Description
Jordan faces a number of political, social, economic and security challenges, each of which threatens the material and non-material interests of those residing in the kingdom, as well as the stability of the government and Hashemite regime. While problems such as global economic crises, inter- and intra-state wars, public dissent and dissatisfaction, rapidly rising living costs, and the burgeoning trade in narcotics have featured prominently in discussions of both Jordan’s stability and contemporary rent seeking behaviour, climate change has been ignored. This is problematic as Jordan is one of the most climate change vulnerable states in the world and has very limited adaptive capacities and low levels of resiliency. At the same time, successive Jordanian governments have been engaged in global climate change mitigation and adaptation discussions, developed Jordan’s climate change policies and institutional framework, and have actively sought external support for its adaptation and mitigation efforts. This paper contributes to discussions on Jordan’s political economy, rentierism, and climate change in small developing states by analysing the ways in which the Jordanian government uses climate change to seek rent from abroad, and the role this plays in climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts in the kingdom. We find that the government ‘rents out’ Jordan’s stability and cooperation on climate change initiatives to the international community in order to support the national budget as well as support the material and non-material interests of Jordanians. However, failure to secure sufficient rent, implement climate change policies fully, and communicate adaptation efforts to the masses undermine the effectiveness of Jordan’s climate change policies.
