Skip to main content

Department of State

The Hon. Tahesha Way, Lt. Governor and Secretary of State

The New Jersey-Israel Commission Cosponsors the First Ever Climate Summit Connecting Local and Israeli Leadership

In Partnership with MILE Ventures, the Climate180 Turning Point Summit Brought Together Top Israeli Innovators and New Jersey Leaders to Address the Urgent Climate Crisis

Trenton, N.J. - (June 2, 2022) – With the goal of fostering and generating an ongoing meeting place combining technology, capital, and government to meet our urgent climate crisis, the New Jersey-Israel Commission partnered with MILE Ventures to launch the first ever Climate 180 Turning Point Summit, featuring a delegation of cutting edge Israeli sustainability technology companies. The historic conference included regional thought leaders, New Jersey and Israeli government officials, and private sector executives including BIRD Foundation grant recipients who discussed technologies and innovations that can be deployed to respond to the dangers of climate change.

Climate 180 is a business first forum focusing on collaborative models between public and private stakeholders in order to solve for and deliver impactful and immediate change for energy and environment. The goal of the May 2022 Climate 180 forum was to foster and generate an ongoing meeting place where real challenges can be met by the merging of technology, capital and government.

Panels and speakers discussed the future of energy, sustainability, and climate related technologies in addition to the role of government, academia and the private sector in responding to the challenges faced by climate change in New Jersey, Israel and beyond.

The conference stands as another example of New Jersey leading globally in the urgent need to tackle the climate crisis, this time through the State’s key partnership with the State of Israel.

Key speakers during the summit’s sessions included:

  • Rick Thigpen, Senior Vice President for Corporate Citizenship, PSE&G
  • Commissioner Bob Gordon, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities
  • Deputy Commissioner Sean Moriarty, Legal, Regulatory, and Legislative Affairs, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
  • Ambassador Asaf Zamir, Consul General of Israel in New York
  • Andrea Yonah, Northeast Director, BIRD Foundation

The conference was an opportunity to reaffirm the New Jersey-Israel Commission’s commitment to joining Governor Phil Murphy’s pledges and actions to safeguard New Jersey, its residents, and economy as we face increasingly complex and dangerous environmental threats caused by global warming. As New Jersey responds, the Commission will continue to leverage cutting edge Israeli innovation to build partnerships and seek opportunities that benefit the Garden State.

“New Jersey, under Governor Murphy, is always looking for opportunities to foster technological innovation, particularly in clean energy. There is no better way to advance our clean energy goals than by promoting partnerships with cutting-edge Israeli R&D companies,” said Commissioner Bob Gordon, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. “I congratulate the New Jersey-Israel Commission and Climate 180 for bringing all the key parties together so that we can explore the potential for collaboration.”

“It was truly an honor to join our partners at the New Jersey-Israeli Commission, Climate 180 and a diverse group of innovators to discuss our shared goal of addressing the climate threats we face,” said Deputy Commissioner Sean Moriarty, Legal, Regulatory, and Legislative Affairs, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. “The Turning Point Summit provided the perfect forum to highlight that our only path to solving our existential climate crisis is to work collaboratively across government, business and international borders – together.”

“It was an honor to join the Climate 180 conference, said Ambassador Asaf Zamir, Consul General of Israel in New York. “While all the nations of the world are dealing with these grave issues, for the young and vibrant State of Israel, environmentalism and sustainability has never been a political fad. The founders of the Jewish State, from day one, needed to solve our sustainability challenges and we will continue to do so in the future.”

“I applaud the New Jersey-Israel Commission’s commitment to using its resources and talent to join our combined fight against the climate crisis,” said Acting New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way. “Through innovation and new partnerships like these, we will ensure our communities are protected from the dangerous impact global warming is wreaking on our planet.”

“From what we have seen over the past five years, and our experience working with investors and cleantech companies that are continuing to grow within the Israeli ecosystem, it is clear more than ever that the collaboration between public and private sectors is needed,” said Morielle Lotan, Founder, MILE Ventures and Climate 180. “We know that success in scale and scope for solutions to meet our shared climate crisis will only come about by intimately knowing the stakeholders, and creating the types of thinking sessions that our day in New Jersey made available.”

“I was proud to see our Commission leading in this important way and tackling global warming head on,” said Karin Elkis, Co-Chair, New Jersey-Israel Commission. “We stand together with Governor Murphy and his Administration in our combined fight against climate change.”

“This conference is another example of how Israeli technology is able to save lives and maybe our planet as well,” said Mark S. Levenson, Co-Chair, New Jersey-Israel Commission. “We must continue to think creatively to meet this urgent threat, both in New Jersey and in Israel.”

“As we face the urgent climate crisis facing our state, collaborations with our friends in Israel can lead to important insights and new tools we can deploy,” said Andrew H Gross, Executive Director of the New Jersey-Israel Commission. “We will continue to look at Israeli innovation and solutions and bring them to the Garden State.”


About the New Jersey-Israel Commission
The New Jersey-Israel Commission was established in 1989 to implement the goals of the New Jersey-Israel Sister State Agreement and is under the administration of New Jersey Department of State. The Commission promotes the development of trade, culture and educational exchanges; encourages the development of capital investment and joint business ventures; and fosters a spirit of cooperation between the citizens of the State of Israel and the State of New Jersey.

nj.gov/state/njic.shtml

About MILE Ventures
MILE Ventures is a global ecosystem that works with startups, investors and government decision makers to catapult strategic growth.

www.mile-ventures.com/

 


Back
to top