Costa Rica
“Sustainability is not a practice in Costa Rica, it’s a way of life,” as Essential Costa Rica explains. And there are plenty of reasons that show this is true in this country that is home to 5% of the earth´s biodiversity. Costa Rica is known as a global leader in sustainability, as it produces almost 93% of its electricity from renewable resources and conserves approximately 30% of its national territory. On top of that it plans to be the first carbon-neutral country by 2021. Costa Rica was awarded the United Nations Environment Programme’s Champions of the Earth award for policy leadership last year.
How did this tiny country achieve all this? It has come a long way since 1987 when only 21% of Costa Rica´s territory was covered with forests (compared to 75% in 1940). This deforestation was the result of the economic values the country had back then of changing “unproductive” land (i.e. forests) into “productive” land (i.e. agriculture). In the beginning of the 1990´s, Costa Rica´s leaders thankfully came to the realization that this “productive” soil became infertile after a few years and left the farmers (and their associated markets) in economic distress. After analyzing the economic benefits of maintaining healthy ecosystems (tourism, health care, recreation, etc.), the Costa Rican government began to implement policies encouraging conservation. It established national parks, promoted ecotourism, and encouraged organic agriculture. This way not only the environment benefited, but also the economy.
Photo: @reenncaa
Some people argue that economic growth is not possible without harming the environment, but Costa Rica has shown this is not necessarily true. Businesses depend on the resources of healthy ecosystems – clean air, fresh water, fertile land, and abundant biodiversity. Economies that drain these natural resources are not sustainable and as a result cease to exist at some point.
Costa Rica has various sustainability programs, covering different areas and focusing on the synthesis between environmental, cultural, and economic health:
Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST). This program helps local businesses in keeping the long-term in mind when it comes to preserving the country’s environment, culture, and communities. Businesses are being rated (between 0 and 5, the higher the rating the better) based on their compliance with certain sustainable practices. It measures the interaction between the company and the surrounding environment; the operation systems and infrastructure of the company; the degree to which the company allows their clients to become active contributors in sustainable policies; and the way in which the company interacts with local communities and the general population. The rating system makes it easier for consumers to choose more sustainable businesses and turns sustainability into something tangible.
Bandera Azul (Blue Flag) Ecological Program. It helps keep Costa Rica’s communities – and the natural areas that surround them – healthy, safe and clean. Blue Flags are awarded annually to communities when they meet certain requirements in various categories, such as beaches, watersheds, forests, and towns. The Blue Flag program helps Costa Rican communities manage their resources through environmental education, comprehensive health care plans, and proper waste management. It provides an incentive for people to improve the area where they live through environmental awareness programs, reforestation practices, or river cleanups.
Payments for Environmental Services (PES). This program provides payments to landowners who maintain healthy, robust land. Landowners who adopt forest management practices that do not hurt the environment and which help maintain the quality of life for local residents receive direct payments from the government. These payments are for the ecological services that healthy land produces. These include maintaining clean water, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, conserving biodiversity, and providing areas for recreation and ecotourism.
Photo: @harolsblog
Furthermore, Costa Rica is planning on decarbonizing the economy through electrification of transport, smart and resilient cities, sound waste management, sustainable agriculture and improved logistics. The aim is to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, meaning the country will produce no more emissions than it can offset through actions such as maintaining and expanding its forests. And the government is determined to make it a success. “Costa Rica has a long history of achievements, not only in terms of the environment but also in other fields,” said President Alvarado. “Seventy years ago Costa Rica abolished the military and opted to be a country of peace and, for many years now, the country also has free, mandatory public education for children. And about 50 years ago, the country began to push a series of innovative environmental policies because the paradigm of sustainable development is very much in the DNA of Costa Ricans,” he said. “Receiving the Champions of the Earth award on behalf of Costa Rica, of its entire population, of past generations who protected the environment and future generations fills me with pride and emotion for what Costa Rica has achieved and for what we can continue to do because we can achieve even more.” Part of the plan is to introduce fiscal reforms, including taxes on pollution, and build on the clean energy potential of the country in order to incentivize green growth and phase out fossil fuels.
Environmental institutional reform will be needed to create modern, digitized and flexible institutions able to manage the transformation. These institutions include the Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery, the Costa Rican Electricity Institute, the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation and the Public Transportation Council.
The decarbonization plan will help Costa Rica fulfill its commitments under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. However, Costa Rica’s aim goes further than that. It wants to shift the paradigm of development and build a system that generates an environmental surplus rather than a deficit. It wants to inspire other, bigger countries, to follow suit and realize urgent transformations that are needed to reduce global warming. A small country showing a big example to the world.
Sources
Main picture: Mens Journal
