Government of Costa Rica
Ministry of Environment and Energy

COSTA RICA’s
INTENDED NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTION

San José,
September 2015

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 A CLIMATE ACTION FOR A LOW EMISSION AND
RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT
The changes in the world’s climate are a reality happening today. It becomes clearer, every day,
that this phenomenon will have a larger impact on the country’s development, which is why, the
National Development Plan sets, very clearly, climate change as cornerstone of every strategic
action to be performed during the next four years. As part of our international commitment,
Costa Rica is presenting its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) under the
United Nation’s Convention framework for Climate Change, which defines our commitment to
climate action from now and until the year 2030.
Costa Rica will center its climate change actions on increasing society’s resilience to the impact
of climate change and strengthening the country’s capacity for a low emission development on
the long term. Costa Rica will strengthen its climate action with efforts in reduction of emission
of greenhouse effect gases, following scientific suggestions of what would be necessary to
avoid the worst effect of climate change. Climate action will be based on balanced efforts of
adaptation to ensure that communities, especially vulnerable communities, become resilient to
the unavoidable impacts of climate change.
Costa Rica is looking into becoming a laboratory for the world’s economy deep de-carbonization
process, working with civil society, the private sector, academia, and the international
community in order to accomplish it. Costa Rica has a long standing tradition of innovation on
hydroelectric generation, in conservation and specially, on matters of climate change. This
tradition is well evidenced in the country’s commitment towards the United Nations’ Framework
Convention for Climate Change (CMNUCC), to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference in
the climate system and the goal of “keeping the average temperature increase leveled at 2 o and
consider reducing this limit to 1.5 o”. To accomplish it, global emissions of Greenhouse Gases
(GHG) need to stay below a total of 1000 Giga-tons of CO2 from 2012. Intended Nationally
Determined Contributions (INDC) represent the effort each country is willing to commit to build a
new climate regime past 2020, based on their capacity and reality. To stay within the limits
recommended by scientists to be able to accomplish this goal, such regime would have to be
ambitious, be legally binding, set a fair price for carbon and have the necessary means of
implementation to address climate change challenges.

MITIGATION CONTRIBUTIONS
First, Costa Rica would like to reaffirm its aspiration of becoming a Carbon Neutral economy
starting year 2021, as a culmination of its voluntary, pre-2020 action. Under this early action,
Costa Rica proposed since 2007 to compensate its emissions through the removal or offsetting

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 by the forest sector. The goal proposed to achieve Carbon Neutrality by 2021 with total net
emissions comparable to total emissions in 2005. Since then, the mitigation goals agreed by the
Conference of the Parties have evolved, and the mitigation efforts must aspire to maintain the
mean global temperature below 2°C. In this National Contribution, the date of 2021 will become
the turning point Costa Rica’s emissions, as a continuation of its voluntary action and a
landmark in the path towards de-carbonizing the economy.
Second, the country is committed to a maximum of 9,374,000 T CO 2eq net emissions by 2030,
with proposed emissions per capita of 1.73 net tons by 2030, 1.19 Net Tons per Capita by 2050
and -0.27 Net Tons per Capita by 2100. This numbers are consistent with the necessary global
path to comply with 2°C goal. Costa Rica’s commitment includes an emissions reduction of
GHG of 44%, of a Business As Usual (BAU) scenario, and a reduction of 25% of emission
compared to 2012 emissions. To accomplish this goal Costa Rica would have to reduce
170,500 tons of GHG per year until the year 2030.
Image 1. Total Net Emissions of GEG projected for Costa Rica 2012-20501

Trayectoria de Emisiones (T CO2e)
14.000.000

Projected Emissions

12.441.260

12.000.000

10.907.406
9.373.552

10.000.000
8.000.000

5.964.988
6.000.000

4.000.000
2.000.000
2012

2021

2030

2050

Proposed mitigation activities and context can be found in Appendix 1.

Type
1

This chart is a lineal extrapolation of emission based on our Greenhouse Effect Gas National Inventory
of 2012 and extended towards our goal in emissions for the year 2050. As a lineal representation, it
shows a de-carbonization between 2012 and 2015 that has not happen. The numbers will be updated
based on the Bi-annual Update (BUR) set for the end of 2015.

