Costa Rica Pledges Carbon Neutrality by 2021
Costa Rica is already a green national leader, but now they’re looking to become the first carbon-neutral country in South America. The past generation of Costa Ricans protected 26% of their land mass as national park and recreation ground, their eco-tourism industry is worth $2 billion per year, and the country has the highest rate of trees planted per capita on the planet, which has actually doubled Costa Rican forest canopy since the 1980s. And Costa Rica is home to the only carbon-neutral airline, NatureAir, on the planet. It’s a small airline, but it’s gotten the big ones thinking.
Why Costa Rica? And Why Now?
Costa Rica is simply alive with a youthful vigor. Carbon neutrality is the agenda of the voting population – at least the younger demographic – by and large. Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has supported the goal since June of 2007, when he made a public commitment and garnered much support for the national green movement. Here’s what could be a catch, however. Time.com reports that Arias may have “been neither serious nor coherent on the issue of the environment.” There’s also an environmental minister who resigned due to a mining scandal, as well as potential plans for 125 acres of clear-cutting to accommodate what would be the largest gold mine in Central America, Las Cruches. Time also reported that Arias has recently lifted a ban on open-pit mining.
All of that happening in a country where scandal could erupt if you so much as cut down a tree.
And the Arias train wreck doesn’t stop there. Carbon emissions have risen more in his three years of tenure than they had in the previous 10. Detractors are also worried that the government could employ a deceptive carbon neutrality by simply planting more trees while allowing main cities to remain choked with smog. That looks good on paper, but isn’t accomplishing the goal.
Some say Arias wants change and some say he’s stuck in a generational gap between old and new, but either way, he has committed Costa Rica toward a carbon-neutral future. And since Costa Rica is a democratic government, who knows what the coming elections will bring? But then again, Arias has enjoyed presidency since the 1980s, when Costa Rica actually had the highest deforestation rate in the world. He also won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in ending Central America’s civil war, so uniting seemingly disparate groups and ideas seems to be his specialty. Even if the environmental policy is just a way for Arias to attain the international spotlight again, it’s better than not doing anything at all.
What the Young People are Doing to Help
CO2 Neutral 2021, a group founded by young professionals, is working to develop the policy and regulations that put Costa Rica on an attainable road map to carbon neutrality. CO2 Neutral 2021 encourages business and political leaders to take bold actions toward carbon neutrality, and also provides a platform that energizes the public and allows their voices to be heard. 95% of all energy produced in Costa Rica is done so by renewable energy, which puts Costa Rica in a position to make their carbon neutral goal a reality.
Still, groups like CO2 Neutral 2021 are all young, ambitious and ivy league-educated (at least partly). And it’s hard to argue that Costa Rica is a country poised to make the leap due to already functioning renewable thought patterns and infrastructure systems. And it’s fair to note that not all of Arias’ press is bad. Arias plans to provide the capitol, San Jose, with a solar monorail program, which is a step in the right direction on the smog issue.
Hey, carbon neutrality is a goal I can’t even commit myself to as an individual, let alone a country. Kudos.
There is only one other country with their hat in the ring for carbon neutrality: Maldives. Maldives is a small atoll nation, 80% of which is 1 meter above sea level, about 330,000 miles southeast of Sri Lanka.
For more information about NatureAir, Costa Rica’s carbon-neutral airline, that the company submitted as part of a National Geographic Geotourism Challenge, click here.
Sources: GreenLivingIdeas.com; Time.com; Reuters.com
Photo Credits: Tropisphere, MetaEfficient, & workaway
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Posted on November 17th in Solar Politics by Craig.
November 18th, 2009 at 12:42 am
Arias is a corporate prostitute for the USA.Nothing more.
He found a “gap” in the constitution which allowed him to sElect himself as president for a second round to ” eliminate corruption”
Sound familiar ?
November 18th, 2009 at 10:30 am
I read something to that effect Reggie. I’m sorry to hear it and yes it does sound all too familiar. On the bright side, I believe there are some genuine groups and individuals that will factor into Costa Rica’s eventual goal of carbon neutrality, like CO2 Neutral 2021. Corrupt leaders are, in the end, just part of the way the world works. They don’t make or break the future, just hinder it for a while.