King continues efforts to address climate change-Radaideh

Dead Sea: Minister of Environment, Dr. Muawieh Radaideh, said His Majesty King Abdullah II's interest in confronting climate change and his active presence in related events and conferences reflect Jordan's "clear" impact as an "essential" partner to the international community in establishing rules and efforts to combat this phenomenon. In remarks to "Petra" on the sidelines of the launch of Regional Ocean Summit Wednesday in the Dead Sea, Radaideh said holding this event for the first time in Jordan indicates the world's respect for Jordan and views the Kingdom a "safe" haven, amid the tense and unstable regional conditions. Radaideh continued: "The summit also indicates the Kingdom's distinguished environmental status and the international community's recognition of Jordan's steady and pioneering steps, under the King's leadership, in confronting challenges of the climate change phenomenon, which now threatens the entire world and directly affects wildlife and marine life." Jordan, he noted, is affected by climate change due to the "unnatural" increase in population following successive waves of refugees, noting that His Majesty launched an interconnected initiative on climate and refugees at the Conference of the Parties on Climate Change 27. Under the King's initiative, he said His Majesty stressed the need to give priority to climate-related support and investment to countries hosting refugees, which bears the brunt of climate change due to the "great" pressure on their resources due to the "unnatural" increase in their population. The minister added that Jordan is pursuing Economic Modernization Vision, in parallel with recovery of the green economy, which focuses on improving the Kingdom's economic situation, while reducing environmental risks and scarcity of environmental life. This effort seeks to make Jordan a model of economic development based on sustainable environmental development by following organized methods to create a clean society and environment that raises the economic level and pushe s society towards a better life and preserves all forms of environmental diversity, he pointed out. Radaideh noted the importance of making the blue economy a success by focusing on paying attention for the marine environment, pursuing related jobs, and making optimal use of water resources. The minister said that the King's declaration of the city of Aqaba as a marine reserve, and launch of the Marine Research Center, play a "major" role in supporting scientific research to protect oceans and give Gulf of Aqaba "strong" resilience in facing climate change. Source: Jordan News Agency