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 Maximum Net Emissions Limit for Greenhouse Gases.
Scope
100% of national emissions accounted for in the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Gases Included
● Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
● Methane (CH4)
● Nitrous Oxide (N2O)
● Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
● Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
● Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)
Period
January 1st, 2021 – December 31st, 2030
Absolut Maximum Limit
Net Emissions 9,374,000 TCO2e by 2030

Transparency and Accountability
Costa Rica has adopted an Open Government policy. It is looking into strengthening
accountability mechanisms, information access and availability, and citizen participation. The
National Environmental Information System (SINIA) was created under the National GeoEnvironmental Information Center (CENIGA) at the Ministry of Environment and Energy, and is
hoping to promote an open data policy for all relevant climate information available for any
citizen. There will be, as well, two open participation councils, one technical-scientific and one
multi-stakeholder platform which will accompany the government’s climate planning and
management.

Methodological Approximations and Assumptions
●

●

●

The Paris Agreement coming out of the COP21, will be legally binding for Costa Rica
starting in 2020, and it will comply with the necessary requirements to achieve a low
emissions development
Costa Rica’s emissions reduction goals will be driven by national scientific consensus,
validated by the Intergovernmental Climate Change Panel’s criteria. They may be
modified as needed as new scientific information becomes available.
National Contribution is based on two complementary methodology approaches, a
deductive one, based on future emissions scenarios modeling (forecasting) and the
other one, inductive, based on the emissions goal for 2050 and which, determines a
lineal reduction of emissions necessary to accomplish it (backcasting).

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 ●

The AFOLU sector (agriculture, forestry, other land use) is included in the national goal
for the Contribution. Costa Rica has been significantly improving metrics to quantify
emissions and fixation in these sectors. Costa Rica will continue with improvements in
metrics, deriving verifiable information through pilot actions such as NAMAs, Low
Carbon Sector Strategies and the National REDD+ strategy, to define, with better
accuracy, the sector contributions towards the National Contribution.

Using the International Market Mechanism
Costa Rica reserves its sovereign right to use international compensation units to accomplish its
goals within the National Contribution or, as well, within its Domestic Compensation Market. Any
compensation units traded abroad will be registered in the National Emissions Inventory to
avoid double accounting.

CONTRIBUTION IN ADAPTATION
Costa Rica has included an Adaptation to Climate Change component in its National
Contribution, with clear commitments for 2030. The country is currently designing a road map
for its National Adaptation Plan, and is committed to develop it before 2018. The country will
continue with its Green and Inclusive Development policy through local actions in adaptation,
such as, inter alia, the strengthening of conservation programs and expanding the
environmental services payments program to include Ecosystem based Adaptation. Also, Costa
Rica will continue to promote renewable energies, integral environment management through
agro-forestry systems and watershed management, as well as municipal land use planning as
tools to lower long term vulnerabilities of its population, enhance its food security and the
resilience of its infrastructure. Climate Change Adaptation will have as one of its components
the National Disaster Risk Management Policy, through capacity building for resilience and
technology transfer (refer to Appendix 2 for more details on Contributions on Adaptation).

NATIONAL SETTING
Costa Rica has a century old tradition of investment in public education, and it’s one of the few
countries in Latin America to invest 8% of GDP in public education. This becomes a unique
opportunity to use that installed capacity to educate Costa Rican citizens of today and
strengthen university research to develop science and technology needed to support the
mitigation and adaptation goals proposed in the National Contribution.
Over a century ago, Costa Rica, decided to take advantage of its hydro potential for generation,
long before climate change was a critical element in decision making. Today, Costa Rica’s
installed capacity for electricity generation in predominantly renewable, a product of 115 years
of public investment and innovating policies to supply electricity to more than 98% of Costa
Ricans. In the 1970s, the National Park Service was created, today; its protected areas cover

