Chapter 3: Outlooks and Emerging Issues
with fiscal measures, mainly reducing subsidies. The Saudi budget for the fiscal year 2015-2016 highlighted this trend, as stated by a statement from the Ministry of Finance, committing to: “Reviewing government support, including revision of energy, water, and electricity prices gradually over the next five years, in order to achieve efficiency in energy use, conserve natural resources, stop waste and irrational use, and minimize negative effects on low and mid-income citizens and the competitiveness of the business sector.”
This was immediately followed by a change in prices to better reflect the cost of the service and control consumption. Other measures to control the production of water-intensive crops, such as wheat and fodder, were implemented across the GCC, to preserve limited groundwater resources. Other countries, including Jordan, had earlier started strict water preservation measures, including metering and water pricing.
The SDGs encourage and expect countries to adopt an integrated approach to managing water resources. Water management should be considered across a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, tourism and industry, in which most of the water is used. Considering that most renewable water resources in West Asia are transnational, it is important to reach agreements between affected countries on the most efficient and fair management of these resources. Although this seems far-fetched during the current protracted violent conflicts in Iraq and Syria, it could become the catalyst for ending these conflicts and maintaining order and peace in the region.
3.5.6 Waste
Nearly 90 per cent of municipal solid waste in West Asia is disposed of in unlined landfill sites and leachate from these is contaminating scarce groundwater resources. Proper integration of municipal solid waste management in West Asia is generally hampered by technical, administrative and financial shortcomings in some countries.
There are, however, great opportunities for utilising waste as a resource, but this requires technical and financial support from high-income countries, promotion of safe recycling, and enacting regulations to promote the use of recyclables as substitute raw materials.
The following key recommendations are offered to assist in the implementation of integrated waste management across West Asia:
• develop regional legislation to stop the dumping of wastes in landfill and phase out the use of all unlined landfill sites by 2025;
• develop accurate and reliable databases based on geographic information system (GIS) location and tracking systems including solid waste generation and composition in all municipalities;
• •
•
coordinate integrated waste management policies and regulations across the region;
establish tariff schemes for all waste producers and build incentives to reduce wastes and recycle;
• engage with local communities to create communal collection points that encourage segregation of wastes;
establish extended producer responsibility with key industries, importers and their supply chains to reduce waste production, increase resource efficiency and increase utilisation of waste as a resource.
3.6 The Oryx scenario – a vision of environmental sustainability
The Oryx scenario presents visionary outlook where all is well in the West Asia region. It is an optimistic vision of the future for the next 25 years based on the goal of regional sustainability (10 years after the adoption of SDGs). The scenario assumes fulfilment of core West Asia priorities, namely: improving the level of peace and security; reducing current stresses in water scarcity; and coping with the impacts of climate change.
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