Amman joins EBRD’s Green Cities programme

DEAD SEA — Jordan has become the first country in the SEMED region to join the EBRD’s Green Cities Framework, planning and investing in its future green development.

Amman’s Mayor Yousef Shawarbeh and EBRD director for municipal and environmental infrastructure, Susan Goeransson, on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding to work with the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) on developing aGreen City Action Plan (GCAP) and strategically address the city’s needs for sustainable growth, an EBRD statement said. 

Funded by the government of Austria, the GCAP will complement the measures that Amman, a member of the C40 Climate Leadership Group, has adopted to improve the city's environment, in line with Jordan’s National Green Growth Plan.

The plan aims to tackle the most pressing climate change and environmental challenges, including in solid waste management, water and wastewater, urban roads and lighting, urban transport and public building energy efficiency, in order to reduce local pollution, improve energy and resource efficiency and promote climate change adaptation, the statement said, noting that the activities will be developed jointly with GAM and the Ministry of Environment.

The initiative is part of the EBRD’s Green Cities Framework that builds on the EBRD's two decades of experience investing in municipal and environmental infrastructure.

EBRD’s Green City Framework has been concluded in Yerevan, Tbilisi and Tirana, while further Green City Action Plans are being launched in Minsk (Belarus), Sofia (Bulgaria), Chisinau (Moldova), Belgrade (Serbia), Batumi (Georgia), Gyumri (Armenia) and Zenica (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Amman is expected to be the Framework’s first city in the SEMED region.