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 25% of the territory and serve as an international tourism attraction, one of today’s main income
activities for the country. Costa Rica selected from very early moments a path of sustainable
development to provide wellness to its citizens of today and the future. This path has taken the
country in a continuous innovation and experimentation, where science has helped adjust
periodically the public policy and development strategies’ goals.
During the nineties, Costa Rica contributed to the global awareness on climate change,
becoming part of the first joint implementation projects, helping use market tools and
approaches to finance forestry activities even before the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development
Mechanism was adopted. Among some of these first projects, led to the internalization of
environmental costs, through a pioneering Environmental Services Payment program (PSA).
This last program became a world standard in matters of use of market mechanisms for forest
conservation, which, together with the National Conservation Areas System (SINAC) and
Forestry law #7575 of February 16 th 1996, allowed Costa Rica to achieve a 52.4% of forest
coverage by 2013. The total stock carbon stock, according to the national forestry inventory
comes to 804,593,099 tons of carbon, 52% of which is contained underground. The additional
carbon dioxide sequestration potential is being evaluated under the light of more detailed
metrics, the role of results-based-payments for reduced emissions from deforestation and
degradation, the role of increased carbon stocks, carbon stock conservation and sustainable
forest management which must be adapted to emerging objectives and requirements.
Since 1990, Costa Rica has performed six emissions inventories for GHG led by the National
Meteorology Institute (IMN). The definition of sound metrics based on methodologies sanctioned
by the IPCC has helped build this national contribution based on accurate and verifiable data. A
broad-based consultation process allowed for different sectors to provide inputs into this
national effort, and be able to define their own internal policies for mitigation and adaptation.
In 2007, Costa Rica´s National Climate Change Strategy was launched, supported by the
creation of a Climate Change Department at the MINAE (Ministry of Environment and Energy),
in charge of implementing and following up on international commitments and implementation of
policies. Among these policies, Costa Rica announced its goal of achieving Carbon Neutrality by
2021, which aims to lower the country’s net emissions to the levels of 2005. Through its CNeutral Country Program, organizations may be awarded a C-Neutral Certification after
submitting to an emissions assessment based on agreed standards and a reduction activities
evaluation. This program offers the opportunity to compensate emissions, which could not be
reduced due to financial balance or technology barriers, by offsetting them through investment
in environmental services programs such as National Forestry Finance Fund (FONAFIFO). New
options for compensation should be also made available through the Domestic Carbon Market
of Costa Rica, which is in a pre-operation stage, by designing regulations, procedures and
protocols. MINAE is developing the regulatory framework and designing which institutions would
be responsible for domestic market regulation. Costa Rica reserves the right to use the
Domestic Carbon Market as an instrument to accomplish its mitigation goals, as a complement
to national and sectorial policies for emissions reduction.

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 The National Forestry Financing Fund (FONAFIFO) which the MINAE has been developing,
since 2010, is currently developing its Emissions Reduction Program under the Carbon Fund
(FCPF), known as the National REDD+ Strategy since 2010. Therefore, if Costa Rica receives
payments for emission reduction from the Carbon Fund, it is expected for these carbon credits
to be accounted starting in 2010. The metrics to assess the potential for removals through
forest sinks in Costa Rica is currently under review and in continuous improvement by the
country’s authorities, this data will be adjusted as part of the preparation of the Emissions
Reduction Program (ERPA) of the Carbon Fund (FCPF).

PLANNING PROCESS
As a pioneer country in the search for alternative ways for decarbonizing the economy, Costa
Rica has a range of political instruments, both in mitigation and adaptation. In 2011, Costa Rica
presented its Technological Needs Assessment (TNA) which posted a strategy for technological
transfer and access to support greenhouse gas mitigation (GHG), and reduce vulnerability to
adverse effects of climate change. In this evaluation, the following sectors and climate actions
where prioritized: Public Transportation Integration and Decongestion, and Energy Conservation
and Efficiency. In adaptation, two approaches were proposed, the adaptive co-management at
the watershed level and detailed (sub-national) climate change scenarios. One of the
approaches proposed with impacts both in mitigation and adaptation: Sustainable Agricultural
Production.
Costa Rica has been reforming the structure of its Executive branch, especially, through the
Environmental Law of 1995, which created the National Environmental Council. Almost a
decade after this law, in 2014, a new structure for the executive branch was proposed, creating,
among other organizations, the Environment, Energy, Sea and Land Use Sector Council, which
brings together 14 autonomous and government organizations responsible for environmental
policy. This Sectoral Council for the Environment has climate change and land use planning as
its cornerstones. A Climate Change Department under the Strategic Planning Department of the
Environment and Energy Ministry, will work as a Secretariat to the Inter-ministerial Council for
Climate Change, facilitating coordination between ministries to implement national and sectorial
climate policies. The Inter-ministerial Council for Climate Change was created through the
Executive Decree #35669 of January 6 th of 2010, which defines the MINAE’s Organic
Regulation and appoints MINAE’s Climate Change Department as the entity in charge of
implementing climate change policies.
The 2015-2018 National Development Plan sets the main policy objectives for the Solis Rivera
Administration. In matters of climate change, the National Development Plan proposes as a
strategic objective the promotion of actions against global climate change, through citizen
participation, technology changes, innovation, research, and knowledge to guarantee security,
human safety and the country’s competitiveness.

