“equal environment”: an environmental justice … · 2015-03-16 · evolution of environmental...

20 ISRAEL ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN | vol.32

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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE STRATEGY FOR ISRAELThe equitable distribution of environmental costs and benefits is at the heart of the Ministry of Environmental Protection’s environmental justice strategy

Can environmental policy help reduce social gaps in Israel? Can it help close gaps between the center and the periphery of the country? The answer, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, is a resounding yes.

Soon after entering office in 2013, outgoing Environmental Protection Minister MK Amir Peretz called for the formulation of an environmental justice strategy as a top priority. He was convinced of the inextricable link between environmental injustice and social injustice; he firmly believed that environmental justice means equal economic, social and environmental opportunities; and he was determined to translate his worldview into operative policy measures and tools.

Over the past year, the Ministry of Environmental Protection has taken the first steps towards integrating environmental justice principles in its programs, policies and actions. The goal of the program, dubbed “Equal Environment,” is to assure the equitable distribution of environmental costs and benefits among different population groups based on the conviction that each and every citizen has the right to clean

air and water, to habitable land, to free access to landscape and heritage sites, and to protection from environmental pollution and hazards.

The environmental justice strategy recognizes that environmental protection represents both a challenge and an opportunity – a challenge to reduce pollution, waste and deterioration and an opportunity to improve the environmental, social and economic quality of life of each and every citizen of Israel.

Toward an Environmental Justice Strategy

The notion of “environmental justice” was born in the U.S. in the mid-1980s in relation to the struggle for civil rights, and has since spread to countries around the world. Therefore, when preparing its environmental justice strategy, Israel began with an in-depth study of the evolution of environmental justice in the U.S. leading up to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) environmental justice plan, known as Plan EJ 2014.

At the same time, an environmental-social study focusing on Israel revealed

two realities: on the one hand, a notable lack of government activity on this issue, and on the other hand, a window of opportunity for effecting change. Asaf Tzachor, the strategy officer of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, attributes this possibility for change to a “special alignment of the stars, with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, socio-environmental NGOs, Israel’s social protest movement, rise in environmental consciousness and growing recognition of the link between environment and health, all aligned together. The time was ripe for putting environmental justice on Israel’s agenda."

The challenge required a multifaceted approach, says Tzachor. It was met by creating a conceptual framework and filling it with activities already pursued in the ministry complemented by strategic levers aimed at formulating a holistic plan for the ministry for the years to come. Drafting an environmental justice covenant between the government and its citizens was one such lever. Other levers included, among others, a waste management plan for minority and low-income communities, environmental national service, and education and capacity building.


www.environment.gov. i l

“EQUAL ENVIRONMENT”: AN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE STRATEGY FOR ISRAEL

Environmental Justice Covenant

Based on wide-ranging consultations with academics and NGOs in Israel, the Ministry of Environmental Protection recognized the need to draft an environmental justice covenant with definitions and principles that are consensually agreed upon by all stakeholders. In June of 2014, a draft covenant was published on the ministry’s consultation website for public scrutiny, comment and feedback. In parallel, the covenant was presented to Israel’s Knesset (Parliament) on the occasion of Environment Day on June 17, 2014, with discussions focusing on the link between social and environmental justice.

The covenant is based on the principles of justice, equality and freedom and rests on the foundation that a sound and sustainable environment is a prerequisite for individual wellbeing and an individual’s ability to exercise basic human rights.

National Environmental Service

Alongside the environmental justice cov-enant, which reflects the principles of the ministry’s “Equal Environment” agenda, the ministry was quick to seize opportu-nities to turn words into action. One of its first objectives was to raise environ-mental awareness among minority and low-income populations in Israel and to improve environmental quality in low ranking socio-economic communities. Studies the world over indicate that mi-nority and low-income populations are disproportionately exposed to environ-mental hazards. Therefore, the Ministry of Environmental Protection was deter-mined to close the gap between low and high socio-economic communities, between the center and the periphery, between religious, ultra-Orthodox and secular Jews, and between Arabs and Jews. National service in the field of the environment was deemed a driver of socio-economic mobility.

