Panelists of the national dialogue Costa Rica: Agro-landscapes for sustainable production in line with the transition towards an urban green economy, today called for better planning of agro-productive landscapes.
Not repeat the development and production mistakes
Costa Rica cannot repeat the development and production mistakes made in the Greater Metropolitan Area (includes the main cities in the provinces of San José, Alajuela, Cartago and Heredia, where 60 percent of the 5.2 million Ticos reside), pointed out the Research Coordinator of the State of the Nation Program, Leonardo Merino. This, he indicated, due to the paradox between environmental conservation and agricultural production.
The meeting, held this past week at the Radisson hotel in the capital, proposed a discussion on orderly and sustainable planning with the aim of protecting communities and producers from the impacts of climate change.
The dialogue was coordinated by the Ministry of Environment and Energy (Minae), promoted by the Transition towards a Green Urban Economy project, executed by the Organization for Tropical Studies, and implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The topics addressed were liquid and solid waste management, urban flooding, urban greening and tools for sustainable management of the peri-urban agro-landscape and the green economy.
Achieving the decarbonization of the economy
The Vice Minister of Strategic Management of Minae, Carlos Isaac Pérez, affirmed that the concept of green economy in sustainable agro-landscapes translates into achieving the decarbonization of the economy to obtain the reduction of Greenhouse Gases. Also, he said, to replace petroleum derivatives with new forms of renewable energy and to take advantage of agro-industrial waste for energy production. For his part, the deputy resident representative of UNDP, Kifah Sasa, said that the key to this meeting lies in identifying what other public policies are important to promote based on agro-landscape, since Costa Rica stands out in its ability to continue producing wealth, while protecting the environment.