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 For such purpose, under the 2015-2018 National Development Plan, there are two relevant
results relevant to climate change policies:
1. Reduce climate change’s impact and variability, increasing the adaptive capacity and
disaster risk management, providing better resilience to vulnerable sectors.
2. Support the key sector emission reduction activities (transport, energy, agriculture, solid
waste) to drive the low emission development transformation process to achieve the
county’s Carbon-neutral goal within National Contribution framework under the Climate
Change Convention Framework of the United Nations.
As part of its “Open Government” policy, during 2015, a number of sector-wide dialogues were
organized by Costa Rica’s government, bringing together key stakeholders to discuss the
country’s greenhouse effect gas reduction goals, within the INDCs context. Theses dialogues
have enabled a clearer definitions of the sectoral plans and programs needed to accomplish the
country’s climate action goals.
The Climate Change Policy derived from the acquired commitments within this National
Contribution, has a multi-sector focus, since we all agree that climate change, more than just
and environmental problem, is a development matter which requires effective climate actions
through activities in the transportation, energy, forestry, agricultural, livestock and waste
management sectors. This will require strengthening the inter-sectorial coordination platforms,
such as, the National Environmental Council, the Environment, Energy, Sea and Land Use
Sectorial Council, and the Inter-ministerial Council for Climate Change.
The VIIth National Energy Plan 2015-2030, sets a clear path towards a low emission
development pathways by strengthening policies on energy efficiency and the promotion of
renewable energies. Confirms the country’s commitment to accomplish better energy efficiency,
both in energy use and fuel end-use. In 2015, the Joint Commission between the Ministry of
Environment and Energy and the Ministry of Agriculture was created to develop a common
Agro-Environmental Agenda. The Vice-Ministries of Energy and Transportation have created
an Ad-Hoc coordination mechanism which has allowed a better implementation of energy
efficiency and mitigation policies within the transport sector. This change, within the country’s
energy sector, was fully supported during the sectorial round tables. MINAE has also launched
its Biodiversity National Strategy, which will have important components and relevant action to
the country’s mitigation and adaptation goals. The National Action Plan was also used to fight
land degradation, which will have significant contributions to rural environment management in
mitigation and adaptation.
As previously mentioned, Costa Rica reserves the right to use market mechanisms to
accomplish its mitigation goals. MINAE’s Executive Decree #37926-MINAE of November 11th of
2013, creates a Carbon Board, and decrees the Operation and Regulation of the Domestic
Carbon Market, and MINAE’s decree #39099-MINAE of September 10th of 2015, outlining the
Structure, Guidelines and Requirements to introduce actions into the Domestic Carbon Market
and its digital access. These market mechanisms will be restructured to optimize them into an
inter-sectorial implementation mechanism complementary to the previously mentioned

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 institutional management driven by National Contribution and the Post 2020 International
Climate Regime.
In summary, the National Contribution will be implemented by the following entities:
1. Inter-Ministerial Council for Climate Change, which will allow to discuss, define, and
follow up on climate change policies.
2. Ad-Hoc Operational Coordination Mechanism such as: Joint Commissions (agriculture
and forestry, transportation and energy), which will coordinate the inter-sectorial
implementation agendas under the National Climate Change Strategy.
3. MINAE’s Climate Change Department, in charge of coordinating the implementation of
the National Climate Change Strategy and supervising the definition of technical
standards, closely coordinated with other sectorial directions and institutions related to
MINAE (Energy Department, National Meteorological Institute, National Forestry Finance
Fund, National Conservation Areas System, National Forestry Administration, among
others).
4. The Climate Change Scientific Council will be created to advise the Environmental
Sector Council, particularly its lead Ministry (MINAE). This Council will include
international and national experts and academics, as well as members of the National
Meteorological Institute (IMN), from the National Agricultural Technology Institute (INTA),
from the National Council of Universities (CONARE), and from the National GeoEnvironmental Information Center (CENIGA).
5. The Climate Change Citizen Consultation Council, which will create a permanent citizen
participation forum on climate change, with wide private sector participation, organized
civil society and academia to provide continuity to subjects and workgroups emerging
from the sectorial forums in climate change.

MEANS OF IMPLEMENTATION
Under the Paris Agreement reached at COP21, Costa Rica will be part of, starting in 2016 and
until 2020, a process of legal, institutional and organizational change in order to facilitate the
implementation of this National Contribution starting in January 1st of 2021. The pre-2020
period will be critical to improve metrics, test new productive low emission practices through
NAMAs and the low emission sector-wide development strategies, and to develop the National
Adaptation Plan, and to fine tune and negotiate the regulatory and institutional framework
required to be able to implement these new climate change policies. The 2015-2020 period will
also be used to align the allocation of financial resources with the mitigation and adaptation
goals proposed in the National Contribution.
Although Costa Rica has been able to sustain a Sustainable Development Policy over the past
decades, this would not have been possible without access to adequate means of
implementation. This National Contribution will require renewed efforts in the allocation of
financial, technical and institutional capacity development in order to improve its emission
reduction and climate change adaptation technology access.

