Jordan is a small, middle-income, open economy, with a limited natural resources base and active trade flows. As the integration of Jordan in the World Economy progresses, enhancing Jordan’s environmental management can not only improve the wellbeing of Jordanians, but also enable the country to better compete in increasingly environmentally conscious markets. To date there has not yet been a comprehensive assessment of Jordan’s environmental agenda, particularly in terms of providing indications on how to integrate long-term environmental concerns into the development process.

Striking a balance between breadth and depth of the analysis, this report intends to help fill such a gap and to provide insights that can inform the dialogue between the World Bank and the Government of Jordan on a selected number of areas of particular relevance for continued sustainable economic and social development. The report has been prepared by a World Bank team that has worked in full partnership and cooperation with a Jordanian team, led by the Ministry of Environment, and representing a broad cross-section of Government institutions. To achieve its core objectives of identifying key strategic priorities for improved environmental policy across sectoral boundaries, the CEA analyzes sequentially the country’s key environmental concerns and their relative priority; the linkages between development and environmental pressure in selected themes or sectors (water quality, road transport), and the capacity of Jordan’s institutions to reconcile development and growth objectives.

Most of the data and information used for the report have been collected in the period 2007- 2008, although efforts have been made to take into account selected key developments in relevant policies occurred since then.