Mayor Ron Huldai and representatives of companies involved in the Leadership Forum
Chaired by Mayor Ron Huldai and senior officials of some of the city's largest tech companies, Tel Aviv Yafo launched a joint Leadership Forum to ramp up the development of innovative and groundbreaking climate solutions, while supporting local business and community resilience.
As a cohort city of the City-Business Climate Alliance (CBCA) network, the Municipality of Tel Aviv Yafo in Israel is working hard to drive climate action and reduce emissions. Since joining the networking in 2019, the city has received support from C40 Cities, CDP and WBCSD to identify opportunities to engage the private sector, and learn from global best practice. The city has engaged in 8 workshops and webinars, and received best practice advice from existing partnerships, including Helsinki Smart & Clean. In 2022, the city came second in a ranking of the world’s best clean-tech ecosystems, and it is now looking to harness this innovative business ecosystem to drive ambitious climate targets.
As part of these efforts, the city published a Climate Adaptation Action Plan in 2020 which provides a comprehensive picture of the city’s climate threats, and details to manage heat loads and the intensity changes in rainfall. The municipality is currently preparing its first Mitigation Plan, which sets clear science-based targets for the decarbonisation of the city and actions to tackle climate change.
However, city governments cannot achieve these ambitious plans and targets alone, and working together with local businesses, communities, and unions is crucial to address climate challenges and build resilient and prosperous communities.
Mayor Ron Huldai explains the climate challenges facing in Tel Aviv Yafo
Around 50% of Tel Aviv Yafo’s energy consumption comes from the private sector, and local businesses also have a lot of influence over how employees travel, eat, and interact with the city. In order to collaborate more closely with businesses to achieve Tel Aviv Yafo’s climate targets, and build on the city’s position as a world-leading tech hub, the municipality issued a call last November, 2022, inviting major tech companies to join their leadership forum initiative. Amongst others, the diverse group of companies include: Check Point, Wix, Google, ironSource (Unity), Imperva, Meta, monday.com, Salesforce, Tipalti, Via, and Microsoft.
The city’s Climate Leadership Forum will bring these businesses together with city officials to focus on key priorities including:
Emissions reduction in business operations, through transport, buildings and energy efficiency
Preparation for climate impacts through joint work on urban nature, cooling the city, and flooding
Encouraging sustainable lifestyles, at work and home
Innovation and green growth
The work of the Leadership Forum will be co-created over the coming months.
"The climate crisis is already here. The decisions we make now affect the consequences of the crisis in the future. I welcome the willingness of the tech companies to join the Leadership Forum, to lead change. We are embarking together on a joint process in which we will create groundbreaking projects for the city and its residents, in a joint effort for the sake of the climate and the environment. " said Mayor Ron Huldai
For any inquiries on Tel Aviv Yafo Climate Leadership Forum, please contact: Ayelet Arieli Inbar, Sustainable Business & Innovation Tel Aviv Yafo