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