JERUSALEM, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Israel's government decided on Sunday to adopt and implement its strategic plans a long range of global sustainable development indicators, as set by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 for the year 2030.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, together with the state's Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led the Israeli decision, titled "Integrating the UN development goals into governance improvement and strategic planning processes in the government."
Netanyahu said that "the UN has set criteria in water management, agriculture, health, biotechnology, sewage treatment and other fields. In some of these measures, we are very advanced and ahead of the UN, but in other cases, we must catch up."
The Israeli prime minister added that "the decision makes it possible to lead Israel to become one of the world leaders in essential fields, and therefore I asked to integrate this into the government's plans."
Zeev Elkin, the Israeli minister of environmental protection, said that "the decision will enable us to measure ourselves according to international standards, and it is also an important political step that places Israel at the forefront of international action in sustainable development."
According to the decision, after the Israeli government will define the strategic issues for its term in assessing the socio-economic strategic situation, the relevant ministers will propose indicators for strategic directions of action and to assist all government ministries in the integration process.
The indicators will be developed according to the standards and rules of international reporting as determined by the competent UN bodies and accompanied by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics.
