Environment Minister Yossi Sarid has assured Greenpeace that Israel will reduce its production of a pesticide that the environmental group warns has been harming the ozone layer.
Israeli production of methyl bromide, a chemical used for crop-dusting and pest control, will be reduced by 1995 to 1991 production levels, Sarid said.
Sarid made the comments during a meeting with members of Greenpeace aboard the group’s flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, which arrived in Haifa on Friday for a four-day visit to Israel.
To promote Greenpeace’s project to preserve the Mediterranean’s goals, the flagship has embarked on a four-month cruise of Mediterranean countries.
“We have not come here to cause disturbances,” said Mike Damato, the head of Greenpeace’s project.
“We just want to study Israel’s environmental problems,” he said. “Only our Israeli members and friends can decide if we need to organize protest demonstrations.”
Greenpeace has reportedly cited Israel’s methyl bromide production, at a plant near the Dead Sea, as playing a major role in the destruction of the world’s ozone layer.
Sarid told the Greenpeace members that he doubted Israel was a major cause of the destruction of the ozone layer.
However, he said, “We are as concerned for the world as anyone else. When the world decides to stop using methyl bromide, Israel won’t be the last to cooperate.”
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