About
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges that humanity has faced for a long time, and since greenhouse gas emissions have a long lead-time effect on the climate, our actions (or inactions) during the next two decades will have a profound impact on the climate during the second half of this century and beyond. If we want to have different results, policies should be modified at a country and global level. We cannot expect to reverse the current trends with the same policies and mechanisms that created them in the first place. Countries should pursue strategies according to their responsibility.
Costa Rica has decided to act now and unilaterally by declaring its goal to become a carbon neutral territory by 2021. The country is designing an integrated climate change strategy to achieve carbon neutrality of its economy in a way that this complex goal can be replicated in other countries with similar characteristics. The process started by positioning climate change at the top of the government agenda and as a priority in Costa Rica’s National Development Plan. The Costa Rican Carbon Neutrality Strategy by the year 2021 is defined as a balanced zero or negative national inventory of emissions by sources and absorption by sinks of all anthropogenic activities of the different sectors considered by the IPCC Guidelines on Inventories of Greenhouse Gases. This strategy seeks to have zero impact on the climate.
The National Strategy on Climate Change develops two complementary agendas: the National and the International Agendas. The National Agenda looks at a series of issues including Mitigation and Adaptation. It also focuses on the relationship between climate change and the country’s competitive strategy. This is a consumer-driven competitive approach based on future consumers’ preferences founded on the evolution of growing concerns on climate change. The International Agenda, meanwhile, looks at issues such as International incidence and Attracting foreign resources.
A combination of technological innovation, policy implementation, institutional and behavioural change will be necessary. But these elements should not be treated in isolation and must come hand in hand with the achievement of national development priorities and existing policies to address other social goals such as energy security, competitiveness, land use change and others. Furthermore, realizing win-win options requires international collaboration. Carbon markets and appropriate financial instruments provide effective incentives to developing countries, and trade regimes could encourage technologies, products and services that will enhance sustainable development while lowering carbon emissions. However, the definition of an equitable set of responsibilities, the linkages among strategies and the development of an effective global governance system are key parts of the puzzle which is yet to be urgently defined.
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Strategy
Costa Rica’s National Strategy on Climate Change is divided into the National Agenda and the International Agenda, both of which are articulated around six strategic priorities.
National Agenda
The climate change strategy, which has a clear orientation towards action, was defined around six strategic components, the primary of which are Mitigation and Adaptation. The other transversal components are Metrics, Capacity Building and Technology Transfer, Education, Culture and Public Awareness, and Financing. Each strategic axis has its principal objective. The objectives of the National Agenda are as follows:
1) Mitigation
The mitigation strategic component is focused on becoming a C-Neutral country with a vision that integrates the complex environmental, economic, human, social, moral, cultural, educational and political issues, as well as the national competitive strategy. The promotion of C-Neutral companies, regions and communities, among other stakeholders, will provide incentives for action and additional differentiation element in the country’s competitive strategy.
The relationship between climate change and the country’s competitive strategy is an important part of Costa Rica’s design. It is now accepted that major economic, financial and competitive climate change risks of companies are associated with the exposure to factors such as competitive, reputation, regulatory, economic and financial risks.
Besides risks, climate change has major opportunities associated with innovation, consumers’ perceptions, investors’ preferences and rapid technological change in existing sectors of the economy, as well as the development of new sectors related to climate change issues. This is a consumer-driven competitive strategy based on future consumers’ preferences founded on the evolution of top-of-mind growing concerns on climate change.
2) Adaptation
Adaptation will include a set of studies to identify vulnerabilities and design mechanisms to apply measures to reduce the effects of climate change. These include research and monitoring, early warning systems, capacity building in order to improve the economic, societal, environmental and biophysical adaptive capacity of the country in an integrated way. Water resources, health, agriculture, infrastructure, coastal areas, land and marine biodiversity and forest ecosystems will be, among others, key components of the adaptation strategy, as well as preparation for disasters and risk management.
