131. Being Smartly Selfish is Selfless with President Carlos Alvarado
Outrage + Optimism: The Climate Podcast
Persephonica
4.7 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 2 December 2021
⏱️ 56 minutes
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Summary
¡Feliz Día de la Abolición del Ejército en Costa Rica!
Happy Military Abolition Day in Costa Rica!
Every year on December 1st, the country of Costa Rica celebrates the day that Christiana’s father and former Costa Rican president, José Figueres Ferrer, abolished their national army and redirected that part of the national budget to biodiversity and education. This year marks the 73rd anniversary!
So with that in mind, we take a break from our COP26 reflections to speak with President Carlos Alvarado of Costa Rica! With over 50% of their country re-forested, an energy grid that is 99.5% renewables, and ZERO investments in weapons or military, Costa Rica is a model for how to lead sustainably in a world of compounding crises. How does Costa Rica do it, and what can other countries learn from this example?
May we all be more like Costa Rica!
And! Stick around ‘til the end for a soulful tune from musical artist Bobby Bazini!
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Christiana + Tom’s book ‘The Future We Choose’ is available now!
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Mentioned links from the episode:
Listen: The Way Out Is In Podcast
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Thank you to our guest this week:
Carlos Alvarado Quesada
President | Costa Rica
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The incredible Bobby Bazini is our musical guest this week!
Bobby Bazini
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Keep up with Christiana Figueres here:
Tom Rivett-Carnac:
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Paul Dickinson:
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So I think we're going to have to go with some different music this week, |
| 0:03.2 | given what we're talking about. |
| 0:04.4 | But not the very start. |
| 0:05.2 | We're still doing the normal music, |
| 0:06.2 | or do you think from the very start? |
| 0:07.4 | I think it's got to be the from the very start. |
| 0:09.2 | Okay. |
| 0:10.2 | The whole play, we're in your hands. |
| 0:11.9 | Here we go. |
| 0:12.7 | All right. |
| 0:16.3 | El Hino Nacional de Costa Riga. |
| 0:30.0 | Hello and welcome to Outrage Optimism. |
| 0:38.8 | I'm Tom Riccana. |
| 0:40.1 | I'm Cristiana Figuera's the only Costa Rican on this tune. |
| 0:45.2 | But not on this podcast, sorry Paul. |
| 0:47.2 | And I am Paul Dickinson, who's not from Costa Rica at the moment, but we'll see. |
| 0:51.8 | This week we bring you a special conversation with President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado. |
| 0:58.2 | Plus, we have music from Bobby Bezini. |
| 1:01.0 | And I hope you're enjoying the Costa Rican anthem. |
| 1:02.9 | Thanks for being here. |
| 1:19.7 | Okay, so this week we are taking a short break from our weekly assessments of what happened to COP26, |
| 1:25.3 | although COP26 will of course feature heavily in the conversations we have today in different ways, |
... |
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