At the COP27 climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Israel and Jordan signed a declaration of intent to conserve and restore their shared Jordan River — a waterway sacred to millions that has been reduced to a fraction of its former flow by decades of diversion, pollution, and climate change. The agreement marked a rare moment of environmental cooperation between two neighbors whose relations have grown strained since their 1994 peace treaty.
At a glance
- Jordan River flow: Jordan reported at the time of signing that the river’s runoff had fallen to just 7% of its historical volume, a collapse driven by upstream water diversion and rising regional temperatures.
- Biodiversity loss: Cross-border environmental group EcoPeace Middle East estimated the agreement, if implemented, could help restore up to 50% of the biodiversity lost because of decades of pollution and freshwater diversion.
- Dead Sea decline: Because the Jordan feeds the Dead Sea, that saltwater lake has been losing roughly three feet of surface level every year — a downstream consequence the two countries’ cooperation aims to slow.
What the agreement covers
The declaration signed at COP27 commits Israel and Jordan to reducing river pollution, building up wastewater treatment facilities, and upgrading sewer systems in riverside cities to stop raw sewage from flowing into the water. The two governments also pledged to promote sustainable agriculture along the riverbanks — controlling farm runoff and cutting pesticide use, though the announcement did not specify timelines or enforcement mechanisms.
“Cleaning up the pollutants and hazards, restoring water flow and strengthening the natural ecosystems will help us prepare and adapt to the climate crisis,” said Israeli Minister of Environmental Protection Tamar Zandberg at the signing.
Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency said the plan would hopefully increase water supplies and create job opportunities “for those living on both sides of the Jordan River, including Palestinians.”
A river with deep significance
The Jordan River carries weight that goes far beyond hydrology. It forms part of the boundary between Jordan to the east and the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west — territory seized by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and sought by Palestinians for their future state. It also flows through some of the most storied terrain in human history: traditional sites where Jesus is believed to have been baptized draw pilgrims and tourists to both banks, generating revenue that both governments have an interest in protecting.
Water cooperation was written into the 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, one of the treaty’s most practical and durable components. But relations between the two countries cooled in the years that followed, and joint water management fell well short of what the treaty envisioned.
The role of EcoPeace Middle East
EcoPeace Middle East, a cross-border environmental organization that has spent years promoting Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian cooperation on water and climate, welcomed the signing as a turning point. The group has long argued that the Jordan River’s rehabilitation is not just an ecological issue but a climate adaptation strategy — one that could buffer all three communities against the water scarcity that a warming Middle East will intensify.
The region is among the most water-stressed on Earth. Population growth on both sides of the river has increased demand even as climate change shrinks supply. Rehabilitating the Jordan, EcoPeace argues, is one of the few paths that offers ecological, economic, and diplomatic returns simultaneously.
A promising start, but specifics still needed
Observers were careful to note what the declaration was and was not. It was a statement of intent, not a binding treaty or a funded program. The plan, as announced, was short on specifics: no detailed budget, no defined milestones, and no independent monitoring mechanism was outlined at signing. Turning a COP declaration into lasting infrastructure — treatment plants, upgraded sewers, reformed agricultural practices — will require sustained political will from two governments whose broader relationship has remained complicated.
The agreement also does not directly address the upstream water diversions that are the largest single driver of the river’s collapse. Both Israel and Jordan draw heavily from the Jordan’s tributaries to supply their populations, and any meaningful restoration of river flow will eventually require negotiating those allocations — a politically harder conversation that the declaration does not yet touch.
Still, environmental groups and water experts said the signing mattered. A shared commitment made in front of the world’s climate delegations creates a record — and a baseline against which future action can be measured.
Read more
For more on this story, see: AP News — Israel and Jordan agree to team up to save Jordan River
For more from Good News for Humankind, see:
- U.K. cancer death rates fall to their lowest level on record
- Ghana establishes a new marine protected area at Cape Three Points
- The Good News for Humankind archive on Jordan
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