Protect the Environment

JEF Overview and Strategic Direction

The Jordan Environment Fund (JEF), was established in 2009 under the provisions of the Environment Protection Law of the Ministry of Environment, with a mandate to help Jordan advance its national goals for environmental protection and sustainable development.

JEF is governed by its own Bilaw (No. 18 for the year 2018) through its Board of Directors, which comprises of representatives from the public and private sector. The Chairman of the Board is the Minister of Environment.

The Fund's mandate includes:

Support activities that contribute to environmental protection and conservation, and development of environmentally friendly practices.
Initiatives that promote resource efficiency, to contribute to sustainable development
Contribute to raising environmental awareness, including use of cleaner production technology
Focus on priority national sectors and provide support to enable fulfillment of environmental requirements
Promote cooperation and knowledge transfer with national, regional and international entities with similar mandates to coordinate activities in support of environmental protection.

Moving forward, JEF continues to develop its institutional framework to align with international best practice, respond to national priorities, and forge strategic partnerships with local, regional and international partners. JEF is strategically placed to serve as an implementation arm for the Ministry of Environment and the Government of Jordan in enabling key environmental strategies and plans, including but not limited to:

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (in particular environmental SDGs 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13,14,15 and 17)
RIO Conventions, among other key environmental conventions and agreements
Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement (both Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation sectors), and related action plans (e.g. NDC Action Plan, National Adaptation Plan)
The National Green Growth Plan (including six priority sectors: waste, energy, water, transport, tourism, agriculture)
Sustainable Consumption and Production Action Plan

JEF works with beneficiaries from the public, private and NGO sectors, striving to achieve a more tangible impact on Jordan's environment and society, in particular on youth, women and vulnerable communities. This includes identification of support mechanisms for innovative environmental solutions, particularly those which promote a circulate economy approach. In addition to the objectives listed above, JEF seeks to attract green and climate finance to Jordan. This includes leveraging national funds to attract private sector and international financing institutions in a blended finance approach.

Selected Achievements

JEF has supported a number of projects to date on a grant-financing basis, in diverse sectors in diverse areas and locations across Jordan, including biodiversity, waste management, climate change, awareness raising & behavior change, and capacity building, including:

Deployment of drone technology to enable the Rangers (environmental police) to better monitor and address forest violations, as well as respond to fire hazards
Installation of GPS tracking systems on hazardous wastewater transportation tankers in order to track violators and take corrective measures
Awareness projects on waste management and recycling in cooperation with local NGOs and local organizations (including the Children's Museum, Jordan Environment Society, Mafraq Association, and South Association in Maan)
Annual, nation-wide anti-littering awareness campaigns (including distribution of 1000 bins in forests across the Kingdom, school plays, videos, dedicated Facebook page, social media messages…etc.)
Tree-planting, and sustainable forest rehabilitation schemes in cooperation with all stakeholders (public, private and NGOs)
Development of the first interactive gaming app to raise awareness of youth (ages 6-15) about waste reduction and recycling (EcoChamp)
Supporting the publication of Jordan's 'Red List' volumes in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Garden which detail Jordan's endangered plant species
Translation of the first course on climate change to the Arabic language, available online through UNITAR, in collaboration with EDAMA