The climate emergency is real and human activities are the main cause. We have caused this emergency and we must take responsibility for it.The creation of any policy, measure or project with the objective of reducing greenhouse gases and being resilient to climate change is part of the commitment of cities, communities, governments, people and companies in climate action. .
A crucial part of the resilience process
Costa Rica, and Latin America in general, have the conditions to be a crucial part of this resilience process. Its cultural and biological diversity plays a strategic role in guaranteeing climate stability, preserving communities and their ecosystems, a unique opportunity to guarantee sustainable development compatible with global climate objectives and the Paris Agreement.
Our country has come a long way in terms of climate action, which as Costa Ricans should fill us with pride, but at the same time makes us face a greater commitment to surpass our achievements and face new challenges.
In a record period, we managed to reverse the deforestation rate, reaching 60% of our territory is covered by forests, our energy comes more than 90% from renewable sources, we have a National Decarbonization Plan, programs such as Pago by Environmental Services (PSA) of the National Forest Financing Fund (FONAFIFO), the Climate-Conscious Travelers Program of CANAECO and the efforts led by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), which have made the tourism industry have great leadership on the issue of climate action.
A need for joint work between different nations
Actions like these abound, however, they do not always have the scale and recognition necessary to be part of the global solutions to the climate emergency, since these actions are concentrated in specific geographic areas and, for climate actions to generate a positive transformation , sustainable and fair, must come from all regions of the world and all sectors of society. This gives greater importance to the need for joint work between different nations.
The lack of technical knowledge, the absence of awareness, the lack of means to analyze and formulate development actions in terms of climate impact, the difficulties in monitoring actions and impacts, the lack of financing to implement actions, among others, are the main ones. needs that we have identified as a Chamber to be able to develop projects regarding climate action. That is why, from our position, we work in an articulated manner with FONAFIFO, the ICT and the private sector in the creation of training programs, awareness campaigns, events of international projection such as the International Conference on Sustainable Tourism Planet People Peace, volunteering and programs such as Climate-Conscious Travelers, which allow us to fill some of those gaps and promote the commitment of our industry in the fight to confront the climate emergency that we are going through.
Our main challenges as a country
Our main challenges as a country are the creation of spaces for consultation to seek unifying elements that help position and make visible the region and its interests, develop strategies and mechanisms to encourage changes and scale climate action towards greater sustainability, this includes facilitating cooperation horizontal and exchange between countries; support the development, implementation and monitoring of climate change policies and programs; develop capabilities; and promote innovation, digitalization to contribute to the climate response and the sustainability of the sector; continue promoting the recovery and regeneration of ecosystems and the conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity; promote practices that contribute to climate resilience and mitigation; promote the circular economy, among others, that allow us to contribute in the best way to what should be our inspiration for all: rescuing the world in which we live.
