Amman, The World Bank Group, in collaboration with the Jordanian government, launched the Jordan Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) on Wednesday at a public event at the Jordan Museum in Amman attended by representatives from the public and private sectors, academia, research institutions, international partners, and the media.
The Jordan CCDR offers an evidence-based assessment to identify pathways toward climate-resilient and low-carbon growth and development including integrated solutions for the water-energy-food security nexus and for low-carbon and resilient cities.
The event tackled the key findings and recommendations of the report and how Jordan’s sustainable development goals, especially growth and job creation, can be achieved by ensuring fiscal sustainability and addressing climatic risks.
The Jordan CCDR aligns with Jordan’s 10-year Vision for Economic Modernization which places sustainable practices and green investment at the core of Jordan’s future growth.
The report benefited from extensive consultations with stakeholder groups spanning government, the private sector, international partners and civil society to inform the CCDR’s analysis and policy recommendations.
In this regard, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of State for Public Sector Modernization, Nasser Shraideh, said that climate change is already having a significant impact on the Kingdom. As a result, he added, the new economic modernization vision views green investments and sustainable practices as crucial building blocks for the future growth of the Jordanian economy.
Jordan is facing severe water scarcity, rapid population growth, and limited natural resources. Although delays in addressing climate change may exacerbate Jordan’s development challenges, the country’s Climate and Development Report emphasizes that climate-smart development can reduce inequalities, protect livelihoods, and strengthen social cohesion.
Commenting on the report, World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa, Ferid Belhaj, said that Jordan has already emerged as a regional trailblazer in climate action.
He added that the collective implementation of the economic modernization vision by the government, the private sector and the Jordanian people, with the support of international partners, offers an opportunity to rethink the Kingdom’s economy in the context of confronting climate change and turn the challenge into an opportunity.
According to the report, Jordan’s trajectory in meeting its climate and development goals will be largely determined by policy and investment choices in five strategic sectors – water, energy, agriculture, transport and urban development.
It indicates that the transformation of those sectors towards a resilient and low carbon path would need to be closely coordinated along two nexuses to maximize co-benefits and to reduce potentially negative socio-economic impacts: the water-energy-food security nexus, in a context of extreme water scarcity and pressing adaptation needs, and the urban-transport-energy nexus, which is at the core of the shift towards a low-carbon growth path.
Jordan will require funding and knowledge to adapt to climate change, and the private sector has both, according to Hela Cheikhrouhou, Regional Vice President for the Middle East and Central Asia at the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC). She also said that in the future, private businesses and public-private partnerships could help Jordan create a resilient economy that can withstand climate change and open doors for everyone.
Following the report overview and presentation, the event featured two panel discussions titled: “Building Systemic Climate Resilience – The Role of Partnerships” and “Making the Business Case for Climate Action – The Role of the Private Sector and Financial Institutions”.
Source: Jordan News Agency