Country Continues Fight Against Global Warming

Representatives from Costa Rica continued to push a proposal to reward countries for not cutting down their tropical forests at a recent United Nations Climate Change Conference, Nov. 6-17 in Nairobi.

There, representatives of 189 nations discussed, among other topics, what to do after the Kyoto Protocol – a global initiative to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gasses that cause global warming – expires in 2012, a statement from the Foreign Ministry announced this week.

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has complained that the Kyoto Protocol does not give countries incentives to conserve their primary forests. In response, Costa Rican and Papua New Guinea have spearheaded an initiative called the Coalition for Rainforest Nations to create such initiatives (TT, Nov. 3).

Also during the conference, Costa Rican representative Christiana Figueres Olsen – daughter of Costa Rica’s legendary three-time President José “Pepe” Figueres – was named to the Executive Board of the United Nation’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The CDM coordinates the financing of sustainable development projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.

Figueres was elected to represent Latin American and Caribbean countries between 2007-2009.