Draft Environmental Justice Principles1 Environmental justice mandates the recognition of the link between society

and the environment, and requires the distribution of all costs and benefits to be examined from the perspective of distributive justice;

2 Environmental justice mandates public environmental policy to be based on the principle of human dignity, and to be free of any form of discrimination or prejudice, including the drafting, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws and regulations;

3 Environmental justice mandates the preservation of the individual's right to equality and liberty to enjoy environmental benefits, including equal access to ecosystem services, natural resources, cultural, heritage and landscape assets, and environmental infrastructure;

4 Environmental justice mandates the preservation of the individual’s right not to bear a disproportionate and unequal burden of environmental costs, including exposure to pollutants, hazards, and hazardous materials;

5 Environmental justice calls for the integration of the precautionary principle and for the treatment of environmental hazards at the source of their creation;

6 Environmental justice mandates wise and sustainable use of natural resources and land, while protecting biodiversity and open spaces;

7 Environmental justice mandates the recognition of the need to integrate suitable and balanced environmental considerations in planning and land management processes;

8 Environmental justice calls for the internalization of environmental costs in the price of economic services and products and for internalization of the polluter pays principle and the extended producer responsibility principle;

9 Environmental justice requires the protection of the individual's right to fair compensation for damages from environmental hazards;

10Environmental justice mandates the protection of the right of an employee, in every economic sector, to a safe and healthy work environment;

11Environmental justice calls for the protection of the right to a safe and healthy educational environment;

12Environmental justice mandates protection of the public's right to environmen-tal, health and planning information;

13Environmental justice mandates public participation in decision-making processes, including needs assessment, planning, implementation, enforcement, and evaluation of national and local policy;

14Environmental justice mandates us, as a country, as communities, as organizations and as individuals, to participate in setting social, educational, cultural, and economic priorities, in order to ensure a suitable and healthy environment for the present generation and for future generations;

15Environmental justice mandates making every effort toward direct cooperation with Israel's neighboring countries and others, when suitable political conditions exist, or when such conditions are absent to undertake activities, through international entities, based on the concept of a transboundary environment.

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In line with this vision, the ministry set out to introduce a new track of civilian national service in the field of the environment, which would be specifically targeted at the Israeli Arab and ultra-Orthodox Jewish populations. The program, which is based on the Swiss and Norwegian models of environmental-national service, will be implemented by the Volunteer Association, which is dedicated to empowering Israeli society through volunteerism, in general, and within the framework of civilian national service, in particular.

Beginning with 50 women from the Bed-ouin sector in the south, the environmen-tal service program is slated to expand to some 500 volunteers in coming years. The program has a double objective: promoting environmental awareness and environmental improvement in mi-nority communities and qualifying the volunteers with the necessary skills and experience to integrate in the workforce

following their national service. During the course of their service, volunteers trained by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel will serve as environ-mental ambassadors in their respective communities, demonstrating, among others, the immediate financial savings at the household level that can go along with environmental protection. They will come to every house to help change the environmental culture and promote en-vironmentally sustainable practices.

An initial budget of NIS 3 million (about $850,000) per year for a period of three years has already been allocated to the program. Funds will be directed toward education and information, both in the formal and informal educational systems, with special focus on households themselves by means of door-to-door education. Similarly, attention will concentrate on capacity building for environmental leadership, both urban and communal, with the aim of

promoting sustainability and wise waste management.

Environmental Justice in Waste Management

One of the main goals of the “Equal Environment” plan is to upgrade the environment in low socio-economic communities and the geographic and social periphery. “To a large extent, waste is the practical expression of the ministry’s environmental justice strategy,” says Yoram Hurvitz, Senior Deputy Director for Local Government, Education and Community at the ministry. “Waste is the most visible in terms of its physical presence. It represents a culture, a way of life. In minority villages, there are no waste containers, there is no separation at source, there is no waste collection system, there is no recycling.” Residents dump their waste at the outskirts of the village or burn it near their homes due to the absence of waste collection infrastructure, lack of budget and low environmental awareness. It is no wonder that the Ministry of Environmental Protection has identified waste management in non-Jewish communities as a major strategic lever in its environmental justice plan.

