Jordan and the world celebrate today, June 5, World Environment Day, under the slogan “Only One Earth”, which focuses on living sustainably in harmony with nature.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first UN Conference on Human Environment – the Stockholm Conference of 1972, which culminated in the inception of the UN Environment Program and declaring June 5th as World Environment Day.
This celebration sheds light on the need to live sustainably and in harmony with nature by bringing about transformative change, through policies and choices, into cleaner and more environmentally conscious lifestyles.
The Higher Population Council noted that this day serves to shed light on the importance of preserving the environment, its different components and natural resources in so far as it is a natural capital as vital and indispensable as other assets.
HPC indicated that this day is a means to promote global awareness and action for the environment. Believing in the importance of the environment and the need to preserve it, Jordan joins the world in celebrating this day and plays a key role with other countries as it believes that environmental action is a shared responsibility, and continues to be committed to work with international and local partners to preserve and rehabilitate the environment and biodiversity.
With respect to environmental legislation in Jordan, the Environmental Protection Law no.52 of 2006 provides that environmental protection is enshrined in the Jordanian Constitution and that protecting, promoting and preventing the deterioration of the components of the environment, including air, water, soil, natural organisms, human beings and resources are essential along with the need to limit pollution to safe levels. In 2005-2007 several regulations stemming from this law were issued to address the technical, administrative and legal details pertaining to priority environmental sectors. In addition, Law No.6 of 2017 Concerning Environmental Protection was promulgated along with numerous related regulations, instructions and decisions.
With respect to national strategies and plans, the Ministry of Environment issued the “Build-the-Foundation Strategy: Environmental Education for Sustainability 2021” which aimed mainly to institutionalize and set the pace for environmental education and awareness in Jordan to help achieve the related strategic objectives to which Jordan is committed nationally and internationally. The Ministry of Environment also issued the “National Climate Change Adaptation Plan of 2021”, which stressed the need to enhance the ability to adapt to climate change and improve the infrastructure to address potential consequences. The plan also underscored the importance of cross-sectoral action and cooperation to address the impact of climate change.
According to the Environmental Performance Index 2020 – a key tool for evaluating the global environmental policy and its effective achievement of SDGs- Jordan ranked 48 out of 180 states internationally, and 3rd among Arab states following the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, which ranked 1st and 2nd respectively.
HPC indicated that the environment is faced by challenges including forest fires, rising temperatures, logging, deforestation, devastating floods, and overhunting of animals and birds, which has negatively affected the balance and rehabilitation of biodiversity.
HPC recommended that the state take all measures to maintain a healthy and safe environment, as well as actual steps to promote it by encouraging the general public to make the surrounding environment cleaner and safer, and highlighting environmental risks.
This year, Jordan hosted the "Global Land Forum" under the slogan "land rights and solutions for the climate crisis". The Forum tackled important issues for Jordan including the increasing yellow patches, impact on crops, as well as other climate change-related issues. It is also in line with Jordan’s commitment to climate change agreements adopted in previous years. participants indicated that the Middle East has noticeable challenges that have been exacerbated by the climate crisis, namely the highest income inequality in the world, desertification, conflict, youth unemployment, higher migration rates, displacement and marginalization. Participants believe that land rights are essential to face all these challenges, and that any action that addresses such challenges must rely on community-based environmental risk prevention to avoid harm to communities.
