A GREEN CLIMATE ACTION POSTER CHILD
Posted on: December 23, 2021
PART-1: WHAT THE SOURCE ARTICLE SAYS
Follow the green leader: why everyone from Prince William to Jeff Bezos is looking to Costa Rica
Billionaires, princes and prime ministers are among those keen to learn from the Central American country, which has long put nature at the heart of its policies. ‘It’s in our DNA’: tiny Costa Rica wants the world to take giant climate step. If there had been a popularity contest at Cop26, the Costa Rican president, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, would have been a clear winner. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeff Bezos, Boris Johnson and Prince William all wanted to speak with the leader of the tiny Central American country, eager to bask in its green glow. The climate summit in Glasgow was, in effect, Costa Rica’s Super Bowl, another chance to show off its impressive environmental credentials. It is the only tropical country that has successfully halted and reversed deforestation, a commitment dozens of others made at Cop26 but are far from achieving. Costa Rica, which celebrated its bicentenary in 2021, is aiming for total decarbonisation by 2050 – not just a net zero target – and is helping lead the world on efforts to protect 30% of the Earth by the end of this decade. From Christiana Figueres, who was head of the UN climate convention that achieved the Paris agreement in 2015, to Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, chief executive of the Global Environment Facility, Costa Ricans are routinely found in international leadership positions on the environment. Alvarado was proud of Costa Rica’s record when he spoke with the Guardian in early 2021. But in his final interview at Cop26, after an exhausting schedule, Alvarado cautioned that his country’s example should not be taken as a blueprint for others to follow. Costa Rica’s policy of paying citizens to protect and restore ecosystems is credited with reversing deforestation rates, which threaten the species. “The Costa Rican example ought not to be taken literally. Take whatever is good that we have, but also adapt it locally. The thing about our example is the possibility of change and not the particular change itself”, he said. “We have seen the world make global decisions in Glasgow but we cannot be tempted by the idea that they can be a one size fits all solution.” But Alvarado, who is coming to the end of his term as president, does not want to stop there. He acknowledges Costa Rica is “green – but not blue”, prompting the announcement at Cop26 of his country’s involvement in a vast new marine-protected area. “The more we provide an example, the more moral and political leverage there is for others to follow. That’s our approach,” he says. In Glasgow, Denmark and Costa Rica launched the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (Boga) to speed up the end of the fossil fuel industry, attracting intense media attention. While the initiative was set up by a small group of countries that had already committed to phasing out fossil fuels, it is hoped a coalition of the willing can translate into global change. Costa Rica’s environment minister, Andrea Meza announces the Republic of Costa Rica as the winner of the Earthshot prize “protect and restore nature award” in London, October 2021. Environment minister Andrea Meza appears on screen as the Duchess of Cambridge announces Costa Rica as winner of the Earthshot protect and restore nature award. Andrea Meza, Costa Rica’s environment minister who helped announce Boga, says winning the Earthshot prize was a moment of national unity akin to winning a football match. She underscores the importance of combining the inherent value of nature with financial realities to ensure its protection, along with environmental education for all citizens. Carlos Alvarado Quesada says “It’s in our DNA”. Tiny Costa Rica wants the world to take giant climate step. What we have learned from the Costa Rican case is that you need to put nature in as part of your development model. It’s not about development and protecting nature. It’s understanding that nature needs to be part of the kind of development that you want. After one or two generations, you’ll see the change. We can see the different species: the sloth, the hummingbird … and we feel proud.”Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on Twitter for all the latest news and features.
PART-2: CRITICAL COMMENTARY
IT IS VERY NICE AND VERY COMMENDABLE THAT THE TINY COUNTRY OF COSTA RICA HAS ADOPTED A VERY SIGNIFICANT ENVIRONMENALISM PRIORITY AND THEY SHOULD BE COMME3NDED FOR THESE ACHEVEMENTS.
