Costa Rica is committed to generating maximum emissions of 9.11 million tons of carbon dioxide by 2030, which according to the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica (MINAE), is in line with the global goal of not increasing the temperature by more than 1.5 degrees.
MINAE presented this past weekend a new, more ambitious goal in reducing gas emissions for the next decade, as part of its commitments to the Paris Agreement. This goal is part of the 2020 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), an official document that brings together public policies on climate matters and is part of the commitments of the signatory countries of the Paris Agreement.
“We are proud that Costa Rica presents a more ambitious updated NDC, which includes transition elements and in which mitigation and adaptation are integrated into a single climate action concept. It is urgent that all countries take clear and decisive measures to act in the face of the climate crisis,” said the Minister of Environment and Energy, Andrea Meza, in a statement.
Transforming the country
The official said that “actions during the next decade will be key to transform our country, turn threats into opportunities and to contribute to a sustainable recovery after the economic and health crisis of 2020”. In the new NDC, Costa Rica also commits to strengthening the country’s social, economic and environmental resilience to the effects of climate change.
This new contribution was created in a collaborative manner by specialists from the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) and by representatives of other public entities, the private sector, academia and the public.
MINAE assured that the NDC 2020 is built on the basis of other key commitments that the country has assumed in recent years, including the National Decarbonization Plan, the National Adaptation Policy, the National Development Plan and Public Investment, which are being developed.
A just transition
“The NDC is based on a vision of a just transition towards social and climate justice. This vision states that the country recognizes that the transformation of its economy and society are urgent and cannot be postponed and reaffirms that no one can be left behind by addressing this sense of urgency”, informed MINAE.
Costa Rica, a country of 5 million inhabitants, is internationally recognized for its environmental policies and the use of clean energy sources that allow it to generate about 98% of its electricity with them.
This country is home to around 6% of the world’s biodiversity, has a forest cover of 52% and maintains close to a third of its territory under protection. Some of the great debts of the country in environmental matters are the emission of gases caused by the fuels of the vehicle fleet, the treatment of water and pollution of its rivers.
