Updated Submission of Jordan's 1st Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

This updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) is a nationwide sectoral document aiming at (i) enhancing the Jordanian commitment to the international climate change governance system by raising its GHG emission reduction target from 14% to 31%; (ii) driving the post-COVID-19 recovery process into a lower carbon and more climate-resilient development pathway steered by national green growth priorities. Objectives and targets of this NDC document will be aligned with the Long Term Strategy (LTS) of the Government of Jordan to be developed through a new climate change policy for 2050. The document underlines the following strategies for a successful climate action (i) enhancing governance and institutional arrangements; (ii) mainstreaming NDCs in national and local planning; (iii) engaging the private sector; (iv) mainstreaming gender in NDC implementation; (v) targeting vulnerable groups in NDC implementation.
The NDC considers both mitigation and adaptation actions. As for the mitigation actions they mainly deal with GHG emission reduction of 31% in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sector (energy, industrial processes and product use, agriculture, forestry and land-use, and waste). Regarding the climate change adaptation, the following sectors are involved (i) Water Resource Management; (ii) Agriculture and Food security; (iii) Biodiversity and Ecosystems; (iv) Health; (v) Urban Resilience and Disaster Risk Reduction; (vi) Coastal Zone Management; (vii) Cultural Heritage and Tourism.
To make agriculture more productive and sustainable, the NDC aims to (i) promote a climate smart agriculture, also introducing and diversifying crops with low water requirements and high productivity in addition to capacity withstanding in drought, saline, and heat conditions; () modify crops planting and harvesting dates through the production and promoting an agro-climatic calendar; (iii) promote the use of conservation agriculture; (iv) improve the irrigation system through the following: reduction of non-revenue water loss, reduction of groundwater use and enhancement of water recharge technologies, introduction of water saving technologies (such as drip, micro-spray, and night irrigation) and promotion of desalination programs; (v) promote water-harvesting techniques; (vi) increase forage-livestock system, production and preservation; (vii) promote rangeland restoration.
Rural poverty can be tackled by increasing the number and scope of use of decentralized wastewater treatment plants in rural areas.
More inclusive end efficient agricultural and food systems can be enhanced through (i) a more adaptive capacity of small farmers in Jordan Valley through water user associations; (ii) the community awareness, behavioral change and adoption of water conservation measures through WASH centered community behavioral change initiatives; (iii) economic incentives for climate change mitigation and adaptation programs at farm levels; (iv) reduction of soil erosion through community management, use of Ecosystem based Adaptation (EbA) measures and harvesting of rainwater amongst small farmers in rural areas; (v) formation of community cooperatives responsible for the use of range land and the grazing right; (vi) modification of agricultural production and marketing value chain to ensure the continuity of affordable and sufficient food production to domestic markets by promoting efficiencies in the food chain and the reduction of post-harvest losses and food waste, increasing the efficiency of nitrogen use, and improving livestock productivity.
Several measures are envisaged for increasing the resilience of livelihoods to disasters, among these measures (i) increased percentage of electricity generated from renewables leading also to a renewable energy storage and the possibility of open a new hydrogen export market; (ii) introduction of concentrated solar power; (iii) improving efficient energy consumption; (iv) energy measures in both residential and industry sectors; (v) emission reduction by restructuring the transport sector at both public and private level; (vi) more sustainable industrial processes and product use (IPPU) including the choice of raw materials, the use of technologies, and the reduction of emissions; (vii) emission reduction in the waste sector together with the introduction of the whole cycle of solid-waste management; (viii) develop a climate-sensitive urban design and increase green spaces; (ix) expand and improve systems to adapt vulnerable communities to potential climate change impacts; (x) reduce the gap between water demand and supply; (xi) save freshwater enhancing treated wastewater reuse in Jordan Valley and Highlands; (xii) promote desalination programs; (xiii) improve rainfall early warning systems and reduce flood risks; (xiv) protect watersheds and forests to sustain surface water flow; support watershed and basin level management of water resources including transboundary water; (xv) improve drought management systems; (xvi) identify and map climate-vulnerable species of flora and fauna and their habitat including connections with the need to control invasive species, and create a national plan and monitoring system to support climate vulnerable species, as well as establish protection measures to minimize extreme events; (xvii) develop a recovery and restoration plans for highly threatened ecosystems and species of fauna and flora including the development of clear ex-situ conservation, captive breeding programs, and re-introduction and restoration programs; (xviii) improve conservation measures against emergence and spread of zoonotic infectious diseases and improve understanding of the potential risk on health sector due to climate change; (xix) enhance the sustainable use of marine protected area and support resilience of coral reefs; (xx) use of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) and improve monitoring capacities.
As for Governance, it is necessary to integrate the sectoral actions included in the NDC Action Plan with the government s Executive Development Program (EDP) to improve the national-priority levels for allocating financial resources and readiness for implementation in the next years of the government plan.