HOWEVER, WHAT CLIMATE SCIENCE SAYS IS THAT THE GLOBAL WARMING ISSUE IS A CREATION OF HUMANS BURNING FOSSIL FUELS AND THE SOLUTION SOUGHT AND DEMANDED BY CLIMATE SCIENCE IS THAT HUMANS MUST STOP BURNING FOSSIL FUELS IN A GLOBALLY COORDINATED MANNER TO BRING GLOBAL FOSSIL FUEL EMISSIONS TO ZERO. THE REASON WE HAVE COPS IS THE NEED FOR SUCH GLOBAL COORDINATION.
THERE IS NO RELEVANCE OF THE ECO WACKO ENVIRONMENTAL CREDIENTIALS OF COSTA RICA IN THIS CONTEXT. MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE ONLY RELEVANT VARIABLE IN THE GLOBAL WARMING ISSUE IS GLOBAL FOSSIL FUEL EMISSIONS. THERE IS NO OPPORTUNITY HERE FOR CLIMATE HEROISM OF NATION STATES MUCH LESS THE ECO WACKO ENVIRONMENTALISM HEROISM OF A TINY COUNTRY.
THAT GLOBAL LEADERS AND THE MEDIA ARE LOOKING UP TO COSTA RICA AS A CLIMATE ACTION HERO IN THE COP26 CONTEXT IS MYSTERIOUS. THE TWO LOGICAL FLAWS IN THE ANALYSIS PRESENTED IN THE SOURCE ARTICLE ARE THAT
(1) GLOBAL WARMING IS A GLOBAL ISSUE AND ONLY A GLOBAL ISSUE AND THAT THEREFORE THERE IS NO OPPORTUNITY HERE FOR CLIMATE ACTION HEROISM OF NATION STATES MUCH LESS A TINY AND INSIGINFICANT LITTLE COUNTRY WITH 0.07% OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION AND LESS THAN 0.05% OF THE WORLD’S ECONOMY.
AND (2): ENVIRONMENTALISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL CREDENTIALS SUCH AS FORESTS HAVE NO ROLE IN THE FOSSIL FUEL ISSUE PRESENTED BY CLIMATE SCIENCE. THE ANTHROPOGENIC GLOBAL WARMING ISSUE IS THAT HUMANS BURNING FOSSIL FUELS CAUSE ATMOSPHERIC CO2 TO RISE AND CAUSE WARMING. THIS IS PURELY A FOSSIL FUEL ISSUE WITH NO OPPORTUNITY FOR CARBON CYCLE INTERVENTIONS AS A SUBSTITUTE CLIMATE ACTION. IN THE SAME VEIN, THERE IS NO ROLE FOR FORESTS IN THE CLIMATE ACTION DEMANDED BY CLIMATE SCIENCE.
RELATED POSTS
RELATED POST#1: THE UNIQUE AND PECULIAR ROLE OF FOSSIL FUELS IN THE GLOBAL WARMING ISSUE: LINK: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/06/19/vegandiet/
RELATED POST#2: THE RELATIVE INSIGNIFICANCE OF AFORESTATION AS A CLIMATE ACTION ALTERNATIVE: LINK#1: https://tambonthongchai.com/2021/05/20/the-power-of-trees/
RELATED POST#3: THE RELATIVE INSIGNIFICANCE OF AFORESTATION AS A CLIMATE ACTION ALTERNATIVE: LINK#2: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/08/07/amazonia-lungs-of-the-earth/
RELATED POST#4: THE IRRELEVANCE OF CLIMATE ACTION HEROISM OF NATION STATES: LINK: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/05/22/climate-catch22/
Thongchai Thailand 
December 24, 2021 at 12:30 am
As usual, you are correct. I have been to Costs Rica. It is a beautiful, rural, forested country. Outside of the capital, San Jose, the ere are few roads and fewer cars. It has little industry, besides growing flowers and stitching baseballs. They could go 100% non-fossil fuel tomorrow and nobody would notice.
December 24, 2021 at 4:23 am
Thank you, Mark