Israel will be sending a delegation to the Copenhagen Conference. President Shimon Peres has expressed an interest in leading it but Prime Minister Netanyahu has not yet decided if he will attend.

Following a report last week on Israel’s carbon abatement by global consulting company McKinsey, Environment Minister Gilad Erdan has recommended that the government “spearheads a true environmental revolution” by establishing a reduction target of 37 per cent of total greenhouse emissions by 2030.

The report found that renewable energy in Israel must reach 25 per cent of the country’s total power generation capacity in order to allow it to reduce 66 per cent of the anticipated increase in greenhouse gas emissions until 2030. Britain’s goal is to reduce carbon emission by 34 per cent in 2020.

The government also plans to cut carbon emissions substantially by 2020, and said 40 per cent of the country’s electricity by then would come from renewable sources.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has proposed a fund to help poorer countries tackle climate change.