U.S. JORDAN JOINT FORUM ON ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNICAL COOPERATION

The following excerpt is from a U.S. State Department e-mail:

“Communique of the U.S.-Jordan Joint Forum on Environmental Technical Cooperation
Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC
March 6, 2012
Below is the text of a Joint Communiqué issued following the Third Meeting of the United States – Jordan Joint Forum on Environmental Technical Cooperation held in Amman, Jordan, on March 4, 2012.
Begin Text:
The United States – Jordan Joint Forum on Environmental Technical Cooperation (“Joint Forum”) met today in Amman, Jordan. Our two governments announced the establishment of the Joint Forum in 2000 when we issued our Joint Statement on Environmental Technical Cooperation (Joint Statement) in association with the U.S. Jordan Free Trade Agreement.

We are pleased to convene this Joint Forum in Amman. We are happy to report that we are making significant progress toward achieving the goal we identified almost 12 years ago in our Joint Statement to "advance environmental protection in Jordan.”
We are especially pleased at the opportunity today’s meeting provided for members of the public both to hear about the ways in which the United States and Jordan are cooperating to preserve and protect Jordan’s environment and to ask questions about and provide input on our current and future work program. The entire meeting was open to the public and exemplified our commitment to transparent, democratic, and participatory processes.
We were pleased to hear reports today detailing the status of cooperative environmental projects. Representatives from Jordan’s Ministry of Environment and Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Interior, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Agency for International Development described a range of projects they are implementing in Jordan that benefit Jordan’s environment and its people. We are impressed with the breadth and scope of these cooperative activities.

Finally, we signed a new Work Program that lays out a road map for environmental cooperation between the United States and Jordan through 2013. In this new Work Program, we express our intention to focus our cooperation on creating green jobs and other economic opportunities that promote green growth and sustainable development. Under this organizing principle, we identify four priority areas for cooperation: (1) institutional and policy strengthening for effective implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, including natural resource-related laws; (2) biodiversity conservation and improved management of protected areas and other ecologically important ecosystems; (3) improved private sector environmental performance; and (4) environmental education, transparency, and public participation in environmental decision-making and enforcement.

Today, the United States and Jordan reaffirmed our strong commitment to work together to preserve and protect the environment. Our cooperative environmental work tangibly demonstrates that economic growth and environmental protection are mutually supportive.”