Costa Rica to Head Global Fight Against Climate Change
Costa Rica will plan 7 million trees in 2008.
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has called for a national plan of action and a national agenda that would reduce the causes provoking one of the major problems facing humanity today: global warming. The plan calls for planning seven million trees each year, the promotion of eco-friendly homes in the country, and the continued promise that Costa Rica will become the first carbon-neutral country in the world by 2010, among other things. Arias, along with Minister of Energy and the Environment Roberto Dobles, also hopes to make Costa Rica a world leader in the defense of natural resources and biodiversity.
Dobles expressed his concern over the lack of a global accord to address the issue of global warning. However, he said that despite the lack of action by large countries such as China, Brazil and India, the tiny country of Costa Rica can make a difference and will not give up. He hopes that a series of national and international initiatives headed by the small Central American country will serve as an example to the rest of the world.
Costa Rica hopes to focus on small measures leading to this ultimate goal of carbon neutrality, starting with the planting 7 million trees in 2008 to fight deforestation. This, added to the 5 million trees planted in 2007, will give the country a total of 1.5 trees per citizen, helping to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced by the country. Other countries such as Iceland, Norway and New Zealand have also adopted this plan to become carbon-neutral and influence their populations to make eco-friendly decisions.
As a third world country, Costa Rica stands to lose a lot of important resources should global warming have the effects that are predicted in the next several years. The government has assessed the social, economic and environmental risks that could be the result of global warming with the objective of prioritizing the necessary actions that would reduce the impact in areas such as agriculture, livestock, and availability of drinking water, among others.
| Written by Claire Saylor |  |
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Filed under: Costa Rica News on May 14th, 2008
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[...] has received a lot of publicity in recent months thanks to Costa Rica’s goal of becoming the first carbon neutral country by 2010, while combating worldwide climate change in the process. Last year the country planted a [...]