Some 1.6 million Arab, Druze and Bedouin citizens live in 85 local authorities in Israel, most of them ranking very low on the socio-economic scale. They generate some 1.4 million tons of waste each year, most of which accumulates in streets, forests, streams and open spaces or is illegally burned, resulting in air pollution and soil and groundwater contamination. Residents suffer, tourism is harmed, economic development slows down and social and environmental gaps widen. To help close the gap, government decisions have focused on development plans for the non-Jewish sector, but the environmental dimension of the problem was lacking.

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To advance its environmental justice program, the ministry chose to initially focus on the Bedouin population in Israel’s south. Some 200,000 Bedouin live in the Negev in the vicinity of Beersheba. Half of them reside in seven veteran townships with approved plans and developed infrastructure, and 50,000 live in recognized villages, which lack the most basic environmental infrastructure and services. Residents have no waste bins, no waste collection, no open land for rest and recreation. “Rats, flies and other pests are drawn to illegal waste piles in the area,” says Sharon Plutnitsky, waste coordinator in the ministry’s southern district. “The toxins emitted by the burning of trash reach levels three times higher than the pollution emitted by factories in the Neot Hovav industrial zone which houses some of Israel’s major industries, including the chemical industry. Toxic gases reach Bedouin homes and nearby Israeli homes. The pollution does not discriminate between low-income and high-income areas.”

In light of these unacceptable environmental conditions, the Ministry of Environmental Protection prepared to act. It did so by focusing on waste in its widest sense and drafting a comprehensive program based on a combination of infrastructure development, education and enforcement. “There are very few projects that can reach every home,” says Plutnitsky. “We recognized that any investment of money would improve conditions. Any improvement would represent a major leap forward. Therefore, we formulated a plan and set out to implement it.”

Government Decisions

A major breakthrough in the struggle for environmental justice came in the wake of a July 2013 amendment to the Maintenance of Cleanliness Law whereby up to 35% of the money collected in the ministry’s Maintenance of Cleanliness Fund can be used for the “treatment of waste hazards and the establishment of

infrastructure for treating waste in local authorities which belong to 1-4 clusters,” identified by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics as ranking low on the socio-economic scale. The amendment enabled the launch of programs targeted at the non-Jewish sector which aim to upgrade waste collection and treatment systems, without need for matching funds, in order to reduce gaps between local authorities and populations.

A government decision taken on July 14, 2013 saw the allocation of some NIS 40 million (more than $10 million) toward the planning and implementation of a waste treatment system in the Bedouin sector in Israel’s south with budgets coming from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Interior. A year later, in a June 8, 2014 government decision, an additional budgetary allocation of NIS 42.5 million was approved, based on plans made and experience accumulated, bringing the total to some NIS 83 million.

Government Decisions and Legislation: Stepping Toward Environmental Justice› July 31, 2013: An amendment to the 1984 Maintenance of Cleanliness Law

increases the amount of money that may be allocated toward basic waste treatment in low-ranking socio-economic localities, without need for matching funds from the local authorities themselves.

› July 14, 2013: Government Decision No. 546 on the development of Israel’s Negev region includes an allocation of NIS 40 million between the years 2013-2017 for a waste treatment system in two regional councils and seven Bedouin localities in the south.

› March 23, 2014: Government Decision No. 1496 allocates NIS 101 million for waste treatment in 30 Arab, Druse and Bedouin communities in the north and center of the country in the first stage. An additional budget of NIS 100 million for another 43 communities was later approved for the second stage of the program.

› June 8, 2014: Government Decision No. 1696 adds another NIS 42.5 million to the funds allocated to Bedouin communities in Decision No. 546.

Waste removal from underground bin/Photo: Omri Zilberman, eco-vision




The additional funds are allocated for river rehabilitation and development of community gardens, treatment of carcasses, infrastructure for the collection, treatment and removal of municipal solid waste, organic waste treatment, and education and information.

