SwtichMed in Israel

United Nations 2 years ago

The Israeli Sustainable Consumption and Production National Action Plan (SCP-NAP) was developed under the coordination of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Ministry of Economy under the EU-funded SwitchMed programme, with advisory services and technical support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The Plan is part of Israel’s efforts to achieve Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals. The SCP-NAP (SDG12.1) addressed sustainable consumption, sustainable production and focuses on connecting the dots and was developed in Israel through nationally owned multistakeholder processes.  Israel spent more than a year developing its SCP National Action Plan, supported throughout this process by SwitchMed. Wide-ranging discussions took place as part of developing this plan, including, for example, eight professional cross-sectoral workshops with more than 300 participants from the government, business, and NGOs. These workshops, and others like them, created professional networks that inspired ideas and plans, and provided practical knowledge to implementing SCP throughout the country. Switch to Circular Economy: Under SwitchMed II, a short document "How Israel is switching to a Circular Economy" was prepared to present an overview on how the country is implementing activities/policies/programs on SCP and Circular Economy. In this document you will see 10 success stories inspired by the work of SwitchMed in the State of Israel. They show how what began as awareness raising and in capacity building workshops developed into plans that created a ripple that flowed out around the country. This short publication shows that opportunities for countries from sustainable consumption and production are rich and varied. The Switch to SCP is off and running. SwitchMed is proud to have supported Israel in its work to build a society where people and planet thrive and prosper together. Sustainable consumption and production is no longer just something discussed in meeting rooms. Now it is happening on the ground, across business and industry, in cities and regions, reducing pollution, improving the air we breathe, and promoting better use of nature’s gifts through resource-efficient and low-carbon consumption and production practices.   SCP-NAP demonstration projects: The implementation of the plan is ongoing through selected projects and initiatives on Environmentally Efficient Restaurants and Dining Establishments, Green Label for Businesses, Sustainable Industrial Zones and Sustainable Public Procurement in collaboration with Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection.  A Green Restaurants Guidebook was developed to help restaurant owners and dining establishments to take their first steps in the world of environmental sustainability. Better environmental performance on the part of businesses, and restaurants attracts a new environmental public awareness and allows customers to take sustainability into account when making their choices. An online platform which guides SMEs in acquiring a Green Label  was set up by the Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo. This online platform/app guides business owners in an 'Environmental-Streamlining Process' which they could do independently in terms of energy, water, cleaning products, inventory management and waste reduction as well as paper products. Once they have prepared their businesses they can opt to receive the Green Label for their institution. The Green label initiative can easily be replicated and adapted to other municipalities and other countries with a relative low cost. A Manual for the design of Sustainable Industrial Zones was developed. In the manual, planners and managers of industrial zones are presented with detailed specifications on energy, water, wastewater, waste, transportation and environmental management for the development of a sustainable industrial zone. The manual aims to assist industrial zones in improving their sustainability while encouraging the development and use of advanced technology that result in improved environmental performance, operational and economic efficiency, savings in money and resources, financial gain and competitive advantages. Sustainable public procurement (SPP): The Ministry of Environmental Protection assisted local authorities to incorporate sustainable public procurement tenders into their process and to build the infrastructure needed to expand the use of such tenders in the local government: mapping and identification of relevant and significant tenders, preparation of guiding documents in Hebrew for local authorities and trainings for local authorities. In 2016-2017, the Ministry of Environmental Protection conducted 10 workshops for procurement managers in local authorities. The unique procurement needs of the local government were discussed and priorities for the preparation of green product sheets were set. More than 50 local authorities from the different geographical districts (North, Haifa, Center, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and South district) took part. For detailed project information please download the factsheets of the demo projects.
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layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 13 hours ago



Water scarcity is emerging as the decisive constraint for sustainable construction, displacing carbon as the primary performance metric. The UN’s warning of “water bankruptcy” signals a structural change in sustainable building design, compelling architects and developers to integrate hydrology into whole life carbon assessment, life cycle cost analysis, and lifecycle assessment frameworks. In the US Mountain West, developers are aligning growth strategies with landscape and water systems, embedding eco-design for buildings into procurement criteria. This design shift links embodied carbon and water resilience, advancing environmental sustainability in construction through locally grounded strategies.

In India, landslide-hit townships demonstrate the critical link between ecological restoration and carbon footprint reduction. Rebuilding without integrating low carbon design or sustainable material specification perpetuates the environmental impact of construction. Robust life cycle thinking in construction, balance between embodied carbon in materials and renewable building materials, and circular economy in construction models are now essential to mitigate repeated loss.

Corporates are repositioning net zero carbon buildings as standard infrastructure, not demonstration projects. The Redmond tech campus redevelopment applies sustainable building practices across the portfolio, leveraging low carbon construction materials, resource efficiency in construction, and energy-efficient buildings to deliver measurable reductions in whole life carbon. Residential projects adopting standardised, industrialised manufacturing reflect mature sustainable urban development models that combine social value with building lifecycle performance.

Fragmented policy frameworks remain a major barrier to decarbonising the built environment. Divergent approaches to electrified buildings and green construction incentives distort investment flows, inflating costs and reducing certainty for carbon neutral construction. Cities attempting to achieve net zero whole life carbon targets while ensuring equity highlight the socio-economic dimension of environmental sustainability in construction.

The strategic blueprint for the sector centres on integrating water budgets, hazard mapping, and circular construction strategies with carbon planning. Clean power agreements must underpin low carbon building operations, while standardised housing typologies informed by BREEAM v7 and environmental product declarations (EPDs) will align with whole life carbon metrics. Embedding resilience through context-driven, eco-friendly construction fosters green infrastructure and long-term sustainability in the built environment.

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