Technical Unit experts and authorities of 20 municipalities held an important meeting to discuss the recovery of urban ecosystems, the protection of groundwater, and the reduction of Greenhouse Gases, to protect residents’ life, health, and well-being.
The TEVU project, or Transition to a Green Urban Economy, is an ambitious country project to mitigate the effects of urban and environmental degradation and climate change affecting the citizens of the Greater Metropolitan Area.
In addition, the investment is $100 million between Global Environment Facility (GEF) and national grants. TEVU plans to involve 20 municipalities to restore 2,000 hectares of affected land, improve habitat for threatened urban species, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Costa Rica is a world example in the recovery of forested areas and the expansion of conservation areas. With this plan, the country focuses on environmental intervention in cities and will place Costa Rica alongside other countries that are converting their cities into sustainable and environmentally friendly spaces.
“GEF always sees how Costa Rica takes advantage of the funds with great satisfaction. Since the 1990s when we decided as a country to invest in infrastructure in National Parks, which today generate income, employment, and human development in harmony with biodiversity, and in the 2000s with investments in the payment of environmental services that contributed to reverse deforestation,” said Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Echeverría, Executive Director of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
Jorge Ocampo Sánchez, executive president of the Institute for Municipal Development and Advisory Services (IFAM), indicated that municipalities are the engine of green economic recovery and, given the current situation, are widely committed to mitigating and adapting their territories against the effects of climate change through the implementation of local public policy and integrated and sustainable urban planning.
“Projects such as TEVU are an incentive for the creation, development, and management of effective actions from local governments that have an impact on environmental protection and conservation, but, above all, on a redesign of cities oriented to meet the needs of the people as a priority,” added Ocampo.
The event was attended by the Director of the Organization for Tropical Studies, Miguel Méndez González, the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program, José Vicente Troya Rodríguez, the Executive President of IFAM, Jorge Ocampo Sánchez, and the Vice Minister of Environment and Energy, Rafael Gutiérrez Rojas.
