ALM UNDP

Summary:

Widely known for its rich biodiversity and efforts to conserve this biodiversity by placing more than 26 per cent of its land under protection, Costa Rica has developed a diverse economy that includes tourism, the export of agricultural products (principally bananas, pineapples and coffee), and light manufacturing (including the micro-processors and pharmaceuticals). Costa Ricans have the highest standard of living within Central America, with per capita income averaging about US$10,570 (USDS, 2011).

In 1994, Costa Rica initiated an ambitious program to incorporate sustainable development principles in the different programs of governmental institutions. In 1995, the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) provided funding to the government of Costa Rica through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to help the National Meteorological Institute elaborate a national inventory on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by sources (GEF/UNDP, GF/0103-92-01) according to the IPCC methodology; the reference year was 1990. Costa Rica determined that the energy sector and, in particular, the transportation sector require immediate attention regarding emissions.

Costa Rica has submitted two national communications to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), laying out the actions that the government has already taken and the analytical basis for its policy response to climate change and its commitments to take future actions within an official international framework. The First National Communication established the First National GHG Inventory with 1990 as its base year and included an identification of adaptation and mitigation options to climate change for the water sector and coastal areas, as well as agriculture and forestry.

The Second National Communication was submitted in October 2009 and has a revised National Greenhouse Gas Inventories for 2000 and 2005, policies and mitigation measures for greenhouse gas absorption, vulnerability studies and adaptation measures to climate change, a chapter on technology transfer, as well as other pertinent information related to the achievement of the Convention.

Climate change vulnerability studies were also carried out with the financial support of The Netherlands Government through the Institute for Environmental Studies and the Coastal Zone Management Centre, as part of the project: Climate Changes Studies in Costa Rica. The three sectors evaluated in this project, considering potential climate scenarios, were: coastal areas, agriculture and forest ecosystems.

A rise in sea level caused by an increase in global average temperatures could lead to transgressions of the actual coastline and an increment in the amount of areas subject to tide inundations along the 1300 km coastline. Regarding the agricultural sector, studies showed that crop productivity can be affected with climate variability, temperatures can have an effect on crop development in all its phases, water deficit can diminish crop efficiency and biomass levels will be reduced. In terms of forest coverage, a significant reduction for tropical, humid premontane and highly humid montane life zone forests can take place, while an increase in coverage for humid and highly humid premontane may also occur.

The Costa Rican government marked the creation of the National Strategy for Climate Change (ENCC, Spanish acronym) as a top priority for its 2006-2010 agenda. Through this national policy, it is required from all public institutions, local governments and autonomous institutions to produce and put into execution a short, medium and long term action plans containing clear goals around the six main pillars of the strategy: mitigation, vulnerability and adaptation, precise metric system, development of national capacity and technology transfer, education and public awareness and financing. The mitigation pillar has as its main goal to make the country carbon neutral by 2021.

A. Adaptation Needs and Priorities
Costa Rica’s currently experiences climate hazards mainly in the form of storms and hurricanes. These typically occur in context of El Niño and La Niña events, which tend to change precipitation distributions and can therefore lead to abnormally dry or wet conditions. Few changes in the frequency, intensity and duration of these events have been observed so far, and future trends are uncertain. Climate change is expected to increase temperatures by 2° to 3°C in much of country by the end of the century; however, in some areas daily maxima might increase by as much as 8°C. Rainfall is expected to decrease by up to 50 per cent in some areas and increase by around the same percentage elsewhere. In most parts of Costa Rica, changes will be within the plus or minus 20 per cent range (MINAET 2009).

In light of these projections, Costa Rica’s “National Climate Change Strategy” (ENCC; MINAET 2007) identifies seven sectors as being particularly vulnerable to climate change: water; energy; agriculture; fisheries and coasts; human health; infrastructure; and biodiversity. It and the two National Communications Costa Rica has so far submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) also identify some general and more specific adaptation measures for these sectors. Costa Rica has not yet prioritized these possible adaptation measures.

