U.N. climate change negotiators drink Costa Rican coffee

The world’s first carbon-neutral coffee is grown in the Dota Valley, south of San José, and is also part of the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP18/CMP8) in Doha, Qatar.

A special presentation on Wednesday took place around a coffee-vending machine in the media center, where Costa Rican Environment Minister René Castro spoke glowingly of the coffee, which is available from various machines at the Qatar National Convention Centre.

Reda Ibrahim Ali, project director of COP18/CMP8 Doha, Costa Rican Agriculture and Livestock Minister Gloria Abraham and Costa Rican Ambassador to Qatar Luis Alberto Guillén also participated in the “coffee break.”

The coffee is produced by a cooperative of some 800 farmers who use methods that mean that the greenhouse gas emissions that are usually created in the production, transport and sale of the coffee are reduced and offset to zero.

This carbon-neutral policy has earned it a specification (PAS2060) of the British Standards Institution.

At the presentation, Fahad Bin Mohammed Al-Attiya, chairman of the Organising Sub-Committee, received a bag of Dota coffee from Costa Rican officials.