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Al
Urdun Al Jadid Research Center
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The "Environmental Papers" Series: A periodical
series of papers regarding environmental policies issued by the
Jordanian Environmental Watch Program at the Al Urdun Al Jadid Research
Center. This series shall concentrate on local and international
up-to-date events and coverage regarding environmental policies,
backed up with the relevant facts and data, and shall provide direct
and concise environmental information to the reader. It will also
serve to record all local, regional and international efforts being
exerted in the field of the environment, and to present updates
in the environmental development policies. Paper No.
(1) This edition
which contains the paper presented at the 1st Jordanian Conference
for the Environment and Development, the Union of Jordanian Geologists
from 5-7 November 2000 organized the conference.
Paper No.
(2) This edition includes a summary of a working paper that was presented at the 1st Jordanian conference on the Environment and Development, which was held on October 29th-31st, 2000, and which was organized by the General corperation for the environmental protection. This working paper discussed the status quo of the environmental media in Jordan, by illustrating the most important media and environment activities and analyzing the contents of the articles published in the daily newspapers during the month of September related to environmental issues. It concluded that the media coverage of environmental issues in local newspapers is directly proportional to the number of pages in these newspapers and that these articles mainly concentrate on local environmental issues, particularly the water.
This edition comprises the proceedings of the Discussion Session organized by the Jordanian Environmental watch program on 5/9/2000, during which the need for a Ministry of Environment was discussed. The recommendations and viewpoints resulting from this session were relayed to the Committee commissioned to devise the legal and administrative framework for the proposed Ministry. The Session also resulted in the publication of a General Report containing the proceedings of the session.
This edition contains the proceedings of a dialogue session of the Hot Environmental Issues Forum, which was held in collaboration with the Jordanian Environmental watch program, and the "Land and Human to advocate progress". During this session discussions revolved around the issue of the Hazardous Waste Shipment which entered Jordan from Israel. The shipment was discussed in details in terms of its quantity and quality, its affect on public health and safety, and the legal means and procedures of preventing the occurrence of similar episodes, in addition to the role of the media and the Jordanian Environmental Organizations in handling such a situation, and that of the Custom's official in detecting such shipments and how they should return them to their country of origin.
This edition comprises the proceedings of a session at the Hot Environmental Issues Forum that was held in collaboration with the Jordanian Environmental watch program and Friends of Environment Society. Discussions revolved around the characteristics of this Accelerator, its advantages and benefits, and how Jordan acquired it. The Forum also discussed the precautionary measures that should be taken to prevent any dangers that could result from it, in addition to the local community's attitude towards the establishment of the Accelerator, particularly the residents of the village of Ala'an where the Accelerator is going to be set up.
This paper,
published in English, presented a complete analysis of the Environmental
Portfolio of the Free Trade Agreement between Jordan and the USA
which was signed on October 24, 2000, and discussed its impact on
the Jordanian Environment in 9 Sectors. The paper concluded that
the implementation of this Agreement will result in an expansion
of investment and commercial activity which will lead to more exploitation
of the natural resources and an increase in pollution and waste
products.
This paper discusses the Scientific, Economic and political implications of the USA's withdrawal from the Quito Agreement for the decrease of Carbon emissions by the year 2012. The paper also analyzes Climatic Change and its scientific basis, in addition to the chronological series of International Agreements that serve to limit this phenomenon. It also looks into the reasons that led to the failure of the Hague Conference and the major disagreements between the USA and the European Union. Other major points included in this paper are the most important conclusion of the Report presented by the Joint Government Committee of Climatic Change in February 2001, and the most important impacts of climatic change on the Middle East region.
This paper describes
and analyzes a book entitled "The International Environmental
Policy" by Dr. Jassem Al-Hasan. This book examines the status
of global environment, following the UN Environment and Development
Conference in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) in 1992, and concentrates
on means to save the globe, and the different viewpoints of the
various countries towards this process.
