Jordan is counting on foreign investment as one of its main development drivers. The country is short in natural resources and is currently putting high emphasis on developing a regional trade and business hub. The most growing sectors are basic services (telecommunication, electricity, etc…) with important added values in tourism, real estate, IT and mining sectors.

The socio-economic pressures faced by Jordan leave little room for national budget allocations for environmental activities. The Ministry of Environment in Jordan works with a relatively small budget, and the majority of environmental initiatives and projects are being implemented with support from donor countries. Most of these environmental initiatives aim to tackles the most chronic of Jordan's environmental problems: scarcity and quality degradation of water resources. However, potential environmental business opportunities and markets in Jordan can be opened in the near future based on a series of internal and external socio-economic and political trends.

A package of recent environmental bylaws for the protection of air quality, water quality, solid waste management and environmental impacts assessments have introduced for the first time the concept of "polluter-pays" in national legislation. Leaning on clear provisions in the Jordanian Environmental protection law no 1 for 2003 giving the Government enough powers for monitoring and even closing down factories and facilities that do not adhere to environmental standards, the government can currently impose industries to comply with environmental standards by applying state-of-the-art environmental technologies.

And if industries can maneuver politically with the governance system, they have to comply with environmental standards in the EU and USA markets. The challenge faced by Jordanian industries to penetrate the global markets has been linked with improving environmental performance. Many industries in Jordan are currently economically convinced, rather than environmentally concerned to apply environmental management tools.

Some of the efforts have been systematic and not individual. Jordan has developed a Jordanian Cleaner Production Programme (JCPP) center in cooperation between Government, civil society, industries and research centers to assist Jordanian industries in meeting international environmental requirement through the application of CP tools.

On the other hand, recent political and economic events in the Middle East could provide an enabling environment for more investment and public-private partnerships in environmental technologies. The tough neighborhood surrounding Jordan, has always carved the most drastic restructuring processes in the country. The fall of the previous Iraqi regime has signaled the end of preferential oil export to Jordan, and put the Jordanian government face to face with the reality of the international oil market and the need for restructuring the energy sector. Exploring renewable energy options, with special emphasis on wind, photovoltaic cells and biomass is a new boom in the Jordanian economy.

The main sector of interest will always be water, and waste water resource management and treatment. Jordan is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world in per capita water availability, and it has been investing heavily in developing public-private partnerships for water management and applying new water saving technologies. The thrust for water saving technology is expected to increase over the coming years.

The main attractions for private sector applications and public sector support would be environmental technologies applied on the ground and proving a difference in the pollution control and resource optimization.  Such technologies can be tested by large scale projects and practical initiatives that aim to solve main environmental challenges with direct linkages to human welfare.

The most recent breakthrough in developing appropriate legal and administrative framework for an environmental market in Jordan is the establishment of the new environmental protection fund. By definition, the fund will provide sustainable finance on a competitive basis for a wide range of projects to strengthen firm level interest in investing in technology and improving processes that advance compliance and sound management of Jordan’s environment and its natural resources. Based on initial analysis that will be finalized soon the main priority areas for investments by the Fund relate to technological innovations in waste management and pollution prevention.  Regarding renewable energy and energy efficiency which are considered to be of utmost priority, they will be managed through a special green energy fund to be established by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.

The main sources of money for the fund will be Carbon trading through the Clean Development Mechanism (selling Jordan's polluting rights of greenhouse gases to international governments and companies) where expected revenue of JOD20.5 million between 2009 – 2012 estimated.  Other sources are fines against violating industries, grants from donors and some expected taxes.

It is highly encouraging to see the gradual formation of an intricate market for environmental goods and services in Jordan which may eventually become the major tool for environmental management and remediation in the country.