The agreement was concluded in November at the global climate negotiations COP27 in Egypt. Now water from the Sea of Galilee in Israel has begun to flow in the taps at the homes of the residents of the Jordanian capital Amman. There you only have water in the taps 36 hours a week.
The architects behind the agreement are the organization Eco Peace, which is financed, among other things, by the Swedish Sida.
– We are a region associated with violence and conflicts and where trust is low. But if we can solve common challenges in the light of climate change, we can also create a more peaceful relationship, says Yana Abu Taleb, campaign manager in the Middle East.
Export water
In Jordan, the water is literally running out. Right now, people are living on the last underground water reserves, which are being pumped up twice as fast as they are filled. The Dead Sea is sinking by 1.4 meters a year and the Jordan River is shrinking, partly due to neighboring countries draining the river, partly due to climate change. It rains less and less and the average temperature rises.
Israel plans to build a desalination plant on the Mediterranean Sea and channel the water in pipelines to the neighboring country. In return, Israel must import green solar power from Jordan. Israel is finding it difficult to meet its climate commitments under the Paris Agreement and lacks land areas on which to build solar or wind farms. Jordan, on the other hand, is a superficially larger country that can build large facilities.
But peace with the neighboring country is fragile and Israel is still regarded as an archenemy. Therefore, the agreement has also sparked protests.
Must act
– How dare we depend on Israel for something as vital as water? Imagine if, in the next conflict, they turn off the tap, wonders Mahmoud Oran, chairman of Jordan’s farmers.
But Yana Abu Taleb of Eco Peace is convinced that it is the way forward.
– I understand the concern, water is about national security. But we are in such a hurry that we have to act and the agreement is strong because it is based on mutual dependence.