By: Batir Wardam

The year 2009 can be better described, from an environmental perspective as the year when Jordan finally opened its eyes to the threats of Climate change. After years of neglect, denial and lack of data Jordan has realized through a concerted effort backed by global momentum that climate change is a clear and imminent danger to the environment and development in Jordan.

For many years Jordan has neglected the issue of climate change due to three major reasons. The first one was the fact that Jordan is facing many acute socio-economic and environmental problems that need to be rapidly addressed and fixed, which put the long-term impacts of climate change at the lower level of priorities. Second, Jordan was lacking political power to address climate change seriously and was mainly content with echoing the "denialist" approach developed by many other Arab countries, mainly oil producing ones that wanted to marginalize climate change from the regional environmental agenda to protect the global demand for oil. Thirdly Jordan was lacking the scientific basis for documenting the actual and projected impacts and scenarios of climate change and the absence of well researched data contributed to a big gap of knowledge.

The three barriers were removed this year. Jordan has finally managed to publish updated data on the current and projected impacts of climate change through the Second National Communication Report that was submitted to the secretariat of the climate change convention and included information on the sources of greenhouse gas emissions, potential mitigation measures, scenarios for the next 40 years and potential adaptation measures in the areas of water, agriculture, health and socio-economic dimensions. According to the report Jordan  is expected to witness a 1-2°C increase in temperatures by 2030-2050, resulting in diminished aquifers and surface water bodies, reduced vegetation cover, and the transformation of semi-arid lands, some 80 per cent of the country's total area, into arid deserts .

The political momentum for climate change kept increasing with an active role played by the Ministry of Environment at both the national and regional levels to incorporate climate change into development planning. A series of events, workshops and campaigns assisted in raising the portfolio of climate change especially as donors were actively involved in the process. The build up to the Copenhagen summit resulted in increased public awareness but the process was given a greatest boost with the support from higher political decision making levels that culminated in a historic speech by HM King Abdullah II, delivered by HRH Prince Hamza at the Copenhagen summit that included a roadmap for environmental planning and addressing climate change in Jordan.

This year witnessed also an important breakthrough in reducing carbon emissions from the transport sector with the introduction of hybrid cars in Jordan. According to figures by the Jordan Customs Department (JCD), a total of 4,796 hybrid cars have been cleared from the free zone since the beginning of 2009, with 859, or 18 per cent of the total number, entering the market between December 1 and 21. The rise was supported by the government's decision to abolish customs fees on hybrid cars for environmental reasons. Debate however has been raised about the "environmental value" of introducing big hybrid cars with more than 2,000 cc of engine size. The former Minister of Environment Khalid Irani has raised concerns that demand of luxury hybrid cars is not serving the environmental purpose but there were no concrete actions by the Ministry of Finance to introduce new levies on big engine cars. For consumers, they can be both environmentally friendly and luxurious!!

Jordan has started to reap the benefits from joining Kyoto protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Jordan has received 1.5 million euros in return for selling carbon credits from the Aqaba Thermal Power Station, the first Jordanian venture registered as a Clean Development Mechanism. The plant is expected to generate 23 million euros over the next five years. Within the same context Jordan has approved five programmes as part of the CDM to contribute to the reduction of around 3.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually and generate 100 million euros over the next five years.

For biodiversity and ecosystem conservation a decision was made to declare Yarmouk River as the 8^th national reserve in Jordan. The Yarmouk River nature reserve is rich in flora and fauna. It is home to 59 plants, 20 mammals, some of which are endangered, as well as 58 species of birds. The nature reserve, to be managed by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, will preserve trees and rare plants, as well as animals, particularly predators that are in danger of extinction both locally and regionally. Moreover, Wadi Rum reserve is currently in the process of being inscribed as a natural heritage site by UNESCO.

The long awaited Badia Restoration programme based on the environmental claims from the Gulf War 1990-1991 has started operation with 6 projects for baseline assessments that will be followed by practical restoration of rangelands in specific areas in the Badia. The crucial project for the integrated ecosystem management of the Jordan valley has been suffering from delays mainly by the Jordan valley Authority's plans for the Red-Dead canal. The project should create 4 additional national reserves in the Jordan valley area.

Jordan has created a Green Building Council that has been registered as a non-governmental environmental organization. The council will support the introduction and promotion of green building concepts in Jordan for conservation of water and energy resources in buildings. It is expected that this council will provide much needed guidelines for sustainable urbanization in Jordan.

This year has also witnessed the adoption of two important pieces of environmental legislation. The environmental enforcement bylaw governs the mechanism by which the Ministry of Environment and the Royal Management for Environmental Protection (formerly known as environmental police) will monitor environmental violations by industries and other developmental facilities and how such violators will be asked to perform  remediation measures to stop pollution. Another bylaw for the establishment of an environmental fund in Jordan defines the principles and guidelines for providing financial incentives for environmental protection projects and initiatives especially by small-medium scale industries.

At the borderline between water and environment, the environmental impact assessment studies for the Red-Dead canal are still underway, still not providing answers for the dispute over environmental impacts of the large project. The Disi water project will finally begin construction amidst a controversy over the presence of high concentration of radium isotopes in a few wells discovered by a team of Jordanian, Israeli and American scientists in February.

At the policy level the new water strategy 2008-2022 was adopted this year. The document entitled "Water for Life" outlines the country’s vision for a strategic and integrated approach to the sustainable management of water resources, as well, it reflects adoption of water demand management strategies for: greater understanding and more effective management of groundwater and surface water; a sustainable use of water resources, fair, affordable and cost-reflective water charges; and adaptation to increased population growth and economic development across the water sector and water users.

On the ground, the conditions of the environmental hotspots in Jordan have not improved substantially. The Zarqa River Basin is still subject to heavy pollution from domestic and industrial sources despite efforts from the Ministry of Environment and other agencies, while the Ekieder landfill in Irbid has benefited from the construction of an industrial waste treatment plant that will reduce the pressure on the landfill. Water and wastewater infrastructure in Zarqa will under go a huge improvement due to an influx of financial and technical support from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) as four contracts have been issued for the rehabilitation of sewage and domestic water networks, as well as the further expansion of the Khirbet As Samra wastewater treatment plant and the rehabilitation of water wells in Zarqa.

There are opportunities that are still being missed. Without the adoption of the ambitious renewable energy law –spent 4 months at the Parliament- investments in renewable energy (solar and wind) have not been materialized to the appropriate level. According to the National Energy Strategy Jordan needs to increase the share of renewable energy in the primary energy mix from 1% now to 10% in 2020 and that required massive investments in solar and wind energy. The draft law provides many tax and management incentives for investors but is still not adopted. It is becoming an obvious necessity that this particular law should be enacted, even as a temporary law.

The opportunities for recycling and reuse of wastes have not been realized yet due to the lack of an incentive-based legal and policy framework that supports the reuse practices and makes such initiatives a mainstream economic activity.  Jordan badly needs a revolutionary approach in waste management systems that can introduce the concept of waste reuse and providing networks for waste separation and collection to be incorporated as raw material and production resources in recycling industries.

Generally speaking the year 2009 can be considered as another slow step forward in enhanced environmental management in Jordan. The process has been slow but consistent in the past decade and it is always hoped that the impacts of the financial crises and the reduction of public capital expenditures will not result in a reduction of financial allocations for environmental initiatives that may derail the positive developments witnessed in the past few years.