Costa Rican Christiana Figueres was awarded the Medal of Paris on Wednesday for helping broker the historic, 195-nation deal to avert climate change that was sealed in the French capital last week.
U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry's promise of additional money came as negotiators struggled to resolve differences over financial assistance to developing economies, one of the thorniest issues to emerge in the talks so far.
While world governments held climate talks in Paris, Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto unveiled $3 billion plans to cut sulfur content in gasoline produced at six refineries of state-run firm Pemex, reducing emissions by 90 percent.
While there are still a few programs designed to encourage people to switch to more efficient vehicles, the current government’s plan to reduce vehicle emissions hinges on the creation of a rapid transit system to serve the Greater Metropolitan Area.
As important as a global accord is, the most influential actors on climate change have been cities and businesses, and leaders in both groups made it clear that they will not wait for an agreement that, if it comes together, won't even take full effect until 2020.
While Costa Rica's negotiating team continues to push its agenda in the French capital, here are five things to know about the country's climate pledge.
LE BOURGET, France – Honduras, Myanmar and Haiti top a new list of nations hardest hit by two decades of storms, floods and landslides that killed more than half a million people, climate analysts reported Thursday, warning of more frequent disasters if Earth's overheating cannot be tamed.
The U.S. plan would prod nations that have the capacity -- namely China -- to provide money for climate-related projects to the most vulnerable nations. That would break down the old division where funds flowed from industrialized nations to developing ones.
Coffee fans will soon have another reason to buy Costa Rican brews. On Tuesday, officials from the Environment Ministry announced a new goal to convert 25,000 hectares of coffee plantations to carbon-efficient farms.
Costa Rica plans to sign the "Under 2 MOU" carbon emissions reduction pledge, committing the country to emit less than 2 metric tons of greenhouse gases per capita annually by 2050, regardless of whether the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris yields an agreement.
