Sustainability in Jordan: an interaction with instability in the Middle East
On September 21, 2020, Jordan’s King Abdullah II kicked off the World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact Summit with a short speech. In his speech, he framed Jordan as an eager “launching pad”for regional sustainable development. For the past two decades, Jordan has sought sustainable development as its way to economic prosperity, with mixed results. This article examines the principles of sustainable development as well as Jordan’s experience with the development strategy.
What is sustainable development?
Sustainable development is an economic development strategy that has been touted by and associated with the United Nations. The United Nations describes sustainable development as meeting “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The approach is split into three categories: social, economic, and environmental. Compared to other approaches to development that focus primarily on economic growth, sustainable development is unique in its prioritization of social welfare and the environment. Key indicators include poverty rates, education levels for men and women, carbon footprint, waste management access, and more. The UN has pushed for sustainable development by promoting series of development goals, introducing eight Millennium Development Goalsin 2000 and then seventeen Sustainable Development Goals in 2015.
Why has Jordan pursued sustainable development?
Sustainable development prioritizes key areas of concern for Jordan. Economically, Jordan imports over 90% of its food and energy from regional allies like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and receives aid from those countries along with the UN and United States. This heavy reliance on imports and aid is due in part to Jordan’s scarce access to natural resources. The joke goes that Jordan has less water than oil – and it has no oil. Because of this dependance, Jordan’s economy is vulnerable to changes in other countries’ willingness to give aid and partner in trade. This is especially pronounced in times of economic downturn or when oil prices fluctuate. Sustainable development practices, such as building clean energy, would be a way out of this conundrum because Jordan would not need to rely on other countries’ resources.
Socially, amidst a war-torn region and with a population that is nearly half-refugee from Syria, Iraq, or Palestine, social sustainability and stability are extremely important for Jordan. Jordan has relied on aid from foreign partners to keep costs of living low and people happy, but, similar to their economy, this reliance on foreign countries is dangerous in the long-term.
Lastly, climate change poses a threat to Jordan. Rising temperatures are predicted to decrease the country’s already limited water supply. Additionally, Jordan’s scarce agricultural soil has been overworked, and protecting this soil would ensure that Jordan’s land is sustainable for future generations. In every category, sustainable development makes sense for Jordan, which is why the country has approached it so aggressively since the UN first started pushing it with the Millennium Development Goals in 2000.
Jordan’s Experience with Sustainable Development
The instability of the Middle East, combined with the country’s lack of resources, has proven to be the greatest barrier to Jordan’s sustainable development goals.
Jordan began pursuing sustainable development in 2000 as one of the first countries to adopt the Millennium Development Goals. The country’s experience since then has demonstrated a limitation of the development strategy: on a nation-wide scale, sustainable development requires the ability to make substantial financial investments and focus on the long-term. During times of economic growth, like the mid-2000s, Jordan was able and willing to invest in the long-term sustainability of the country. Since the 2008 global financial crisis and start of the Syrian refugee crisis, though, Jordan has not been able to focus on sustainable development as a priority.
However, Jordan found great success in the fifteen years of the millennium development goals, especially from 2000-2010. It has found success mostly in eradicating poverty, increasing access to healthcare, boosting literacy rates and education, and environmental sustainability. As the UN reported, “Abject poverty was reduced from 6.6% to less than 0.5%”. In addition to this, the country implemented universal primary education and took on the Red Sea-Dead Sea project, which would increase freshwater access to Jordan by flowing water into the currently shrinking Dead Sea and then having that available for desalination. Following this decade of success, Jordan optimistically began working on its National Green Growth Planin 2014, outlining huge projects from a high-speed rail network to greater desalination projects to further poverty eradiation initiatives. Overall, the economic boom of the 2000s gave Jordan the ability to invest in poverty alleviation, education, and the environment and access to water, all of which have helped make Jordan’s economy more sustainable in the long run.
Since the 2000-2010 period, prospects have not been as good for Jordan. Between 2011 and 2016, unrest from the Arab Spring and the Islamic State caused Jordan’s military security needs to increase. In addition to this, because of falling oil prices in 2016, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) refused to renew its aid package to Jordan. With revenue falling and costs increasing from the influx of refugees, the International Monetary Fund backed Jordan’s Prime Minister’s proposal to increase income taxes in order to stop the climbing deficit. In response, people took to the streets of Amman; it took emergency aid from Gulf countries to quell the unrest. After a tough decade, the World Bank described Jordan’s economy last year as “sluggish”.
