ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP IN COSTA RICA

PLAN 545, 2012Jessie Singer

Outline

1. Challenges for environmental protection in developing countries

2. Costa Rica’s leadership role3. PSA Program4. Carbon-neutral by 20215. Moving forward

Challenges for developing countries

1. They myth of poverty & environmental degradation

2. Population growth & urbanization

3. Rapid industrialization/ movement of “dirty” industry

4. Lack of infrastructure & technologies

5. Fractured and/or weak governance & lack of transparency

6. FinancingAdaptation Atlas (http://www.adaptationatlas.org/index.cfm)

Leadership in Environmental Conservation

• Conservation ethos rooted in a history of environmental activism & education

• International support to protect a country with 4% of total world terrestrial biodiversity

• Well-educated citizens & culture of activism

Alvaro Ugalde

Mario Boza

Leadership in Environmental Conservation

Green Initiatives:Ecotourism market90% + electricity

generated from renewable resources

PSA ProgramCarbon-neutral by 2021

Pagos por servicios ambientales (PSA Program)

• Established 1997 & managed by FONAFIFO

• Financed mainly by allocating 3.5% of revenues from a gas tax

• Based on services from forest ecosystems

• 2005 = 270,000 ha enrolled in program (approx. 19% of land)

Impact of the PSA Program?

Impact of the PSA Program?

Carbon-neutral by 2021

• Laws and incentives• “C-neutral” label• Carbon offsets

Moving forward with carbon-neutrality & environmental leadership?

Moving forward with carbon-neutrality & environmental leadership?

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Lovgren, St. Costa Rica aims to be 1st carbon-neutral country. National Geographic News. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080307-costa-rica.html . Accessed February 27, 2012.

nef. Costa Rica tops Happy Planet index. The Un-Happy Planet Index 2.0. http://www.happyplanetindex.org/news/archive/news-2.html. Accessed February 27, 2012.

Pagiola, S. Payments for environmental services in Costa Rica. Ecological Economics 65 (2008): 712-724.

Sanchez-Azofeifa, G.A., Pfaff, A., Robalino, A.A., & Boomhower, J.P. Costa Rica’s payment for environmental services program: Intention, implementation, and impact. Conservation Biology 21 (2007): 1165-1173.

Steinberg, P.F. Environmental Leadership in Developing Countries: Transnational Relations & Biodiversity Policy in Costa Rica &Bolivia. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 2001.

World Bank. State and trends of the carbon market 2011. World Bank Environmental Department. Washington, DC. 2011.