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Planning and Capacity Building Workshop in Support of Jordan’s National Action Plan for Green Growth

Jordan’s Ministry of Environment and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) hosted the first stakeholder consultation and capacity building workshop for the National Action Plan for Green Growth (2019-2030) on August 7-8, 2018 at the Hilton, Dead Sea.

The workshop was held under the patronage of Minister of Environment, H.E. Nayef Himidi Al Fayez, who opened the workshop by reiterating the Ministry’s commitment to green growth, “Jordan has recognized that the transition to green growth will not be achieved without highlighting effective linkages with the goals of sustainable development, international environmental conventions, and national targets.”

The event was attended by over 100 green growth stakeholders from Jordan’s public, private and civil society sectors and introduced the National Action Plan for Green Growth Project. The Project is a joint effort between GGGI and the Ministry’s Green Economy Unit aimed at mainstreaming green growth at the national and sector levels by 2030 and builds on the roadmap laid out in the National Green Growth Plan for Jordan. For more information about GGGI’s Jordan Program and Green Growth Stories of Change in Jordan, click here.

The objective of the Project is to develop the first National Action Plan (NAP) for Green Growth covering Jordan’s six key green growth sectors: Agriculture, Energy, Tourism, Transport, Waste, and Water. The NAP will also include actions to address cross-sectoral challenges, and the country’s first National Green Growth Results Framework.

The first session of the workshop included presentations by Director of the Green Economy Unit and Technical Advisor to the Minister of Environment, Dr. Jihad Al Sawair and GGGI Country Representative for Jordan, Eng. Ahmed Al Amra. The duo introduced the NAP for Green Growth Project, and explained the roles and responsibilities of government, private sector, civil society and development partners, including GGGI, in supporting the planning and implementation of green growth in Jordan.

In the second session, Dr. Maha Al-Zu’bi, GGGI’s Green Growth Action Planning Consultant, presented policy and strategy implementation barriers and opportunities identified in the NGGP, and facilitated a high-level panel discussion on the topic. The panel was composed of high level representatives from the public (Water, Energy, Environment, Transport, and Tourism, and private sectors (Green Building Council).

During the panel, the discussants noted difficulties with government coordination, short term decision-making and planning, lack of human and financial resources for implementation, especially insufficient access to climate finance, and lack of clear national vision and results framework for green growth as key barriers to achieving green growth. Some panel members highlighted the opportunities inherent in cross-sector planning and implementation.

On the second day of the workshop, Marshall Brown, Senior Program Officer at GGGI-Jordan and Dr. Al-Zu’bi conducted a training session which invited participants to discuss Jordan’s green growth vision and strategic objectives in the 2019-2030 period and gathered feedback on the proposed results-based management approach for green growth in Jordan.

The final training session was led by GGGI’s Senior Green Growth Analyst, Mr. Jan Stelter, visiting from GGGI’s Thought Leadership Unit based in Seoul. The purpose of this training was to further unpack and describe green growth in the Jordan context. Participants discussed and debated indicators for green growth to be included in the National Green Growth Results Framework, the outcomes of which will be incorporated into a draft framework for review and approval by a Technical Committee for Green Growth, which is responsible for coordinating, developing and validating section action plans.

GGGI sector experts and government sector focal points for the key green growth sectors will further dive into green growth challenges and solutions in sector consultations to take place between September and October 2018. The consultation and drafting process for the NAP is expected to conclude by the end of 2018, and approval and publication is anticipated by March 2019.

For more information about GGGI’s work on the National Action Plan for Green Growth and other important green growth projects and programs in Jordan, please contact Ahmed Al Amra, Country Representative, Jordan Program at ahmed.amra@gggi.org.