prison term to pack my bag and move to Costa Rica . The tiny cardinal American country is prepare an example with a plan to to the full decarbonize by 2050 .
President Carlos Alvarado officiallysignedthe decree to decoke by mid - century on Sunday . On Monday , he follow it up byannouncingthat the country would gallop its moratorium on oil exploration to 2050 , too . The government has been extending this since moratorium 2002 , so hopefully , it ’ll keep the tradition after 2050 as well . In short ? Costa Rica is doing what we all involve to be doing .
Costa Rica ’s has been workingtoward carbon neutralityfor yearslast May , and antecedently had a end of last carbon electroneutral by 2021 . The new architectural plan does n’t cite this date anymore , but we finally have a route mapping that place out how to achieve zero - net emissions . Asthe Guardiannotes , that does n’t end emissions entirely , but only allows what can be set off through the carbon reserves in the country ’s forests . For what it ’s worth , Costa Rica only pass off about 12,000 kilotons worth of glasshouse gas emissions a class . The U.S. , on the other handwriting , emits more than 12 million kilotons , per World Bank data .
Costa Rica’splaninvolves decarbonize four sectors : transportation , industry , waste management , and husbandry . The country has set target from now until 2050 — like a zero - discharge public exile arrangement by 2035 , and an electric control grid only powered by renewables by 2030 .
Part of its strategy includes a “ just transition , ” which works to ensure no one ( especially workers in the fogy fuel sphere and frontline communities ) are left behind when move toward a unripe thriftiness .
Make no mistake , though . This wo n’t be comfortable . decarburize the transfer sector , which account for60 percentof the body politic ’s greenhouse throttle emissions , will be specially difficult . Plus , the fossil fuel industry render the state with essential tax income , reports the Guardian . The country must establish some form of “ green tax reform ” to replace that receipts germ .
However , if anyone ’s proved it possible , Costa Rica sure has . The Latin American country generated all of its electricity renewably for a full300 dayslast year , stigmatize the quaternary year in a row that more than 98 percentage of the land ’s electrical energy come from renewables .
Climate change will slay this land ’s part of the world hard.(It ’s no wonder Latin Americans are the most worried globally about the crisis.)Climate modelspaint the pictureof an unpredictable Central America with more storms , floods , and droughts . In Costa Rica , uprise sea levels may shrink the coastline , and eminent temperatures could hurt harvest product , per the United Nations Development Program .
Similar future scenarios exist for all of us around the world . But if we act on climate quickly , they ’re not inevitable . Costa Rica , at least , is up to the challenge .
Earther has reached out to the country ’s Energy and Environment Ministry for clarity on the changing timeline . We will update when we listen back .
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