In terms of the environment, there are few countries that oppose Costa Rica in terms of action and ambition.
The small Central American nation aims to have total carbon dioxide by 2050, not just a ‘net zero’ target. It regenerated large areas of tropical rainforest after suffering some of the highest deforestation rates in the world in the 1970s and 1980s. Costa Ricans play an important role in international environmental policy, especially Christiana Figueres, who helped bring world leaders in line with the Paris Agreement.
Now Costa Rica has turned its attention to reaching an ambitious international agreement to halt the loss of biodiversity. In January, more than 50 countries pledged to protect 30% of the earth and oceans as part of the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for nature and humans, led by Costa Rica, which is working with France and the United Kingdom.
The coalition hopes the target will be the main target for an international agreement to halt the loss of biodiversity for this decade, which will be negotiated later this year in Kunming, China.
“Our approach is to lead by example. As Mandela said: “It always seems impossible until it is over,” Costa Costa president Carlos Alvarado Quesada told the Guardian. “Conservation is one of the most important factors that scientists point out as relevant for the protection of biodiversity and also for tackling the climate crisis. But to work alone, it is not so effective. ”
The world has never reached a single target to stop the destruction of wildlife and life-sustaining ecosystems. But the 41-year-old leader believes this time may be different.
Questions and answers
What’s the road to Kunming series?
We will be conducting a series of occasional articles covering key issues and people at the Cop15 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to be held in 2021 in Kunming, China. The meeting will sign governments from around the world after signing a Paris agreement on biodiversity that sets goals for the next decade.
Quesada came to power in April 2018 and defeated a conservative evangelical minister who campaigned against same-sex marriage. It was a rare victory for a center-left candidate in a time of rising global legal populism and led Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz to conclude that Costa Rica was a beacon of relief for his commitment to reason, rational discourse, science and freedom.
But the pandemic and the ensuing blow to Costa Rica’s ecotourism industry have forced Quesada to enter into painful negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, sparking fears of major cuts in a country that is developing people at its core. farm, together with environment.
Costa Rica, now a member of the OECD, has no permanent army, invests heavily in education and boasts a universal healthcare system. The prospect of internationally enforced austerity caused a stir in October last year, and Quesada withdrew from the talks. In January, the IMF and the Costa Rican government agreed on a $ 1.75 billion (£ 1.25 billion) deal that avoided some of the more controversial proposals.
Despite the difficult choices, the president said he was encouraged that global action in the region would be the result of the pandemic, especially after the election of Joe Biden as US president, with whom he spoke recently.
“It was a very close conversation. We have a lot in common. We talked about the co-operation of the climate crisis, “said Quesada. ‘I think the message to appoint Senator [John] Kerry as an ambassador in this area is very strong. This is going to be an important priority. ”
Quesada did not speak to Donald Trump during Donald Trump’s presidency. But the Costa Rican president said the climate crisis and the disintegration of nature are already causing significant problems in the region, including the caravans heading for the U.S. border that often dominate U.S. Republican concerns.
“More and more, the real impact of the climate crisis on our societies is clear. Just last year, Central America was hit by two consecutive hurricanes: Hurricane Iota and Hurricane Eta. ‘Especially in Nicaragua and Honduras, not only in terms of deaths, but also in terms of production and potential in terms of unemployment, the migrations it can cause mean that you can not only see the storms in isolation as hurricanes,’ he said.
“Scientists say that hurricanes in the region have become more frequent and stronger. This is going to have an impact on our societies in terms of economic growth, jobs, inequality, inequality in terms of women, on migration. ”
Together with larger partners, Costa Rica will continue to encourage other governments to take bold action on biodiversity at Kunming through the HAC for Nature and People. But the road ahead is not easy. The negotiations are about conservation and the sustainable use of nature – a topic that will involve difficult choices about agriculture, chemical use and the exploitation of resources with much more influential forces.
Quesada acknowledges these challenges, but says that such problems also exist in Costa Rica, but that he will continue to focus on being an example.
‘Environmental policies do not necessarily have unanimity. In recent decades, they have been the dominant DNA of Costa Rica, but there are also people who say that we may need to exploit more. Yet I believe it is very far from our DNA. ”
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