A Green Blue Deal for the Middle East
Publisher: EcoPeace Middle East
Author(s): Gidon Bromberg, Nada Majdalani, and Yana Abu Taleb
Date: 2020
Topics: Climate Change, Conflict Prevention, Cooperation, Governance, Land, Renewable Resources
Countries: Israel, Jordan, Palestine
The climate crisis is often described as a threat multiplier, where the weak adaptive capacity of a state or a region to deal with the negative implications of climate change can threaten stability and national security interests. In the Middle East, the failure to resolve the water scarcity challenges already faced in the region is a national security issue, that under conditions of climate change will be multiplied to a level that threatens regional stability. However, climate change can equally be seen as a multiplier Montserratof opportunities, where a nation or a region could see the threats posed by climate change as a chance to reconsider existing policies and decide to work across borders, in order to increase adaptive capacities so that challenges can not only be overcome but more sustainable, equitable and prosperous results can be acheived. The ‘Green Deal’ concepts in both the US and Europe are designed precisely for this purpose, where to date Europe is leading the global climate effort by adopting a set of targets related to climate adaptation and mitigation, including zero total carbon emmissions, investment in green jobs and infrastructure and advancing social equity by 2050. With the recent election in the US of a Biden-Harris Presidency, the US and EU will seek to return to working together productively to advance climate issues and this should help attract new investment opportunities including Arab Gulf funding towards Middle East Green Deal endeavors. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, many OECD countries have further added the term to ‘build back better’ focusing on climate adaptation and mitigation measures as their priority issues as a means to stimulate the economy and advance societal progress