authorities joining together to purify their sewage in one central facility. This improves processes, reduces costs and diminishes the danger of untreated wastewater leaking.

The wastewater is purified to different levels in accordance with its intended use in agriculture. A certain amount of the purified water is injected into the groundwater as part of a natural process that helps with purification. It is then pumped from the groundwater and transferred for use in agriculture. The rest of the purified water is transported in a separate pipeline directly for use in agriculture or in nature. In this way, two benefits are achieved — purified water is restored for irrigation instead of using benign water, and environmental pollution is prevented by reducing the discharge of effluents into streams and the sea.

Unpurified wastewater has many negative environmental consequences: it pollutes water bodies and causes algal blooms that suffocate marine water systems; it contaminates rivers and streams, penetrates groundwater and corrupts it, and causes severe environmental damage that disrupts nature's ability to function properly and absorb greenhouse gases.

The sludge, which is the byproduct of the process, is used as fertilizer, while biogas is produced in the treatment process. Today there are interesting ideas for producing environmentally friendly energy substitutes, such as hydrogen, from the sludge.

Use in agriculture is the fourth and final stop on the water's route. Around 95% of all domestic wastewater is reused for irrigation, which is a world record. About half of Israel's agricultural crops use water that has undergone treatment and purification based on strict regulations designed to ensure that this water will not cause harm to health or the environment. Reused water is the basis for Israel's fresh food security, especially in the arid areas of the Western and Northern Negev desert.

Without this water source, agriculture would have been significantly reduced, dependence on food imports would have increased and Israel's land would have changed and its desert spread. However, it is essential to monitor the effects of irrigation and fertilization with waste products and desalinated water in agriculture and to improve their quality to prevent long-term damage to the soil and the quality of agricultural produce.

To the process described above, which is based on the four main steps, it is also possible to add the use of brackish water produced by drilling in desert regions of the country. This water is suitable for certain field crops, some of which have been adapted to brackish water to raise fish in fish ponds in the desert. In other cases, the water undergoes desalination for use as drinking water in the area's communities.

Given the above water scarcity, it is not surprising that Israel is also a global leader inwater use efficiencyin agriculture. Drip irrigation was invented in Israel in the 1960s, and today, most orchards and vegetables are nurtured with drip irrigation, which is about 50% more economical in comparison to the method of flooding agricultural areas. Not only is drip irrigation economical in water, but it also increases the yield by dozens of percentages compared to other irrigation methods. It prevents plant diseases that are caused by unnecessary moisture and wasted fertilizers. In Israel, agricultural varieties that save water and are resistant to drought are constantly being developed, including rice grown with drip irrigation rather than flooding. Potentially, this can significantly contribute to increasing global food security and reducing greenhouse gas emissions since the rice sector is responsible for approximately 10% of global methane emissions.

Israel has built a successful circular water economy, and we have learned many important lessons along the way which we are excited to share with others as they develop their circular water economies. This will be one of the important conversations at COP29 next week in Azerbaijan. As we continue to focus on climate change and make strides in climate innovations, it’s critical that we continue to share knowledge, technologies and work collaboratively with our counterparts in other countries.

Ambassador Gideon Behar is Israel's Special Envoy for Climate Change and Sustainability.