Amman launches Green City Action Plan, becoming first in region to do so

AMMAN — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on Monday inaugurated the Amman Green City Action Plan (GCAP), making the city one of 20 worldwide now taking part in the greening project.

Amman is the first city in the southern and eastern Mediterranean to sign up for the EBRD Green Cities project, according to a statement sent to The Jordan Times. The GCAP programme aims to address the city’s environmental challenges in an effort to reduce pollution, improve energy and resource efficiency, promote climate change adaptation and ultimately make Amman a more green and liveable city.

The launch event was held at the Hussein Cultural Centre in Amman under the patronage of Amman Mayor Youssef Shawarbeh, Environment Minister Ibrahim Shehahdeh, Austrian Ambassador to Jordan Oskar Wüstinger and EBRD representatives.

The action plan, funded by the Austrian government, is part of EBRD’s 1-billion euro programme to target cities, which produce 80 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions, according to the statement. The EBRD announced in May of last year that Amman had signed up for the plan.

The statement added that the influx of Syrian refugees has put Amman’s infrastructure under additional pressure in the past eight years, with a 20-per cent national population rise testing the capacity of water supplies, sewage networks and municipal waste management.

Amman’s GCAP comes nine months after the EBRD and the Greater Amman Municipality agreed to address the Jordanian capital’s needs for sustainable growth by developing a programme tailored to its needs. Over the next year, the plan, including projects and policy initiatives, will be worked out by the Greater Amman Municipality and Jordan’s Environment Ministry with support from the EBRD.

Since Jordan joined the EBRD in 2012, the bank has invested over 1.3 billion euros in 43 projects, according to the statement.