There have been a lot of articles in the last months featuring titles that were claiming that Costa Rica will become carbon-free and plastic-free country.
According to these articles, Costa Rica was set to remove single-use plastic by the year of 2021 and thus, the first country to be dedicated to such a project.
Also, there were claims that the country plans on becoming carbon-neutral by this year and thus, become the first country in the world free of carbon.
There has been a viral video featuring quotes of President Carlos Alvarado’s inauguration speech saying that ‘they have a beautiful task of abolishing the use of fossil fuels in our economy to make way for clean and renewable energy’; however, there are no mentions of achieving this by the year of 2021.
In fact, there have been no radical measures taken by Costa Rica.
Will Costa Rica Remove all Plastic?
The proposed legislation has the goal to eliminate the marketing of single-use plastics and specific products made from microplastics and polystyrene. The legislation is currently discussed in Congress. According to the proposed law, public institutions will be prohibited to buy these products.
Hence, the aim is not to ‘eradicate all plastic’, but to put forward a gradual tax on the plastic products, depending on their level of pollution. If the law is passed, the funds from this tax will be aimed at recycling projects and plastic reuse.
However, the road is not short-in June, 2018, the environmental health director at the Ministry of Health, Eugenio Andrevetto, noted that the country was discarding 564 tons of plastic on the daily and recycling only 14 tons. This is still far from a plastic-free country, experts believe.
What about the Carbon-Free Goals?
In 2012, the government of Costa Rica decided to become carbon-free country by 2021. According to their plan, there are several actions to minimize their carbon footprint and to better its forest carbon offset.
This being said, instead of removing these emissions by 2021, Costa Rica plans on neutralizing them through the reduction of emissions and reforestation.
This year, they’ve introduced a plan for decarbonize their economy, which shows a real objective to cease the use of fossil fuels; however, only by the year of 2050.
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