Jordan hosts ClimaSouth project’s 6th Steering Committee meeting

The ClimaSouth project held its 6th Steering Committee meeting on Wednesday 29th March 2017 in Amman, Jordan. The main aim was to bring together the ClimaSouth National Focal Points and the rest of the project team to discuss the progress in project activities, since the previous Steering Committee (SC) meeting held in Brussels, Belgium, on the 2nd and 3rd of March 2016. The proceedings were opened by H.E. Eng. Ahmad Al Qatarneh, General Secretary of the Jordanian Ministry of Environment and, for the European Union, by Omar Abu Eid – EU Delegation, Amman, Federica Pesce – DG NEAR and Matthieu Ballu – DG CLIMA. The project’s 6th progress report was presented by Bernardo Sala, team leader of the ClimaSouth project, covering the period since the previous SC meeting. Future activities were also proposed for the period until January 2018, when the project is currently scheduled to terminate. Discussions spanned all key themes covered by the project, namely low carbon development, adaptation and resilience, climate change negotiations, climate finance, and information & communication.

Participants attending the SC, were further invited to a field visit to Sahab Municipality on the 30^th of March. The municipality is currently implementing an Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Plan, developed with support from the EU-funded project SUDEP. Sahab was the first municipality in the Jordan to join the Covenant of Mayors and is becoming a model for other municipalities in the country and the wider region. The ClimaSouth delegation was welcomed by the Mayor of Sahab, Goerge Haddaden, and escorted during the visit by the urban planner Haneen Hassouneh, head of the municipal Development Department and by Abbas Al-Maharmeh, Sahab Mayor from 2013 to 2017. Participants were offered the opportunity to observe and discuss a number of energy efficiency, energy saving & renewable energy measures. These included street lighting as well as a package of interventions in Sahab’s main public buildings, such as the cultural centre, public gardens, schools, worship sites.

A film crew, was mobilised to ensure the video coverage of the proceeding of the SC meeting and ensuing field trip. The material will be featured in a brief video reportage on climate action in Jordan, highlighting the partnership with the European Union and the role of EU-supported projects and activities. Stand-alone interviews with National Focal Points and other participants were also conducted with the aim of updating content on the ClimaSouth web platform and social media channels. The main topics covered the implementation of the Paris agreement, an overview of ClimaSouth and other EU supported project activities, and ways of enhancing the future implementation of climate action in partner countries.