Jordan is planning one of the region’s largest water infrastructure projects, with a massive desalination plant on the Red Sea designed to supply drinking water hundreds of kilometres inland to Amman and other parts of the country.
The roughly $6-billion project is intended to strengthen Jordan’s resilience to worsening water shortages, which are being intensified by climate change. It would also reduce the kingdom’s dependence on water supplies linked to Israel, a concern that has become more pressing as relations between the two countries have deteriorated since the start of the Gaza war.
Backers of the project describe it as a major climate adaptation investment capable of improving long-term water security in one of the world’s most water-stressed countries. However, questions are emerging over how the energy-intensive desalination system will be powered, with concerns that the project could lock Jordan into greater fossil gas demand for years to come.
