Position Paper

The Managing Committee of the Goldman-Sonnenfeld School for Sustainability and Climate Change is aware that since the Industrial Revolution, the Earth has undergone processes of warming and climate change. These exceed the pace and intensity of the climatic periodicity that characterized the last million years and are caused by the emission of greenhouse gases resulting from human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels.

The Managing Committee of the Goldman Sonnenfeld School for Sustainability and Climate Change expresses concern that the continued emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere will lead to further increases in the Earth's average temperature. This, in turn, will cause rising sea levels, changes in rainfall patterns, melting of glaciers, and an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events worldwide. Therefore, there is a real concern about adapting Earth's conditions for human, productive, and sustainable existence in the future. The Committee is aware of the impact of these changes on open spaces and agricultural areas across the Earth, harming biological diversity and the functioning of ecological systems, consequently affecting food production and the healthy and sustainable existence of humans as individuals, communities, and societies. Furthermore, the Committee recognizes that climate changes affect different groups in society unequally.

Therefore, the Managing Committee of the Goldman Sonnenfeld School for Sustainability and Climate Change commits to promoting basic and applied research in the field of climate change, examining its effects and ways to cope with these changes. Additionally, the Committee is committed to promoting optimal education on environmental, climate, and sustainability issues and to disseminating information through diverse educational programs. The Committee commits to disseminating to the general public, professional ranks in government and public bodies, and policy-making and decision-making levels, the results and conclusions of its researchers' studies. All this is to enable a clearer understanding of the magnitude of the changes in Israel, the region, and the world, to promote ways of dealing with them, and to find solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the current situation, which brings with it ecological, health, economic, social challenges, and impacts on vulnerable populations.