B. National Level Policies and Strategic Documents
The government of Costa Rica has long been involved in climate change discussions at the international and national levels. Its current “National Development Plan” for 2006 to 2010 acknowledges the importance of climate change and recommends the elaboration of a national program on the issue. In lieu of a program, the Ministry for Environment, Energy and Telecommunications (MINAET) established a “National Climate Change Strategy” that recommends the mainstreaming of adaptation and climate change in general into sectoral programs and prioritizes the previously identified seven sectors for adaptation. Costa Rica is presently elaborating an action plan to support implementation of the “National Climate Change Strategy.” This action plan is expected to be implemented by mid-2012.

In addition, Costa Rica presently has detailed propositions available at the sub-national level. For instance, there is an adaptation strategy for the water sector of the Northwestern Zone of the Greater Metropolitan Area around the capital San José. For the Huetar Norte region, a climate change strategy that covers both adaptation and mitigation has been created. In addition, a recent study was conducted on the implications of climate change (both mitigation and adaptation) for protected marine areas, but there is no evidence of a formalized strategy addressing this issue to-date.

MINAET, through the Climate Change Office, is the focal point for climate change issues in Costa Rica. As such, the Ministry, through the National Meteorological Institute, has elaborated the country’s National Communications as well as the various national and sub-national strategic documents. It has received support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Environment Facility (GEF), among others, to accomplish these goals.

Costa Rica is also a member of Central American Integration System (SICA), the institutional framework for the integration of Central American states, and of the Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD), a committee which brings together environmental ministries of SICA member states. Under the auspices of SICA and CCAD, a regional climate change strategy has recently been developed (CCAD and SICA, 2010). The strategy summarizes climate information and sectoral vulnerabilities. It also proposes six strategic areas for action, of which one is themed “Vulnerability and adaptation to climate variability and change, and risk management”. Nine strategic objectives with over 150 measures relating to disaster risk reduction, agriculture and food security, forest ecosystems and biodiversity, water, human health, coastal-marine systems, tourism, indigenous people and public infrastructure are mentioned under this theme. Other strategic areas are: mitigation; capacity building; education, awareness raising, communication and participation; technology transfer; and international negotiations and management. MINAET explicitly refers to the CCAD in its 2009 “National Climate Change Strategy.”

C. Current Adaptation Action
There is a high amount of adaptation programming occurring in Costa Rica relative to other countries in the Central American region. A number of adaptation projects in Costa Rica have already been executed and several are in the course of implementation. Most projects still relate to capacity building and/or vulnerability assessments, and many of them concentrate on the water sector as a cross-cutting issue. A limited number of projects involving the implementation of concrete adaptation measures have been identified so far.

D. Proposed Adaptation Action
Costa Rica is anticipated to benefit from participation in two regional programs announced by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

E. Assessment
Costa Rica’s comparatively advanced stage of development and its history of active engagement in international climate change discussions are reflected in its relatively well developed set of policy documents on climate change adaptation. This progress includes two submitted National Communications to the UNFCCC, recognition of the importance of climate change in the current “National Development Plan,” a “National Climate Change Strategy” and sub-national adaptation plans. A relatively high number of adaptation projects are currently being implemented that address key sectors such as agriculture, freshwater supply and coastal zone management.

However, actual implementation of adaptation measures such as specific sectoral policies or physical adaptation actions does not appear to be very advanced. On the policy level, even though sectors have been prioritized and certain adaptation measures identified, no detailed implementation plans or national-level sectoral policies are available. On the project level, most activities have related to capacity building and research, but not to implementation of adaptation measures per se.

References:

Keller, Echeverría, Parry (2011) “Review of Current and Planned Adaptation Action: Central America and Mexico.” Adaptation Partnership / International Institute for Sustainable Development.

Comisión Centroamericana de Ambiente y Desarrollo [CCAD] and Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana [SICA] (2010). Estrategia Regional de Cambio Climático. Documento Ejecutivo.

Ministerio de Ambiente, Energía y Telecomunicaciones [MINAET] (2009). Segunda Comunicación Nacional a la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre Cambio Climático. Retrieved from http://unfccc.int/essential_background/library/items/3599.php?rec=j&priref=7031#beg

Ministerio de Ambiente, Energía y Telecomunicaciones [MINAET] (2007). Estrategia Nacional de Cambio Climático.
United States Department for State [USDS] (2011). Background Note: Costa Rica. Last updated 10 February 2011. Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2019.htm