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 In terms of financial resources, the emission reduction goal definition process, coordinated by
MINAE, allowed for a first review of the marginal abatement costs of the identified main
mitigation measures. This review will become an important input for the definition of investment
priorities within the most critical sectors for mitigation, such as transportation, energy and
agricultural sectors. As an example, the construction of an inter-city electric train will require
both fiscal resources as well as external financial resources that will need to be developed. As
well, a cost estimate of the main adaptation measures will be performed within the drafting of
the National Adaptation Plan. Costa Rica has made headway in the Green Climate Fund
(GCF), and its recently approved readiness program will help to create the institutional and
fiduciary structures and mechanism required for managing this new fund. These methods
include the development of the technical and scientific capacity of the country, with a coinvestment in research and development.
Through the Scientific Council, the Citizen Consultation Council and other ad hoc entities, Costa
Rica will review the metrics and goal agreed upon for emission reduction and define the dates
for the sector’s carbon neutrality, under a focus of continuous improvement. The Sectorial
Dialogues on Climate Change organized during 2015 identified key measures for emission
reduction by sector which will require additional policy planning and management processes
supported on the inter-ministry coordination mechanisms mentioned above. These key climate
change policies will build upon the consensus achieved within the different sectors on the road
map for the National Contribution and will help deliver on the climate actions needed to make
Costa Rica’s de-carbonization pathway and its Climate Change Adaptation Plan a reality. We
expect to take full advantage of the existing institutional mechanisms, while continuing with
design, application and collaborative evaluation of climate policies. The government will confirm
its role as a facilitator of enabling conditions which will allow the different sectors, communities
and society in general define their mitigation and adaptation goals, based on their own
economic, social and cultural, gender sensitive options for the wellbeing of a low emission
economy.

EQUITY AND AMBITION
Costa Rica believes its contribution is ambitious because it proposes a transformation into a low
emissions economy. We have to consider the wide range of climate actions, adopted from very
early on, to align Costa Rica onto a path consistent with a resilient, low emissions development.
The National Contribution looks to reinforce this historical commitment, increasing its emissions
reduction goals to go beyond emission compensation from avoided deforestation, promote a low
emission development, not only in the electricity sector, but also, in the transportation,
agricultural and urban waste management sectors. Costa Rica’s long term goal is challenging
because it’s looking to accomplish zero net emissions by 2085, with several opportunities to
periodically review the national and sector strategies to ensure this long term goal.
Costa Rica’s size located between two oceans make it a highly vulnerable country to the
adverse impacts of climate change. The adaptation goals proposed in this National Contribution
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 try to confront the challenge of recurrent loss and damage due to extreme hydro-meteorological
events. This National Contribution looks to strengthen the country’s adaptation capacity, through
an effective risk and adaptation management based in both the community and the ecosystems.

Both climate policies and the actions that derive from them will base themselves in the country’s
historical commitment to universal human rights and gender equality principles. Costa Rica
favors a transformational approach to gender in public climate change policy, and supports the
participation of women in policy making and climate actions implementation. This will require a
full compliance with Cancun’s safeguards on REDD, as well as, securing the indigenous
people’s Prior, Free and Informed Consent. Also, it’s expected to increase citizen forums
through the pre-2020 period to define the best climate governance arrangements to deliver on
the commitments acquired in this National Contribution.

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 APPENDIX 1: MITIGATION OPTIONS
Costa Rica’s transition into a resilient and low emissions economy will require an integrated
focus on energy and climate policy, based not only, on a cost-benefit analysis, but also on a
broader assessment of the social and environmental costs of a sustainable development
pathway. The mitigation options proposed by Costa Rica in its National Contribution can be
categorized into four broad policy options:





Reducing energy demand and GHG emissions (Energy efficiency & conservation, low
emissions development pathways)
Decarbonizing energy supply (Electricity, liquids, gases)
Fuel switching in end-uses (Buildings, transport, industry)
Enhancing Carbon sinks (Land-use, reforestation)

