City joins international environmental pact

Ra'anana has taken a number of steps to reduce pollution, including discouraging the use of cars and encouraging the use of bicycles in the city.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Ra'anana has joined an international municipal pact to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases and introduce environmentally friendly measures, reports www.local.co.il. The ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) pact, which has been signed by some 700 local authorities worldwide since it was launched in 1990, commits members to reducing their pollution and emissions by 20 percent by the year 2020. According to the report, Ra'anana has taken a number of steps to reduce pollution, including discouraging the use of cars and encouraging the use of bicycles in the city, committing itself to "clean" public transport vehicles and electric scooters for municipal inspectors, experimenting with solar-powered street lighting, and installing energy-saving devices in all public buildings. The report said Ra'anana's municipal electricity consumption fell by 7.4 percent in 2006 and is expected to have fallen by a further 6% in 2007.