Ecopeace Middle East Skoll Awardee Profile

EcoPeace Middle East Skoll Awardee Profile

Organization Overview

Key Info

Social Entrepreneur Gidon Bromberg, Munqeth Mehyar, Nader Al Khateeb

Year Awarded 2009

Issue Area Addressed Education, Environmental Sustainability, Peace and Human Rights, Sustainable Markets

Sub Issue Area Addressed Clean Energy, Clean Water, Human Rights, Livelihoods, Peace, Sanitation, Water Management

Countries Served Israel, Jordan, Palestinian Territory

Website http://www.ecopeaceme.org

Twitter handle @ecopeaceme

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/EcoPeaceMiddleE ast/

Youtube https://www.youtube.com/user/FriendsOfThe EarthME About the Organization

Established 25 years ago, EcoPeace Middle East is the only organization that brings Palestinians, Israelis and Jordanians together under a single mandate. The organization is a trailblazer in the implementation of environmental peacebuilding. With offices in Ramallah, Amman and Tel Aviv, EcoPeace focuses on the shared environment as a means to promote cooperation. The organization’s work on water and climate security has attracted global attention.

Impact

In the past year, EcoPeace successfully launched a new phase of its flagship Good Water Neighbors program, including a unique school curriculum, regional and national teacher and student trainings, and a Water Diplomacy program for young professionals. EcoPeace spearheaded a successful campaign to address the Gaza water and sanitation crises, helping create the conditions that enabled the completion of the first modern sewage treatment plant in Gaza, and agreements to build a gas pipeline that will drastically improve the energy situation in Gaza. In the Jordan Valley, EcoPeace convened investors with entrepreneurs focused on climate-smart agriculture, delivered farmers’ trainings on water efficiency and plant protection, and started building a solar farm to power a wastewater treatment plant. EcoPeace’s global program, launched in 2017, continued to develop, with workshops taking place this year with civil society organizations in the Lake Chad Basin, North Africa, and the Rift Valley.

Path to Scale

EcoPeace adds value and achieves scale through cooperation: its educational activities are embedded within national school systems, reaching thousands of youth in the region; its strategies and methodologies are shared with international organizations and networks, accelerating innovative ideas and projects.

Social Entrepreneur

Gidon Bromberg began his work in environmental peacebuilding while studying international environmental law at American University in 1993, with a focus on the environmental implications of peace. Fearing that unsustainable regional development plans were being vetted as part of the then-nascent Oslo peace efforts, Gidon, from Israel, joined forces with Munqeth Mehyar from Jordan in an effort to promote the integration of environmental considerations into the regional development agenda. In 1994, Gidon and Munqeth established EcoPeace Middle East as an environmental, non-governmental organization with the goal of bringing together Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian environmentalists to work together to put environmental issues on the peace process agenda and to create a regional vision and response to water crises, furthering sustainable development and peace in the region. In this tripartite structure, Gidon serves as the Israeli Director and Munqeth, who has a background in regional planning and architecture, serves as the Jordanian Director. In 2001, Gidon and Munqeth recruited Nader Al Khateeb, an engineer with experience working for UNDP’s Water Resources Action Program, to serve as the Palestinian Director. In 2017, Ms. Nada Majdalani, formerly a board member, replaced Nader as the Palestinian co-director of EcoPeace and as its first female co- director. EcoPeace and its three country directors have received international recognition in the field of environmental peacebuilding and water security, receiving international awards such as the Aristotle Onassis Prize for the Protection of the Environment, TIME Magazine’s Environmental Heroes Award, the Green Globe Award and the Euro-Med Award for Dialogue between Cultures.

Equilibrium Overview

Current Equilibrium

Climate change and its disruptive impact on water resources is increasingly recognized as a cause for conflict in areas around the world. The issue is especially acute in the Middle East, one of the most water-scarce and conflict-prone regions of the world. Exacerbating the effects of climate-induced water stress, the region also suffers from inefficient water usage and mismanagement, antiquated water infrastructures and networks, and insufficient legal, political, and economic frameworks for the management of transboundary water resources. In the current equilibrium, Palestinians attribute their water shortage to Israel refusing access to a fair share of natural waters and hence denying Palestinian water rights.[i] Israeli animosity is focused on pollution issues; pollution from the Palestinian side either flows into Israel through cross-border streams or directly pollutes the Mediterranean as in the case of Gaza, threatening the coast, the operations of Israel’s desalination plants, and ultimately Israeli water security.[ii] Despite these tangible concerns, Israel and the Palestinian Authority have failed to develop a mutually advantageous water security agenda as they hold the position that water, as a final status issue, should not be solved alone but as part of the broader context of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The Israel-Jordan water relationship, on the other hand, is a powerful example of how water security concerns can advance national security interests for the benefit of both sides. Because of the highly complex political situation, the international community and international development agencies are often left divided on how to advance comprehensive transboundary water solutions and water diplomacy. Without the political will for the cooperation needed on the local, national and regional levels, natural water quality and quantity continues to decline to the degree that is presently seen in Gaza, threatening to lead to a humanitarian, ecological and national security crisis for the region. [i] Under the Oslo Accords signed between the Palestinian Authority and Israel (1993 and 1995), Israel retained control of the majority of the shared natural water sources (article 40 of Oslo Accords). [ii] Poor management and lack of access to alternative water sources in Gaza has led to overdrawn groundwater, resulting in high salinity levels that have rendered 97% of the ground water in Gaza no longer potable, creating a humanitarian crisis for two million Palestinians. Inadequate sanitation facilities coupled with insufficient electricity to power existing treatment plants led to pollution of the shared ground water with Israel and to the release of raw sewage into the Mediterranean. This sewage was consequently carried out to sea, and has been responsible for shutting down Israel’s desalination facility in Ashkelon twice in 2016 alone, threatening Israel's drinking water supplies and Israel's water security.