In the National Emissions Inventory of 2010, emissions from the energy are mostly caused by
fossil fuels used in electric generation. There are a lot of opportunities to work with the
industrial sector on energy conservation and fuel switching in productive processes to reduce
energy demand and decarbonize the energy supply. The VII National Energy Plan 2015-2030
defines energy efficiency and distributed generation as priorities. The hopeful goal of this
contribution is to achieve and maintain a 100% renewable energy matrix by 2030. The increase
in energy efficiency in residential and industrial consumption will result in a reduced electrical
demand from these sectors. On the other hand, we anticipate an increase in electricity
consumption in the transportation sector. Most of the proposed emissions abatement measures
hinge on a greater use of electric transportation, both public and private. These measures had
a greater level of consensus in the transport and energy sector dialogues. Public Transportation
needs to improve its fleet composition as well as its working design. This can be accomplished
through an Integrated Public Transportation system where routes are improved, train service
strengthened, and availability of non-motorized transportation enhanced, etc. Costa Rica has
made the intercity electric train a priority, which will provide a significant contribution to the
country’s emission mitigation goals, creating new employment and low emissions mobility. It is
necessary to improve the freight sector through multi-modal options. This will require an
ambitious investment portfolio in sustainable transportation over the coming decades.
The Costa Rican Agricultural sector is the second highest sector in compound emissions due to
its Nitrous Oxide and Methane production. However, this is a sector that is looking earnestly
into emission reduction through different measures which can both reduce emissions, while
increasing productivity and the range of environmental services provided by agriculture and
livestock production. During discussions with the agricultural sector, it was clear that an offer of
environmental services requires investment, political will and a new inter-sectorial institutional
arrangement. Among investment mechanisms available to improve acknowledgement of the
agricultural sector’s contribution to emission reduction, the market may play an important role in
financing, at the farm level, additional mitigation efforts, with a payment for results scheme,
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 carbon auctions, and financial mechanism to promote initial investments and guarantee financial
sustainability beyond international cooperation. The availability of credit and microcredit, as well
as, incentives for clean energy use and water reductions will be critical to ensure the uptake of
low emission technology development in the agricultural sector. To be able to develop market
incentives and commercialization of agricultural products with lower carbon footprint, it is
necessary to strengthen local and national markets, with timely access to information. As an
effort to improve inter-sector practice of mitigation measures and metrics, Costa Rica is
promoting its NAMA in the coffee sector, and developing NAMA proposals for livestock and
biomass, and for a very important sector of its economy, the Small and Medium Enterprises.
The National Low Carbon Livestock Strategy sets goals for the country’s low carbon
development in the milk and beef value chains, which will be benefited from technology and
organizational innovation derived from the ongoing pilot programs within the Livestock NAMA.
Other efforts such as the creation of a National Territorial Information System (SNIT), within the
National Registry, should include land use change monitoring systems, which will significantly
contribute to the Monitoring, Verifications and Reporting (MRV) systems improvement proposed
under FONAFIFO’s Emission Reduction Program.
Costa Rica is currently pursuing a green and inclusive development policy. The agricultural and
forestry sectors share the same territory and require a harmonized environmental policy to be
able to comply with rural development objectives, as well as, emission reduction and climate
change adaptation. The integration of rural development agenda together with the REDD
strategy will allow for an accurate and coordinated management of adaptation and mitigation
actions in Costa Rican agriculture. FONAFIFO’s payment for environmental services program
has contributed to maintain a million hectares under forest cover, outside of protected areas.
Although the potential emission reduction in the forestry sector is lower than the previous
estimates due to the country’s forest being manly mature forests with high carbon stocks, and
lower carbon fixing capacity. With this in mind, it is important to remember that the forestry and
agricultural areas of the country provide a range of environmental services (water, biodiversity,
soil conservation) that go beyond just carbon sequestration. Sector discussion and forums
related to the REDD+ Strategy revealed a consensus about the need for improvement of the
country’s forestry resources governance, which will guarantee, over the long term, Costa Rica’s
capacity for generating wealth, as well as environmental goods and services. To accomplish this
goal, there is need to clearly define the rights over forest resources, carbon, and other
environmental services provided by forest and agricultural systems in Costa Rica. This goal
needs to help manage forest health and set landscape natural restoration/regeneration
objectives as an integral part of mitigation practice, while recognizing the adaptation co-benefits
it may create. There are important synergies to be created between the agricultural sector, and
the construction, tourism and industry sectors.
Solid waste is the third biggest emission source and is continuously growing. The publication of
Official Urban Development Plan for the Metropolitan Area and the Land Use Planning National
Policy, involve critical measures that have a bearing on GHG emissions. Costa Rica’s has
begun the design of a Low Emission Development Strategy for the urban sector, together with
potential NAMAs in transportation and waste management, sustainable housing, all together

