AMMAN, Oct. 13 (Petra) — When His Majesty King Abdullah II told the
UN General Assembly on Sept. 22 that any threat to Jordan’s water
security is a threat to its national security, he put into one
sentence what the Kingdom’s environmental debate has been moving
toward: water, food, health and stability cannot be separated from
the condition of the natural resources that support them.

That idea frames Arab Environment Day, marked tomorrow, Wednesday, as
water scarcity, limited natural resources and the effects of climate
change test the Kingdom. Protecting the environment is now a national
responsibility that reaches beyond any single sector into economic
and development planning, and into Jordan’s ability to withstand
crises.

This year’s occasion, officials and experts say, is a chance to move
from diagnosing environmental challenges to building practical
policies: using resources more efficiently, preserving biodiversity,
curbing pollution and the depletion of natural wealth, and placing
environmental considerations alongside development and stability, in
order to safeguard the rights of future generations.

From royal vision to national path

For Dr. Mohammad Ayadat, President of the National Center for
Environmental Justice, the royal interest in environmental issues is
a strategic approach that ties natural resources to Jordan’s
security, stability and development future. Water and natural
resources, he said, are no longer separate service or environmental
files but essential elements in protecting national interests.

He pointed to the King’s directive, at a Sept. 7 meeting, for the
government to prepare a comprehensive, unified national strategy for
climate finance with the private sector. Its purpose is to strengthen
Jordan’s ability to use available funding sources and tools to reduce
emissions, adapt to climate change and reach long-term sustainable
development goals.

Such directives, Ayadat said, set a path that goes beyond answering
today’s environmental pressures. They point toward attracting green
investment, developing technical solutions and turning environmental
commitments into economic and development opportunities that improve
citizens’ lives and keep resources sustainable.

The Ministry of Environment’s 2026-2029 strategy gives that path a
framework, covering green growth, climate action, environmentally
sound management and ecosystem sustainability, as well as
environmental awareness and institutional performance. It supports
linking environmental policy to economic and social priorities,
Ayadat said, provided it is turned into executive programs with clear
indicators that can be measured and evaluated.

An equation with five sides

Dr. Mohammad Salem Al-Huwaiti, Professor of Environmental Engineering
at Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, said the environment is no longer
only about protecting trees and limiting pollution. It is now bound
up with national security, human health, economic sustainability,
water and food security, and the capacity of states to withstand
crises.

In the 21st century, he said, national security should rest on five
integrated dimensions: water, food, energy, health, and environmental
and climate security, so that risks are met as interconnected
challenges requiring joint responses.

He described the risks facing the Arab region as a linked system.
Rising temperatures, irregular rainfall, more frequent droughts and
extreme weather add pressure on water resources, agriculture,
biodiversity and public health, and raise the cost of energy, food
and infrastructure.

The danger, Al-Huwaiti said, lies in how these effects cascade. Water
shortage means more than reduced supply: it reaches into lower
agricultural output, higher food prices, greater strain on
groundwater, land degradation and falling rural incomes, and may lead
to demographic shifts and internal migration. Desertification, he
added, is a decline in land’s capacity to produce, store carbon and
support biodiversity, and it calls for integrated policies that
address its causes and limit its environmental, economic and social
impact.

He said the day should be a moment to review environmental policies,
assess their results and propose workable solutions, and to move from
the idea of “protecting the environment” to a broader one: “managing
Arab natural capital,” an integral part of the national and pan-Arab
wealth on which quality of life and growth depend.

What the Arab world already holds

Al-Huwaiti called for stronger Arab environmental cooperation through
a joint system for exchanging expertise, information and technology
and developing sustainable solutions, moving from cooperation built
on meetings and exchanged reports to executive partnerships in
environmental and climate security.

The ingredients, he noted, are already in the region: financial and
investment capacity in some Arab states, advanced experience in
desalination and solar energy in others, and agricultural land and
expertise in water management, mining and scientific research
elsewhere. Together they could support joint projects that raise
resource efficiency and strengthen Arab environmental security.

Cost or opportunity

Omar Shoshan, President of the Federation of Environmental Societies,
said the next phase demands a change in outlook: treating the
environment as an opportunity for investment, innovation and
development rather than an economic cost. He stressed mobilizing
climate finance, widening partnership with the private sector and
using modern technology to build an economy better able to face
environmental and climate risks.

He pointed to the role Arab sovereign funds and development finance
institutions can play in long-term financing for projects that build
climate and environmental resilience, particularly in water security,
clean energy, green infrastructure, sustainable transport, waste
management and ecosystem protection.

Investing in infrastructure that can withstand climate change should
become an Arab financing priority, Shoshan said, because prevention
and anticipation cost less than responding to disasters and repairing
damage afterward. He called for innovative financing tools that
combine sovereign and development funding, private investment and
international climate finance.

Jordan, he noted, has a comparative advantage in its national
expertise, specialized companies and scientific institutions. That
gives the Kingdom a chance to become a regional center for
environmental and climate expertise and solutions, moving from a
recipient of funding to an active partner in developing knowledge,
technologies and green services.

Arab Environment Day, in short, affirms that protecting natural
resources is no longer a separate environmental duty but a strategic
investment in Jordan’s security, stability and economic growth.
Turning policies into projects that can be implemented, strengthening
national and Arab partnerships, and directing finance toward
sustainable solutions are the pillars, officials and experts say, of
a future better able to face climate challenges and protect the
rights of coming generations.

//Petra// AA