AMMAN - Jordan ranked 64 among 133 countries in the Environment Performance Index, a survey ranking nations in pollution control and natural resource management.
The Kingdom was given an overall score of 66 per cent in the Yale and Columbia sponsored study, and advanced 20 positions in the rankings since a similar study was conducted in 2005.
Despite recent progress, local experts are unimpressed with the Kingdom's environmental track record.
Expressing his dissatisfaction over the report's results, Jordan Environment Society Executive Director Ahmad Kofahi believes the country could have done better in rankings.
"Jordan is not an industrial country with heavy polluting industries; it's true that improving from 84 in 2005 to 64 in 2006 is notable progress, but the Kingdom has the capacity to rank higher," Kofahi told The Jordan Times yesterday.
The country has enacted effective environmental legislation over the past few years, with over 18 active laws regulating environmental affairs.
In addition, the Ministry of Environment last year created the Environmental Police Department to inspect factories, industrial zones and picnic areas and to track down violators.
According to Kofahi, these advancements are offset by a lack of enforcement.
Also, no differentiation is made between sustainable development and development without regard to the impact on the environment, Kofahi said, noting that the latter is dominating the Kingdom.
The Pilot 2006 Environment Performance Index (EPI) carried out by Yale and Columbia universities, focuses on two broad environmental protection objectives: Reducing environmental stress on human health and promoting ecosystem vitality and sound natural resource management.
Environmental health and ecosystem vitality are gauged in six policy categories, including environmental health, air quality, water resources, productive natural resources, biodiversity and habitat, and sustainable energy.
The report placed Jordan among countries characterised with good management of biodiversity and natural resources.
The same category included France, the US, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Slovakia, Spain, South Korea and Venezuela, making the Kingdom the only Arab country named for preserving biodiversity and environmental regulations.
On biodiversity, Kofahi said the Kingdom has taken advanced steps in preserving threatened and rare species such as the Black Iris and certain endangered birds.
The report's top-ranked countries are New Zealand, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom, while the five lowest-ranked countries are Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Chad and Niger, according to the report, which placed the US at 28th, Russia 32nd and China 94th.
In countries where deserts constitute over 50 per cent of the total area, Jordan ranked fifth.
This category, according to the report, takes into consideration the unique ecological challenges these countries face and subsequent water management and ecosystem vulnerability issues that arise.
Jordan ranked sixth among Arab countries, while Lebanon ranked first (63 overall), with Syria (97), Yemen (122), Sudan (124) and Mauritania (131) rounding out the bottom four.
By Hana Namrouqa
© Jordan Times 2007