This paper describes the development of the international environmental management methodologies, within the framework of the united Nations, which were unleashed during the Stockholm Conference on Human Environment in 1972, followed by the Prontland Committee Report in 1987, which launched for the first time the concept of "sustainable development", and the Earth Summit (Rio 1992), in addition to the numerous International Environment Declarations. This paper focuses on the local methodology implemented in preparation for the forthcoming Summit, which is being held on the 10th Anniversary of the first Earth Summit.
This paper incorporates
the proceedings of the 4th Dialogue Session of the Jordanian Environmental
Watch program on the National Preparatory activities for the World
Summit on Sustainable Development due in Johannesburg / South Africa
in September 2002, and which is the center of attention of the entire
world.
Paper No.
(11) This paper contains a brief summery of the results of world Economic Forum for the sustainability indicators in the world 2001. The indicator of sustainable development is the numerical measurement of the progress that a country has made in the process of sustainable development. In a survey of 122 countries the three countries with the highest value of this indicator were Finland, Norway and Canada, thus ranking as the (3) most developed countries in the world during the year 2001, while the (3) rated last on the list were Haiti, Saudi Arabia, and Burundi, with countries like Ghana and Honduras ranking somewhere in between. The value of the sustainable development indicator indicate the extent of success that a country has had in the field of sustainable development, while a low number indicates that a country is facing major problems in attaining success in realizing sustainable development.
Paper No.
(12) This paper incorporates the proceedings of the 5th Dialogue Session of the Jordanian Environmental watch program, that focused on "Politics and the Environment: The Theoretical Framework", Several issues related to the relationship between Politics and the Environment were discussed including the relationship between politics and the environment on a local and international level, why environmental issues have become international issues, and why are environmental issues so high on the agenda, locally and internationally. Several cases and environmental problems were discussed during this session, and the issues of the environment in relation to development were also touched upon, finally concluding that environmental issues should be handled with a positive attitude This was obvious in the case of mining for copper ore in the Dana Natural Reserve, whereby the Royal Society in cooperation with the Natural Resources Authority proved that this project was not economically feasible. There are also other examples, like the extraction of Gypsum ores from the Mujeb Reserve, and building a water dam on the outskirts of the Mujeb Natural Reserve.
Paper No.(13)
The paper explains the link between trade, the environment and development, the paper also stresses the importance of the Doha Ministerial Conference, and illustrates the conflict in opinions between industrial countries and developing ones on issues that were discussed and the draft of the final statement.
Paper No.
(14) The paper analyzes the potential environmental impacts on Aqaba region after turning Aqaba it into a special economic zone. The Aqaba special economic zone law was passed by parliament in August 2000. A number of scoping sessions were held in Aqaba and Amman. In the sessions, the stakeholders were asked to identify the significant environment issues, provide input on potential constraints area that should be avoided and protected. The scoping sessions are aimed to offer an opportunity for a wider scope of environmental analysis before investment opportunities have been determined, and to support the integration of environmental concerns into long-term development and investment planning. The paper discusses also the issues raised, within three categories of social and economic settings, natural environment and the built environment. They were allocated to the different master plan components to which they are significant, and listed a number of recommendations for each issue, in order to decrease the proposed negative impacts or to eliminate it totally. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the first Annual Report on the State of the Environment in Jordan, tackling all the various components related to the environment and water and covering the year 2000. The report, which took about 18 months for preparation and documentation, is the outcome of the tireless efforts of the researchers at the Jordanian Environmental Watch Program (JEWP). This report is important, as it is the first, attempt by a non-governmental organization (NGO), to discuss environmental issues in a comprehensive, objective and independent manner. The time of its publication is also relevant, because it coincides with the launching of the National Strategy for Sustainable Development, a National Agenda, and the beginning of Jordan's preparatory efforts for the International Summit on Sustainable Development due in South Africa in 2002. Al-Urdun Al-Jadid Research Center and the Jordanian Environmental Watch anticipate the publication of such a report on an annual basis, and hope that its contents will serve the various national efforts that aim to provide relevant information to all those working in the field of environment and sustainable development.
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Copyright
© 2002 UJRC. All rights reserved
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