Advancing major financial, political and administrative commitments needed to set the stage for PPP/ private sector investments in water, energy and food security projects.
Through this track, the organization aims at promoting private sector interests and investment in the Palestinian Jordan Valley. To be able to achieve the aforementioned objective, there needs to be substantial financial investments in environmental sustainable projects. More specifically the program includes identification of projects that would potentially succeed in investment and continue to realization. Considering focusing on climate change adaptation and mitigation, the identified projects to be in the fields of Agri-tech, Eco-tourism, Renewable Energy, Water and Wastewater.
The Rehabilitation of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea
The Jordan River has seen some 95% of its fresh water diverted, its remaining flow polluted, and 50% of its biodiversity lost. The demise of the Jordan River together with the actions of the mineral extraction companies in Israel and Jordan have led to the dramatic destruction of the Dead Sea, into which the Jordan River flows. Continued misuse of natural resources and lack of regional cooperation threaten the environment and perpetuate underdevelopment and poverty.
Our efforts to promote the rehabilitation of the river have resulted in Israel releasing some fresh water into the Lower Jordan River in 2013, for the first time in the past 49 years, the construction of wastewater treatment plants in the Jordan Valley which are starting to remove pollutants from the Jordan River, and a 4-year participatory process that resulted in 2015, with SIDA’s support, in the launch of the first-ever integrated Regional Jordan Valley Master Plan (JVMP) for the rehabilitation and sustainable development of the Jordan Valley. Advancing the investment strategy detailed in the JVMP can serve as the engine for regional development (increasing the GDP of the Jordan Valley basin from $4 million to $73 million annually), rehabilitate the Jordan River, and work towards stabilizing the Dead Sea from the north.
Addressing Regional Water Scarcity and Energy Needs with a Water-Energy Nexus (WEN)
One of the key challenges for the Middle East is to develop a more integrated approach in terms of water and energy policies and supply systems; the required increased supply for water will largely depend on desalination technologies, and subsequently, on the generation of efficient, cheap and sustainable energy.
Advocacy Projects