3) Metrics
This component will develop a metrics system that is accurate, reliable and verifiable, with built-in mechanisms for monitoring.
4) Capacity building and technology transfer
In order to become a nation with the capabilities to implement a comprehensive climate change strategy, it is necessary that we build society-wide capabilities to respond to climate change: to measure and mitigate its causes and to learn and communicate how to adapt to its consequences at all levels of society.
5) Public awareness, education and culture change
The country wants its people to be involved, engaged and committed to combat climate change, and thus build a societal system of decision making for the implementation of its climate change strategy. We want informed inhabitants with awareness and knowledge. This will enable them to have an active and more effective participation in climate change issues, which in turn will increase their capacity to influence the decision making processes to take the necessary actions that will finally make the difference.
6) Financing
Costa Rica has a carbon tax with the aforementioned objectives and has consolidated this mechanism in an efficient and transparent way. This strategy will be enhanced with access to international carbon markets (both voluntary and official) whilst it develops a voluntary national carbon market, which will in itself contribute to the carbon neutrality goal.
International Agenda
The climate change strategy on the International Agenda was defined also around six strategic components, the primary of which are International incidence and Attracting foreign resources. The other components are transversal: Leadership, Legitimacy, Presence in multilateral and binational forums, and International Capacity Building. The main objective of each axis, in the case of the International Agenda, is as follows:
1) Exert international influence
Given the asymmetry in the world, a more flexible action frame is required in order to adjust future agreements to the diverse national circumstances. It is our responsibility to contribute further in dialogue and within negotiation fora to build a post-2012 international climate regime. Our strategy answers to an integrated view of climate change and endeavors to be replicable in other countries with similar national circumstances. It is a joint effort by the different sectors of Costa Rican society, and seeks to act under the principles of equality, urgency, transparency and costeffectiveness.
2) Attract foreign financial resources
In order to implement the strategy, access to new and additional financial resources is required, including official funds, concessions towards developing countries, and carbon markets. Appropriate financial instruments and carbon markets will also provide effective incentives to our strategy. Furthermore, carbon markets are an opportunity to establish links between the climate change and the competitiveness national strategies. Products and services with a low carbon footprint, and eventually carbon-free, will be competitive factors (cost reduction and differentiation in function of the carbon footprint).
3) Leadership
Costa Rica, within the presidential initiative ‘Peace with Nature’ has, unilaterally and voluntarily, announced its commitment to be a carbon neutral country by 2021, when we celebrate 200 years of independence, and took the decision to implement its national strategy on climate change. The objective is to promote sustainable development in agreement with our responsibility to induce global actions on climate change, and to procure that this initiative may be replicated in other countries with similar national circumstances.
4) Legitimacy
Costa Rica is impelling a climate change strategy consistent with its local and global responsibility. This is a governmental initiative that seeks to respond to global concerns, taking into account national needs, with broad participation of different actors and sectors, which will allow to generate credibility and trust towards emission reductions by sources and absorption by sinks, supported by a legal and institutional framework, and under a precise, trustworthy, reportable, and verifiable metric system
5) Presence in multilateral and bilateral forums
Presence in these forums is essential to contribute upon dialogue processes on a national and international level, and to attract financial resources for a full implementation of our national climate change strategy, under a comprehensive climate change outlook.
6) International capacity building
The assessment of multidisciplinary negotiation teams and international action towards the effective and efficient implementation of our national strategy on climate change is imperative.
Despite the fact that a combination of technological innovation, policy implementation, institutional and behavioural change will be necessary, these elements should not be treated in isolation and must be hand in hand with the achievement of national development priorities and existing policies to address other social goals such as energy security, competitiveness, land use change and others.
Carbon markets and appropriate financial instruments provide effective incentives to developing countries, and trade regimes could encourage technologies, products and services that will enhance sustainable development while lowering carbon emissions.
To achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, Costa Rica is implementing a national climate change strategy which is consistent with its local and global responsibilities. “Less emissions and more sinks” is a one size fits all.
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