Costa Rica, Cleanest Nation in the World, Environmentally…
Sun, Jul 8, 2007
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Costa Rica has pledged that it will offset all of its carbon emissions and go carbon neutral by the year 2030 – that is, before any other nation in the world.
Costa Rica already has an excellent reputation in the sphere of green issues. It has protected areas which cover more than a quarter of the tiny Central American republic, including national parks and jungle reserves. It already uses renewable energy to generate more than 96 per cent of its energy and it plans to further reduce and offset the emissions created from agriculture, transport and industry.
The environment Minister, Roberto Dobles said the state would promote the use of hybrid vehicles and planting of trees through economic compensation. Landowners are paid to grow trees to capture carbon and protect watersheds. This, according to Esteban Brenes, a conservation finance specialist at the WWF, is the secret of Costa Rica’s success “The fact that Costa Rica has applied the payments on a national scale is what’s innovative.” This is the reason why countries such as Norway are losing out in the race to become carbon neutral.
Critics however, point to the fact that Costa Rica has a poor reputation regarding national corruption and that landowners should be compensated for growing crops rather than trees. Their logic is based on the fact that an already poor country could get poorer through a false economy of tree-planting and that the money could be put to better use, such as improving social justice. Critics are also quick to suggest that this may be part of a larger marketing strategy to put the country “on the map.”
Notwithstanding this cynical perspective, even if the country’s effort to go carbon neutral were solely for marketing, you could argue that the jungle-cloaked island could attract more tourism and boost its wealth through these measures. Anyway, Environmental Graffiti believes it is easy to criticise but harder to lead. Go Costa Rica!
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Costa-Rica » Blog Archive » Saying Goodbye Says:
August 4th, 2007 at 10:19 am[...] however, having been to some of Costa Rica’s finest hotels I have well and truly been … Costa Rica, Cleanest Nation in the World, Environmentally… Costa Rica already has an excellent reputation in the sphere of green issues. It has protected [...]
July 9th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
I totally agree, I think this makes Costa Rica seem a far more attractive holiday destination, especially if the picture is anything to go by! That kind of thing does influence tourism, for example with people staying away from certain Chinese cities, which might well be culturally interesting, due to unpleasant levels of air pollution. Also, why should tackling corruption and being pro-environmental be mutually exclusive? More economically developed countries are expected to achieve both, surely it is patronising to Costa Rica to suggest they can only handle dealing with one or other issue…
December 7th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Oh? Costa Rica is an *island*???
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:50 pm
write about things you know. Costa Rica is NOT an island. And a lofty goal with a deadline in the year 2021 does not make Costa Rica the “cleanest nation in the world.” While costa rica does have a good amount of forest under some sort of protected status — national parks, wildlife refuges, etc. — it has few recycling programs, and so a lot of garbage is on the streets and in the rivers. As a result, the Rio Tarcoles River, whose headwaters run through San Jose (the capital of the “island”), is the most polluted water basin in Central America. that’s not an easy title. Meanwhile the air in the city capital and some surrounding central valley cities are hazardously polluted, according to studies. last year, two of the country’s top beaches — Tamarindo and Jaco — were found to have levels of human waste in the ocean water hundreds and thousands of times above healthy standards.
perpetuating stereotypes and applauding empty promises, rather than forcing change, applauds the shallow environmentalism spouted not only by Costa Rica’s president Oscar Arias, but so many of the “eco-tourism” resorts that are making big money off a green image while they pipe their toilets into the creek out back.