The instability of the Middle East, combined with the country’s lack of resources, has proven to be the greatest barrier to Jordan’s sustainable development goals. Jordan’s National Green Growth Plan put it best when it said that the Middle East’s regional turmoil “provides a particular challenge as decision-making in Jordan is often oriented towards immediate results rather than longer term investments”, which Sustainable Development requires. For example, despite having universal primary education, reports showed that the quality of the education was decreasing during the refugee crisis. Additionally, many Syrian refugees have found employment in agriculture, which helps the economy in the short-term but continues land degradation practices that are harmful for the environment and Jordan’s long-term agricultural prospects. This agricultural employment also crowded out native Jordanians, as the refugees were willing to work for lower rates, causing frustration that could negatively affect Jordan’s social stability.
Results
The results of Sustainable Development efforts have not been all bad in the past five years. For example, with the influx of 1.3 million refugees, Jordan invested in expanding municipal services to accommodate its substantially larger population. The investment has improved waste collection and rehabilitated infrastructure, benefitting all Jordanians. Additionally, public and private sector collaboration has fueled projects that have increased women’s employment and access to legal services for low-income individuals. Moreover, while educational quality has gotten worse, enrollment rates in primary and secondary education increased and access to early childhood education was expanded, benefitting Jordanian and refugee children and families. Ultimately, though, these improvements are marginal compared to the Sustainable Development Goals it embarked on in 2015.
Returning to Jordan’s opening speech at the World Economic Forum, King Abdullah II showed that Jordan still eagerly seeks the promise of sustainable development. This past July, Jordan announced another green growth initiative with 2025 as a target year. He hopes that the COVID-19 pandemic may give Jordan an opportunity to build resiliency so that it can weather regional chaos and still pursue its sustainable development aspirations.
Citations and sources for futher reading
Alhajahmad , Shaddin, and Dorsey Lockhart. Jordan’s Recent Economic Performance: Implications for Future Growth, Investment, Refugee Policy and Refugees. www.wanainstitute.org/sites/default/files/publications/Publication_JordansRecentEconomicPerformance_English.pdf.
Alrawi, Mustafa. “King Abdullah Says Crisis Is an Opportunity for 'More Inclusive' Global Recovery.” The National, The National, 24 Sept. 2020, www.thenational.ae/world/king-abdullah-says-crisis-is-an-opportunity-for-more-inclusive-global-recovery-1.1081154.
Hub, IISD's SDG Knowledge. “SDG Knowledge Hub: Daily SDG News.” IISD,http://sdg.iisd.org/.
“Jordan’s Way to Sustainable Development: First National Voluntary Review on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda.” United Nations, 2017.
“Launch of the Green Growth National Action Plan 2021-2025.” GGGI,www.gggi.org/launch-of-the-green-growth-national-action-plan-2021-2025/.
Ministry of Environment (2017), A National Green Growth Plan for Jordan, Amman, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
“Report No. 103433-JO- Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan- Promoting Poverty Reduction and Shared Prosperity .” World Bank, Feb. 2016.
Saleh, Ayat. “Sustainable Development in Jordan: Perspectives.” EcoMENA, 1 Sept. 2020, www.ecomena.org/sustainable-development-jordan/.
Singh, Manjari. “Jordan after COVID-19: From Crisis Adjustment to Crisis Management.” Washingtoninstitute.org, 15 Apr. 2020, www.washingtoninstitute.org/fikraforum/view/Jordan-response-COVID19-pandemic-Middle-East.
“Sustainable Development.” International Institute for Sustainable Development, 6 Jan. 2013, www.iisd.org/about-iisd/sustainable-development.
“United Nations Millennium Development Goals.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/millenniumgoals/.
United States, Congress, Heshemite Kingdom of Jordan, United Nations. Jordan's Way to Sustainable Development, 2017.
“The World Bank in Jordan- Overview.” World Bank, www.worldbank.org/en/country/jordan/overview.
Yom, Sean. “Jordan's Protests Are a Ritual, Not a Revolution.” Foreign Policy, 11 June 2018, www.foreignpolicy.com/2018/06/11/jordans-protests-are-a-ritual-not-a-revolution/.