In another major breakthrough, a comprehensive waste treatment plan for 30 communities – Arab, Druze and Bedouin – that rank low on the socio-economic scale was initiated by the Ministry of Environmental Protection on

March 23, 2014. Unanimously approved by the government, the plan allocates some NIS 101 million (about $26 million) to these localities, most of them in the north and center of the country, for waste collection and recycling infrastructure, rehabilitation and removal of waste hazards, education and information, professional training, and inspection and enforcement. Based on progress made, the program, which is based on government cooperation, multi-annual planning, an administrative system for waste treatment, establishment of

infrastructure and effective enforcement, has been expanded to another 43 local authorities with an allocation of an additional NIS 100 million.

What’s been Done?

Budgetary allocations based on the government decisions are already beginning to make a difference. As a first step, a pilot project was initiated in two villages in two regional councils in the Negev: Umm Battin, one of seven recognized Bedouin villages in the Al Kasum Regional Council, and Qasr al-Sir, one of four recognized Bedouin villages in the Never Midbar Regional Council. Based on discussions with local leadership groups, plans for a collection and recycling system in these areas were completed and implementation is in progress.

The project is unique, says Sharon Plutnisky, not only because matching funds are not required but because the heads of local authorities are given the discretion to use the funds, within the framework of defined criteria, as they see fit. “Our first aim was to build trust between the Bedouin sector and the

Inauguration of a Waste Treatment System in Bedouin VillagesJust prior to leaving his post, former Environmental Protection Minister MK Amir Peretz arrived in Umm Batin, northeast of Beersheba, to launch a unique project in the Al Kasum Regional Council in Israel’s Negev: a waste treatment and recycling system that will turn waste into biogas for the benefit of the Bedouin population living in the south of Israel. The project brings compact anaerobic digesters for the production of biogas as well as a modern waste collection system based on

advanced, underground bins to an area of the country in which waste collection and recycling were previously unknown. The unit, developed by HomeBioGas TM Ltd., converts organic waste to biogas for cooking, heating and electricity.

The unique project has already generated interest in the Dominican Republic, with 50 units ordered as part of a pilot project to reduce deforestation and provide clean energy. The project was also presented to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon during his visit to Israel in the summer of 2014.

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state,” he says. “This was done through meetings with the heads of the villages, fully involving them in the process. The leaders of the villages and heads of the local authorities in the region recognized the opportunity to make a difference and chose to act on it.”

To date, some 110 underground waste containers, with separate compartments for packaging waste and other waste, have been installed in Umm Battin and more recently in Drejat; individual guidance on waste disposal and management in the homes of residents is ongoing; information, education and cleanup campaigns have been launched; sacks for the collection and removal of construction and demolition (C&D) waste have been distributed to residents; and in-house anaerobic digestion units for the production of cooking gas from organic waste have been installed in several individual homes and in a school. Significantly, the cooking gas project is accompanied by a research study to determine the efficacy of this organic waste treatment method, both on the biological-operational level and on the socio-economic level.

Plans are now on the table for upgrading and expanding the program, with advanced solutions such as bin

identification systems and possibilities for composting facilities in schools. Most importantly, the local population has taken ownership of the bins. The visibility of orange packaging waste bins provides them with a sense of commitment and pride. In fact, the packaging waste stream separated in Umm Battin is of especially high quality when compared to the waste separated in other localities in Israel.

Similarly, all seven townships in the Bedouin sector, including Rahat, Tel Sheva, Aro’er, Keseifa, Segev Shalom, Hura and Lakiya, have prepared waste management plans for their areas until 2017, with local solutions to locally-identified problems. Based on an allocation of NIS 1.3 million to each of the towns, budgets are already going toward education and information, purchase and upgrading of waste collection containers, bins and street cleaning vehicles, including a refrigerated truck for carcasses, clean-up campaigns, and advanced surveillance and enforcement equipment.

Additional funds, totaling NIS 22.4 million are being used for a range of regional activities including rehabilitation and removal of waste hazards, recycling infrastructure, educational activities and establishment of an association of towns for the environment. A central tool in the

struggle for environmental betterment is the establishment of new associations of towns for the environment and the strengthening of existing ones, says Yoram Hurvitz. Two such associations are planned for the Bedouin sector in the south and for non-Jewish populations in the north in the Nazareth area. “The idea is to teach them to fish, not to give them fish,” he says. “We will help the units build the necessary mechanisms to function well, we will strengthen their professional ability and we will train inspectors. The intention is to build a professional environmental municipal system that will best serve minority communities.”