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 represent important steps to reduce emissions from cities. The strategies main stakeholders
would be the Ministry of Housing (MIVAH), as the director for urban development, the Ministry of
Health (MINSA), as the director in waste management, the Ministry of Environment and Energy
and the municipalities around the country, especially those located in the metropolitan area of
San José. The measures related to sustainable construction and targeted to reduce its carbon
footprint, such as, construction waste reduction, through increased use of lumber, adoption of
technology, new material and operations that are climate smart, combined with sustainable
urban development measure may generate significant emission reductions. Among some of the
abatement measures discussed during the sectoral dialogues, Integrated Waste Management
was one that can help to address the growth in emissions from solid waste, which include waste
segregation at the source and broader recycling and organic composting programs.

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 APPENDIX 2: ADAPTATION OPTIONS
Costa Rica defined in 2006, in its National Climate Change Strategy (ENCC), the strategic
framework for climate change policies, setting six strategic pillars, Mitigation, Adaptation,
Capacity Building, Financing, Public Awareness and Education, and Cultural Change, Metrics.
This commitment related to climate change adaptation is part of Costa Rica’s National
Contribution (INDC) under the United Nations’ Framework for Climate Change, and will be
reviewed in 2016 as part of the National Climate Change Strategy.
Costa Rica’s vulnerabilities to Climate Change
In the past decades we have observed important changes in rainfall and increase of average
temperature in Costa Rica, which adds to changes on land use and soil degradation processes.
If the climate variability conditions continue to dominate the annual weather, there are multiple
phenomena that may increase or lower their frequency or intensity. As a result, Costa Rica’s
weather will be subject to simultaneous extreme drought and extreme rain.
As a result of climate change, the impact of hydrological events continues to increase.
Considering only direct loss, these extreme climate events have created economic losses
estimated around 1.13 Billion US Dollars of 2011, representing damages for 2005-2011.
Regarding impact to sectors, road infrastructure has experienced the biggest impact, followed
by power distribution networks, agriculture and housing; four vital activities for country
development. It is estimated that 78.2% of these damages are in public infrastructure, while the
rest is private property. If the country continues to follow its current path, according to some
studies, in 2030 losses will amount to more than 7 Billion US Dollars, accounted since 2006,
and could reach by 2050 almost 30 Billion US Dollars. These losses are bound to have a
greater impact on vulnerable groups like women, children and people in extreme poverty.
Costa Rica has published a number of vulnerability assessments in agriculture, biodiversity,
infrastructure, food security, freshwater resources and coastline sectors. By far, the most
vulnerable sectors are related to water supply and agriculture sector where increasing research
and knowledge on climate change is considered a great challenge in order to increase their
adaptation capacity. Ongoing efforts to develop adaptation measures for the water and
biodiversity sectors, including the National Conservation Areas System (SINAC), have resulted
in the launch of a National Ecosystem-based Adaptation Strategy. Increase focus will be given
to building resilience from a sustainable development, food security and rural productivity
perspective.
Costa Rica’s Adaptation Action for 2016-2030

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 Starting from an acknowledgement that synergies between adaptation and mitigation activities
are highly desirable, through development of concrete climate actions, Costa Rica assumes, for
2016-2030, the following commitments in adaptation:
Develop a National Adaptation Plan
Although since 2006, the country has a National Climate Change Strategy, it has not developed
as yet a National Adaptation Plan. Costa Rica hereby assumes a commitment to have such a
National Adaptation Plan ready by 2018, which will combine a sectoral and territorial focus, with
at least ten plans for sectors and territories identified as priorities (Biodiversity, Agriculture,
Water, Coastline, Fishery, Health, Infrastructure, Energy, Tourism, Cities), also, takes on the
commitment to find sustainable financial sources to implement such plans.
Disaster Risk Reduction
Costa Rica has internationally committed, through the Geneva Pledge signed in February and
endorsed by 20 other countries, to develop an exchange of experiences on matters of Human
Rights and Climate Change. One of the main threats to human safety in Costa Rica comes from
the impact of extreme weather events. Although Costa Rica has improved in the past years its
disaster risk management policies, it continues to experience negative consequences caused
by extreme weather events. Costa Rica is finalizing its National Disaster Risk Management
Policy 2016-2030 with the following pillars Risk Reduction, Disaster Response and Readiness,
and Disaster Recovery, with climate change adaptation as a cross-cutting issue.
Community Based Adaptation
Aware of the fact that adaptation has to be a community-led process. Community based
Adaptation seek looking to empower the population to face climate change impacts, by
increasing the resilience agriculture producers, developing safeguards for securing water supply
and sustainable coastal zone development. Costa Rica is committed to promote Green and
Inclusive Development (DVI), which favors the implementation of sustainable productive
systems, in rural areas with lower human development indexes and vulnerable to climate
change in priority productive territories over a 10 year period between 2016 and 2026. Since
2014, Fundecooperación has been implementing a program financed by the Adaptation Fund
which will provide resources and technical assistance to over 30 community based adaptation
projects. Learnings from these pilot projects will enable feedback into Costa Rica’s National
Adaptation Policy.
Ecosystem Based Adaptation
In the past 30 years the country has been able to revert one negative effect of the agro-exporter
model which reduced forests, been able to shift from 26% forest coverage to a 54.4% by 2013.
To accomplish this shift, the country developed several strategies, a National

