President Carlos Alvarado met this week with Alok Sharma, the British politician who will preside over the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP26.
As part of his international tour to define priorities on how to address climate change, Sharma visited a sustainable coffee farm in Turrialba and learned of Costa Rica’s decarbonization efforts, according to a summary of the visit released by the Presidency.
“The choice of our country reaffirms Costa Rica’s leadership and its performance in areas such as decarbonization, resilience, and the protection of biodiversity,” the Presidency said.
COP26, the annual summit held by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), will be hosted this year in Glasgow from November 1-12. This year’s meetings carry added significance, as they come five years after the Paris Agreement entered into force.
President Alvarado and Sharma issued a joint statement that you can read below in its entirety:
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“We discussed the intense pressures that climate change places on Costa Rica and surrounding countries, and agreed that with under eight months to go until countries come together for COP26, the world, and particularly big emitters, must move faster to protect both people and the planet.
“Our countries are committed to leading by example, and the ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions we have each set ourselves hold us to that. The UK is driving forward its green industrial revolution on its path to net zero by 2050, and Costa Rica has an established strategy for a just and resilient decarbonization of its economy by 2050. We have both shown that by investing in clean recoveries today we can support jobs and wellbeing now and in the future, and we urge our Latin American and Caribbean friends to seize these green opportunities that will also help protect vulnerable communities from the effects of climate change.
“We also reaffirmed the importance of nature and ocean-based solutions as tools to address societal challenges. Such initiatives provide human well-being and biodiversity benefits, and engage with the interests and rights of women, indigenous peoples and Afro-descendant communities and other local communities. Given this region’s unique and precious biodiversity, such action is vital. The upcoming UK-organised Climate and Development Ministerial meeting at the end of March will be a pivotal moment to focus Ministers on these issues.
“We exchanged views on how COP26 could consider the post-2025 climate finance goal in the context of transforming public and private finance flows to align with the Paris Agreement. We underlined the urgent need to scale up finance that can help countries adapt to the impacts of climate change.
“We discussed how Costa Rica can build on its leading role in climate action ahead of COP26. We resolved to continue working closely together to encourage ambitious and meaningful action through initiatives that we’re both proud to champion.”
