Constructing climate change rentierism in Jordan

Abstract

Jordan is exceptionally vulnerable to climate change and has limited adaptive capacities. It is also a non-democratic state with an ubiquitous role for the monarchy that results in narratives that seek to promote the regime’s stability by securing external support in the form of ‘rents’. In this paper we examine how the government ‘rents out’ Jordan’s stability and its engagement with climate change initiatives to the international community through its unintentional use of fearmongering. Jordan’s vulnerability narrative, in particular, highlights its stabilising role in regional affairs (e.g. by hosting refugees from neighbouring countries) and attracts the support of external actors interested in its stability. While rent-seeking behaviour could serve as a short-term solution to the imminent threats imposed by climate change, it can also reinforce authoritarianism and divert attention away from long-term sustainable adaptation and mitigation activities.