Israel-Jordan energy-for-water deal positive for whole region

Israel-Jordan energy-for-water deal positive for whole region

In late November, the governments of Israel and Jordan penned a landmark agreement trading water resources for energy. According to the terms of the deal, a joint project between the two countries would see Jordan build 600 megawatts of solar generating capacity that would be exported to Israel. In return, Israel will provide water-scarce Jordan with 200 million cubic meters of desalinated water through a yet-to-be constructed water-cleansing facility in Israel. The signing took place at the UAE Leadership Pavilion during the Dubai Expo. Highlighting the importance of the event, the signing was witnessed by Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, the United Arab Emirates' industry and advanced technology minister and special envoy for climate change, and John Kerry, US special presidential envoy for climate. The cooperation between the two countries will be a long-term venture, with feasibility studies scheduled to begin in 2022. The milestone deal, really the first of its kind in the region, has been in the makings for quite some time. Diplomats from the UAE and the US had been busy brokering the agreement for at least a year, hoping to bring about a significant cooperation between the two nations, which while technically having a peace treaty,