Costa Rica News – Costa Rica promotes its green environmental image with much of its marketing budget for tourism. This image brings people to the country in droves throughout the year. These are some of the new in regards to “green” Costa Rica.
- Residents of Puerto Jimenez, Golfito have filed an appeal in Costa Rica’s Constitutional Court against the region’s
regulatory plan, which paved the way for the approval of a new marina development in the Golfo Dulce. The plan is being challenged on the grounds that it was never fully publicized, lacks a technical analysis of the area’s biodiversity, and was elaborated and paid for by a private company that would personally benefit from new development projects. - Costa Rica’s CRUSA Foundation has granted over 1.4 million dollars to help protect the country’s vulnerable watersheds. The grant will help finance seven projects, including a “water fund”, which aims to create an investment portfolio for water and watershed-related projects. Other initiatives include the strengthening of 60 rural aqueducts in Costa Rica’s northern and central regions and integrated management of the Purires River micro-watershed in Cartago.
- Costa Rica will aim to become carbon-neutral by 2021, claimed René Castro, the country’s Minister of Energy and the Environment during a recent trip to China. Castro indicated that part of his trip was geared toward learning about China’s strategy to increase production while decreasing its energy consumption. Costa Rica, which is currently projected to increase its energy consumption by 7% by 2016, will need to invest at least 1% of GDP to help neutralize emissions.
Let’s hope that these issues can be addressed and solved in Costa Rica.
