Israel

A POLITICALLY TROUBLED country since its inception in 1948, Israel is nevertheless a progressive nation. Israel's early commitment to environmentalism is in line with its progressiveness. The Israel Environmental Protection Service was established in 1973, and the Ministry of the Environment, largely responsible for monitoring compliance with the nation's environmental laws, began operating in 1988. The country is also a signatory to many international environmental agreements, including Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, and Ozone Layer Protection. But air and water pollution remain a problem. Israel's power consumption has increased 7.5 percent per year since 1990, the highest rate in the developed world, and its contributions to global warming doubled during the same period.