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 Protected Area System (SINAC) was established which, today, covers 26.5% of the national
territory, reforesting and private land forest management was promoted and facilitated, the
Environmental Services Payment program was created and land use changes of forest lands
were prohibited by law.
Costa Rica is committed to develop its adaptation practice from an ecosystem based adaptation
focus, building on the commitment to increase forest coverage to 60%. At the same time, there
are opportunities for exploring synergies between adaptation practices and the reduction of
emissions through avoided deforestation. These include, inter alia, the consolidation of
FONAFIFO’s Environmental Services Payments program and the Forest Certification program
as a mechanism to promote the sustainable development forest resources and effective
protection of water sources for all 81 counties of Costa Rica; the promotion of the National
Biological Corridor System and the National Protected Areas System (SINAC).
Local Planning and Management of Territory Adaptation
For several years the country has recognized the urgency of having a national land use
planning organization that would help guide land use policies in accordance to capacity and
sustainable use of natural resources. A territorial approach to urban growth management would
help minimize environmental impact caused by human activity, reduce disaster risk, and
enhance resilience to climate change, as well as, providing participative instruments for
informed decision making at the local, municipal level. This Territory and Urban Planning
Organization will constitute a tool to reduce vulnerability over the long term. Under this
approach, Costa Rica commits to having in every city, by 2020, and every coastline county in
the country, a land use plan which considers vulnerabilities to climate change and measures for
increasing adaptation and mitigation.
Public Infrastructure Adaptation
Record on loss and damage due to extreme weather event show that public infrastructure is the
sector that is most affected, that is why the country commits to have by 2020, the methods to
identify and correct physical vulnerabilities on infrastructure and human settlements. This will be
achieved through the design of a national vulnerability monitoring program for infrastructure
during floods, drought, landslides and sea level rising which may all be aggravated by the
adverse impacts of climate change.
Environmental Health as an Adaptation Measure
With the understanding that environmental health in all of its components (Basic Sanitation,
Integrated Waste Management, Water Quality for human consumption, sewers, storm drains
and dangerous substance controls) is a condition needed to reduce future vulnerabilities of
human population and wildlife, Costa Rica commits to, by 2030, increase the sewer and storm
drain coverage, maintenance and sustainability up to a 90%; and set an environmental health
surveillance program, by 2018, to follow up on pathologies associated with climate change.

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 Capacity Building, Technology Transfer and financing Adaptation
To implement adaptation actions during 2016-2030 it’s going to be necessary to identify sector
and regional vulnerabilities, and establish priorities for targeting future studies and to develop
practices to reduce these vulnerabilities. This will require processes to strengthen capacities
and promoting a high degree of coordination and teamwork between different government and
civil society entities. Existing inter-ministerial coordination efforts will be important to guarantee
synergies between entities in order accomplish this. As part of its commitment to greater
transparency and open data, Costa Rica will initiate the consolidation of information systems
under the National Territory Information System (SNIT) and the National Geo-Environmental
Information Center (CENIGA). This will also require increased capacities by the National
Meteorological Institute to follow-up in real time, extreme weather event to consolidate and
strengthen existing early warning systems in close cooperation program with the National
Emergency Commission. Finally, this articulation between Disaster Risk Reduction and
Adaptation Policies will require the country to develop specific methods and tools to evaluate
climate change impact, vulnerabilities and adaptation of specific sectors and regions; promote
technology transfer to help adaptation; and to increase country wide research budget on climate
change.

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