The road to Kunming About this content When it comes to the environment, few countries rival Costa Rica in terms of action and ambition. The tiny Central American nation is aiming for total decarbonisation by 2050, not just a “net zero” target. It has regrown large areas of tropical rainforest after suffering some of the highest rates of deforestation in the world in the 1970s and 1980s. Costa Ricans play a major role in international environmental politics, most notably Christiana Figueres , who helped to corral world leaders into agreeing the Paris accord. Now Costa Rica has turned its attention to securing an ambitious international agreement on halting biodiversity loss. In January, more than 50 countries committed to the protection of 30% of the planet’s land and oceans as part of the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People, spearheaded by Costa Rica, which is a co-chair alongside France and the UK. The coalition hopes the target will become the headline aim for an international agreement on halting biodiversity loss for this decade, set to be negotiated in Kunming, China, later this year. “Our approach is to lead by example. As Mandela said, ‘It always seems impossible until […]
‘It’s in our DNA’: tiny Costa Rica wants the world to take giant climate step
