A clear map of who regulates climate and ESG disclosure in Jordan: the CBJ, the Amman Stock Exchange and the JSC, and why the binding climate text is ASE's.
Introduction
Ask who regulates climate disclosure in Jordan and you will get three different answers, often from people who are each partly right. The confusion is understandable, because three bodies share the field and their roles overlap. But the distinctions matter, especially for banks, which answer to all three. This article maps who mandates what, and settles the question of where the binding climate-disclosure text actually sits.
The three bodies
Three institutions shape climate and ESG obligations in Jordan, and each plays a different role.
| Body | Role | What it mandates on climate |
|---|---|---|
| CBJ (Central Bank of Jordan) | Banking supervisor | Climate-risk management for banks |
| ASE (Amman Stock Exchange) | Market operator | Climate disclosure for ASE20 companies |
| JSC (Jordan Securities Commission) | Statutory capital-markets regulator and overseer | Binding corporate governance; no standalone ESG instruction |
The CBJ: managing the risk
The Central Bank is the banking supervisor, and its climate mandate is about management, not public disclosure. The Climate Risk Management Regulations No. 2 of 2025 made it mandatory for banks to govern, measure and manage climate risk from February 2025. This is a prudential obligation on how a bank runs itself. It requires internal reporting, but it does not, by itself, require external climate disclosure to the market.
The ASE: mandating the disclosure
External climate disclosure comes from the Amman Stock Exchange. Its Climate-Related Disclosures Regulatory Framework, launched in December 2024, requires IFRS S2 reporting and is mandatory for companies in the ASE20 index from FY2026. This is a listing-side instrument. It binds companies as a condition of listing, and it is the enforceable climate-disclosure text in Jordan.
The JSC: the governance hook and the overseer
The Jordan Securities Commission is the statutory capital-markets regulator, and its instruments have the force of law. Its most relevant contribution to climate is indirect but foundational: the Corporate Governance Directives 2017. These require a board that is at least one-third independent, separation of the chair and chief executive, an Audit Committee and a Nominations and Compensations Committee, a board risk-management policy, and remuneration criteria. This is the binding governance backbone that climate oversight sits on top of. The JSC also provides the general disclosure instructions for listed companies. What it does not provide is a standalone climate or ESG disclosure rule.
Dual regulation, and what wins
A listed bank is both a bank and a listed issuer, so it is dual-regulated. It faces CBJ climate-risk-management rules as a bank, and ASE climate-disclosure rules as an ASE20 issuer, on top of JSC governance directives. Where the JSC directives conflict with CBJ legislation, the JSC’s own conflict-resolution rule sends the company to the JSC for a decision, and in practice CBJ rules take precedence in the banking-specific domain while the JSC and ASE layer supplements.
For a Jordanian bank, climate obligations do not come from one regulator. They come from a banking supervisor, a stock exchange and a securities commission at once, and knowing which one binds which duty is half the battle.
Putting the map together
The clean way to hold it in mind is by function. The CBJ governs how a bank manages climate risk. The ASE governs what a listed bank discloses about it. The JSC governs the corporate-governance structure both of those rest on, and oversees the capital market. For a bank, the practical result is a single, connected programme: manage the risk to the CBJ standard, disclose it to the ASE standard, and govern it to the JSC standard. Jordan’s climate-first adoption of the ISSB standards, explored in our note on the MENA milestone, ties the disclosure layer to a global framework.
How ESGweise helps
ESGweise helps banks navigate all three layers as a single readiness programme. We align the CBJ climate-risk framework, the ASE IFRS S2 disclosure, and the JSC governance requirements so they reinforce rather than duplicate each other. We are an advisory partner, not a regulator or auditor. See our strategy and reporting services and our work with banking and financial services.
Conclusion
Climate regulation in Jordan is shared across three bodies with distinct roles: the CBJ manages the risk, the ASE mandates the disclosure, and the JSC provides the binding governance and oversight. The single most useful clarification is that the enforceable climate-disclosure text is the ASE framework for ASE20 companies, not a standalone JSC rule. For a bank subject to all three, understanding the map is what turns a confusing overlap into one coherent programme.
Frequently asked questions
Who regulates climate disclosure in Jordan?
Three bodies share the field. The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) is the banking supervisor and mandates climate-risk management for banks. The Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) is the market operator and mandates climate-related financial disclosure for companies in the ASE20 index, through its Climate-Related Disclosures Regulatory Framework. The Jordan Securities Commission (JSC) is the statutory capital-markets regulator and overseer, and provides the binding corporate-governance rules, but it has no standalone ESG instruction.
Is it the ASE or the JSC that mandates IFRS S2 in Jordan?
It is the ASE. The binding, enforceable climate-disclosure requirement is the ASE Climate-Related Disclosures Regulatory Framework, which mandates IFRS S2 for ASE20 companies. The JSC is the overarching regulator and provides mandatory corporate-governance directives, but the operative climate-disclosure text is an ASE listing instrument. Attributing a standalone mandatory ESG rule to the JSC alone would be inaccurate.
Why are Jordanian banks dual-regulated on climate?
A listed bank is both a bank and a listed issuer. As a bank, it answers to the CBJ for prudential and climate-risk-management rules. As a listed public shareholding company, it answers to the JSC and ASE for governance and disclosure. So a bank in the ASE20 index faces CBJ climate-risk-management obligations and ASE climate-disclosure obligations at the same time, on top of the JSC governance directives.
What happens if CBJ and JSC rules conflict for a bank?
The JSC's 2017 Corporate Governance Directives include a conflict-resolution rule. Where the directives conflict with legislation issued by the CBJ, the supervised company must notify the JSC and seek a decision. In practice, CBJ rules take precedence in the banking-specific domain, and the JSC and ASE layer supplements on capital-market and listed-issuer matters.