The funds allocated to the program are also facilitating the progress of cleanup and rehabilitation plans for rivers near the Bedouin communities, such as the Hebron River. Waste and sewage flow through the river, causing odors, pollu-tion and environmental hazards. To date, cleanup operations have begun and a bridge with separate lanes for pedestrians and vehicles has been constructed above the river. However, much more is needed. Plans call for establishment of a riverside park with promenades, play and meeting areas, and sport facilities. Here too, pub-lic participation plays an important part. Decisions on park facilities will be based on questionnaires distributed to the resi-

“Equal Environment”: First Steps› Allocating government funds toward the collection, treatment and recycling of

household waste in low socio-economic ranking communities, without need for matching funds.

› Launching of a national environmental service program, aimed at reaching 500 volunteers, to provide environmental education and capacity building to these communities, while affording volunteers from the Arab and ultra-Orthodox Jewish sectors skills that will help integrate them into the workforce.

› Providing government support to social-environmental businesses that do not rely on contributions but earn the money necessary to run the organization.

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dents, and will take full consideration of their cultural traditions and expectations. And the cleanup itself, coupled with the necessary enforcement, is expected to deter the continued contamination and neglect of the river, providing the coun-try’s Bedouin population with a much needed open area for leisure and recre-ation.

Most importantly, master plans for environmental improvement are in preparation in each of the local authorities. Information on existing conditions and desired changes is more accessible and local authority heads are using this information to help effect

changes, including lowered costs, greater efficiency, better service to residents and more effective enforcement.

Social-Environmental Businesses

A social business is defined as a not-for-profit organization, which uses the business model to generate income to promote a social goal. There are dozens of social businesses in Israel which pro-mote environmental goals and are active in the economic-geographic periphery. They deal with environmental education, waste recycling, urban sustainable agri-culture, energy and water efficiency, pro-motion of renewable energy, develop-

ment of environmental tech-nologies. However these busi-nesses find it difficult to obtain bank financing, lack business experience and encounter regulatory obstacles. Plans call for setting up a venture capi-tal fund for the financing of social-environmental projects, establishing an interministerial action team to remove regula-tory boundaries together with the JDC Institute for Leader-ship and Governance and pre-paring a plan for professional consultation for social-envi-ronmental projects

Moving toward Environmental Justice

The “Equal Environment” program is one of the main strategies of the ministry, says Yoram Hurvitz. It crosses departments, just as the environment crosses physical and disciplinary boundaries. It touches upon the work of each and every ministry department and impacts on each and every ministry activity. The idea is to scan all

of the ministry’s activities and integrate environmental justice into programs, policies and activities in all areas. Crash courses aimed at capacity building within the ministry have already been designed for the purpose of acquainting everyone in the ministry with the program – beginning with a definition of environmental justice and proceeding to a demonstration of how departmental agendas should correspond with the principles of environmental justice.

The strategic approach taken by the ministry to introduce the concept of environmental justice and promote strategic initiatives sits within the “learning school,” says Asaf Tzachor. "We see the formation of projects as an emergent process. Practitioners pay close attention to those initiatives that work and to those that do not work. Then, we modify the overall strategy. The small steps, evidence-based policy making suits the complex reality in Israel and suits our ministry.”

Ongoing collaborations, socio-economic and anthropological research, and plenty of interviews were inherent parts of the process. First-hand knowledge, born of visits to the geographic periphery and to Arab communities to see the impacts of social and environmental injustice in the field, has led to the development of a plethora of tools. A tailor-made strat-egy for a tailor-made agenda was devel-oped which will hopefully lead to long-lasting improvements in Israel’s social and geographic periphery. The Ministry of Environmental Protection is proud to have spearheaded this flagship initiative. However, the challenge of implementa-tion requires intra-government and inter-sectoral cooperation. Coordinated efforts among all stakeholders – local and central government, economic, social and envi-ronmental organizations and the general public – are prerequisites for the success of Israel’s environmental justice agenda.

Poster message: We care for our environment just as we care for our home


“equal environment”: an environmental justice … · 2015-03-16 · evolution of environmental...

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