Building a Sustainable Future through Climate Diplomacy: International Engagement for Environmental Commitment

Climate diplomacy has a long history of pledge implementation gap, even with the UNFCCC, Kyoto and Paris frameworks aggravated by North-South equity issues. This research aims to assess the effectiveness of international climate diplomacy in fostering shared environmental commitment by taking into account national interests, as an example of Jordan. It uses a qualitative-descriptive, interpretivist design which studies treaties, policy documents, IPCC/World Bank reports, and MENA, and thematic codes and context (climate model) (PRECIS). The findings demonstrate that those diplomatic initiatives allow the dissemination of norms (CBDR-RC) and normalizing reporting and NDCs; however, the experience of actually delivering on these commitments is limited due to the lack of water, refugee flows, and the reliance on fossil energy. Improvements in this field depend on the predictable financing, technology transfer, capacity building, and the establishment of a multilevel partnership, such as the multilevel diplomacy at the city level. Recommendations would thus involve the possibility of tying the review cycles with financial and technological processes, ensuring that the regional water-energy collaboration is not politicized, and increasing the involvement of subnational actors. In order to work out the national channels to implement the global commitments into concrete steps and on-the-ground actions, the alignment of the normative frameworks with the facilitating resources is essential. The study aligns with Jordan’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (2022), which targets a 31% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and reflects national strategies under the Economic Modernization Vision (2022) and National Climate Change Policy 2020–2050. The study also highlights the Al-Munther Al-Monakhi Initiative, which was initiated by the author as a volunteer project at COP29, as an example of community-based intervention, which maintains a climate action initiative through volunteerism and civic participation. The initiative builds climate awareness - especially among the media professionals - and turns global commitments into the practical action that is people-focused and helps Jordan build national resilience objectives.