New Equilibrium

In the new equilibrium, water resource management shifts from an area of conflict into a platform for sharing and on-the-ground cooperation across borders. Local actors (activists and constituencies) representing the interests of their own communities give voice to the lose-lose implications of current policies and call upon and work with local leadership (mayors, municipal officials, local water authorities, community stakeholders) to advance local solutions and push for national-level policy change. These voices, combined with evidence-based policy papers (based on sound environmental and economic data) convince national decision makers and governments of the need to adopt a broader perspective of national security that includes the need to protect local environmental resources through cooperation across borders. Specifically, Palestinian and Israeli governments agree to move towards a fair and sustainable water agreement in advance of other final status issues. The international community supports these policy changes and the investments needed for implementation. As a result of these efforts, a fair and final Israeli-Palestinian water agreement is achieved, investments transform the Jordan Valley from an area of poverty and pollution to one of shared prosperity based on a healthy Jordan River and a stabilized Dead Sea, and Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians trade clean energy and water as the basis for long-lasting environmental benefits and peaceful relations across borders.

Innovation

EcoPeace Middle East works at the intersection of environmental sustainability and peacebuilding. EcoPeace’s work is grounded in the theory of change which posits that local self interest in environmental issues can, if channeled properly, overcome antagonism between polarized communities and become a fulcrum for reconciliation. The organization brings together Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli environmentalists to work cooperatively to address water crises and protect shared natural resources, with the goal of bringing about sustainable development and the conditions necessary for lasting peace in the region. By providing opportunities for communities to meet and engage in constructive dialogue on issues that are of vital concern to them, a space is created that allows participants to identify their shared interests and the mutual benefit of cooperative efforts, and to re-examine the underpinnings of their animosities and mistrust. In the process, they develop a greater understanding of their shared humanity and their shared stake in their environment. EcoPeace approaches cross-border environment and peacebuilding issues by first developing a regional strategy. Local Palestinian, Jordanian and Israeli researchers are hired to gain a regional understanding of the problem and to work collaboratively on developing a common vision for influencing decision makers, the media and the general public. EcoPeace is a project-oriented NGO that combines bottom-up community-based actions with top-down education and advocacy. It approaches its work through three main sets of activities: "Bottom-up" grassroots activities targeting youth and adults in local communities: EcoPeace’s bottom-up approach emphasizes educating and engaging local constituencies to call for, and lead, necessary cross-border solutions to regional water issues. The bottom-up programs facilitate the advancement of community interests in cross- border environmental solutions. Examples of bottom-up programs include EcoPeace’s flagship project, Good Water Neighbors (GWN), which mobilizes cross-border communities in protecting shared water resources, its Jordan River Rehabilitation program, which works with residents on both sides of the border to protect the river, and its EcoCenters, which engage youth and tourists in educational and rehabilitation activities. "Top-down" advocacy/research targeting regional leaders and international stakeholders: EcoPeace’s top-down programs are based on research, the publication of policy briefs, and the holding of events that highlight the national self-interest of each side in advancing EcoPeace's policy recommendations. The focus and goal of EcoPeace’s top-down approach is to promote cooperation through advocacy work aimed at influencing decision-makers at the national and international levels. Examples of top-down programs include the Water Cannot Wait project, which seeks to achieve a fair, sustainable and final water agreement between Israelis and Palestinians, The Jordan Valley and Dead Sea project, which aims to rehabilitate the Jordan River and stabilize the Dead Sea, and the Water Energy Nexus project, which seeks to create a ‘Water Energy’ community whereby Jordan would provide solar energy in exchange for desalinated water from Israel and Gaza. Capacity building activities targeting civil society organizations in conflict areas worldwide: In 2016, EcoPeace received seed funding to launch the Program on Water Security in Washington DC, to serve as an international platform from which to scale up its environmental peacebuilding model of cross-border cooperation and share its experience and methodology with civil society organizations coping with conflict issues over shared water resources worldwide. The program will offer its services to civil society organizations located in shared water basins across the globe, and advise on how best to adapt bottom up and top down programming and strategies to the specific circumstances in the given locations. In addition to local capacity building, the program will advance environmental peacebuilding initiatives by developing strategic partnerships with international stakeholders (UN, World Bank, donor agencies, peace and development organizations), research institutions, think-tanks and academia. Complimenting government-to-government water diplomacy efforts, it will help establish relationships of cooperation and trust at the community, national and international levels on issues pertaining to water and the environment, with the goal of increasing resilience to climate-induced water stress and reducing the threat of conflict over shared resources. More information on this initiative is available here.

Ambition for Change

EcoPeace combines community-based activities with research-based advocacy to show Israelis, Palestinians, and Jordanians that their national destinies and self-interests are inextricably linked to their shared environment, encouraging people to view natural resource management as an opportunity for cooperation across borders, rather than a source of conflict.