Reaching for a Zero-Emission Goal

Costa Rica may be small and sparsely populated, but the Central American nation is a big player when it comes to environmental stewardship. In the late 1990s, Costa Rica emerged as a world leader in the eco-tourism and sustainability movements — reversing decades of deforestation with successful initiatives to protect its land, seas and wildlife.

Now the country is tackling a far larger issue for its bicentennial in 2021: global climate change. Looking beyond national ecology, Costa Rica is implementing a series of new environmental policies to become Earth’s first carbon-neutral nation.

Here is a look at the progress achieved toward this lofty, zero-emission goal.

The age of Costa Rica’s highly ambitious new president, Carlos Alvarado Quesada — a former journalist who is behind his country’s carbon-neutral pledge.

The world record — set by Costa Rica in 2017 — for the most consecutive days of running electricity on renewable energy. Some 99 percent of the country’s electricity originates from renewable resources (compared with 15 percent in the United States).

Members in Coopedota, which in 2011 became the first zero emission coffee company in Costa Rica — and the world. Since then, two more Costa Rican coffee companies have become zero-emission.

When Costa Rica amended its constitution to incorporate the right to a healthy environment for all its residents.

Growth percentage in renewable energy investment in Costa Rica in 2016.

The passenger capacity of “Nyuti,” a pioneering hydrogen-fueled passenger bus operating out of Liberia, Costa Rica (and which Alvarado Quesada took to his inauguration ceremony). This is the first clean energy bus in Central America.

The year Costa Rica is set to gain its first carbon neutral airline, Green Airways. A major factor in gaining this neutrality is the airline’s commitment to planting an endemic tree for every ticket purchased.

Companies in Costa Rica that are part of the public-private Alliance for Carbon Neutrality (Alianza para Carbono Neutralidad).

The number of electric cars the Costa Rican government hopes will be on its roads by 2022. To meet this goal, authorities plan to increase the electric car charging stations in the country to 61 from 20 by early 2019 and allow electric cars under $30,000 to be purchased tax-free.

Percent of Costa Rica’s landmass officially protected as refuges, parks, reserves and other designated conservation areas. This includes 11 forest reserves, which serve as important carbon sinks.

Additional underwater square miles granted protected status on World Oceans Day 2017 by the Costa Rican government. The new protected marine area of Cabo Blanco increases the nation’s total percentage of protected seas to 15.7 percent.