Jordan to implement first Climate Change adaptation project

Jordan is about to launch its first systematic climate change adaptation project, through an integrated approach that will involve 4 UN agencies, 5 ministers and supported by the Spanish government. Here is the story published by Jordan Times, while you can check the project details here.

http://sdnhq.undp.org/opas/en/proposals/suitable/142

I am proud to say that I have participated in the development of this proposal.

By Hana Namrouqa

With over 30 per cent of the Kingdom’s surface water resources lost to drought and desertification believed to be caused by global warming, the Ministry of Environment is currently drafting a project to reduce the impact of climate change.

The project is estimated to cost $4 million and will be implemented by the ministry and funded and supported by the Spanish government and the United Nations, ministry spokesperson Isa Shboul said on Sunday.

"The project will basically encourage the use of alternative energy and the following of practices that reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases which cause global warming," Shboul told The Jordan Times .

He noted that the ministry and UNDP discussed yesterday the development of joint projects to address the impact of climate change on the Kingdom's scarce water resources in addition to the health, agriculture and environment sectors.

Shboul said the meeting, attended by Minister of Environment Khalid Irani and UN Resident Representative in the Kingdom Luc Stevens, comes in preparation for the United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Copenhagen on December 7.

"It is vital to prepare action plans and programmes that help us adapt to the effects of climate change in various development sectors," the environment official noted.

With arid land constituting 91 per cent of the Kingdom, and an annual rainfall average of 50-200 millimetres, experts believe climate change has already caused a reduction in Jordan’s surface water resources, as well as a decrease in the volume of rainfall and agricultural production.

Irani noted in previous statements that Arab countries contribute only 5 per cent, or less, of the total amount of greenhouse gases, with Jordan’s contribution being 0.1 per cent.

The minister stressed that the region is hard hit by climate change although Arab states are not the leading cause of the environmental phenomenon.

A recent World Bank study on global natural disaster hotspots found that six Arab countries - Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Djibouti, Morocco and Lebanon - are at high risk of natural disasters which are strongly linked to climate change.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, many parts of the planet will become warmer, while droughts, floods and other forms of extreme weather will become more frequent, threatening food supplies, and plant and animal life due to the phenomenon.