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ARAB STATES
JORDAN
MDGs
Progress Towards Environmental Sustainability
JORDAN
Environmental issues have become a priority for Jordan, especially since
the establishment of environmental NGOs and of the Royal Society for the
Conservation of Nature in 1966. Moreover, an independent Ministry of Aqaba
Environment was established in 2003 to tackle Jordan’s environmental
challenges. Jordan has also drafted and issued a number of laws and regulations
in various environmental fields and is party to the second bilateral free trade agreement with the U.S.,
which includes articles dealing with environmental issues.
Environmental indicators show that the percentage of wooded areas in Jordan has increased from 0.44% in 1990 to
0.84% in 2002 and that protected areas for biodiversity cover 0.44% of Jordan’s total land surface area. The proportion of the
population with access to safe drinking water through a public network reached 97% in 2002, while the proportion of households
connected to sewage networks reached 60.1% for that same year.
Jordan’s consumption of ozone depleting substances has dropped from 835 tons in 1990 to about 251 tons in 2001. Some studies
carried out on air quality in certain areas show that overall lead concentration during 2002 reached an average of 0.23 micrograms
per cubic meter of air compared to the 0.50 level permitted by international standards.
Despite such progress, the complexity of Jordan’s environmental problems calls for a stronger commitment especially regarding
the institutional legislative framework, the amount of resources
allocated to ensure environmental protection, the coordination
QUICK FACTS
CURRENT PORTFOLIO BUDGET
Total UNDP-GEF and Co-Finance: $9,268,170
Total UNDP and Co-Finance: $130,000
Total: $9,398,170
Turning Waste into Energy in Amman 2
between policies and strategies and the availability of a comprehensive
environmental database. Water will continue to be a
major challenge given the very limited water resources in Jordan.
Also of concern is that a significant area of land,approximately 60
million squared meters, is known or is suspected to be mined. In
a country starved of arable land and water, the development
challenges posed by the presence of these landmines are significant.
1
The plant has been running in smooth operation since its commissioning in 2000.The project rated capacity is 1 MW composed
of two integrated technical parts: the bioreactor plant with the capacity to treat 60 tons of organic waste per day and the
extraction of landfill gas generated from buried waste. The operation of the two parts has led to a reduction of 1540 tons of
methane and 40,000 tons of CO2 and substituting the use of 1900 tons of diesel fuel per year. The annual gross profit from the
sales of electricity and bio-fertilizer has reached US$ 400,000 where US$ 100,000 have been allocated to cover an integrated
training program for project replication at different levels: university education and public and private sector training on subjects
related to methane release and utilization.
CLIMATE CHANGE
ISRAEL
WEST
BANK
Irbid
SYRIA
Zarqa
Amman
SAUDI ARABIA
IRAQ
SPOTLIGHT
The Ruseifah landfill dumping site was originally an old phosphate mine located between the major
two big cities of Amman and Zarka. Deposition of waste in unsanitary landfill causing severe environmental
problems such as emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), toxic residuals, contamination of
ground water, pollution of the waterways, odor as well as possible fires and explosions due to the
release of methane gas.
Responding to these serious environmental, economic and social threats, UNDP, with funding from the
Government of Jordan and Denmark and UNDP-GEF, with a total in cash budget of US$ 5.5 million, has facilitated the construction
of a pilot biogas plant, the first of its kind in the Middle East, that uses innovative ways for turning waste into energy reducing
the uncontrolled release of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere
In addition to reducing GHG emissions and providing an alternative renewable source of energy, the project has enhanced
public-private-partnerships in the energy sector, prepared a national master plan for the utilization of biogas and encouraged
integrated solid waste management. The Biogas Company and UNDP will be signing in 2005 an agreement for the expansion
of the plant to produce five times its initial design with funding coming from the private sector.
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