Inside Costa Rica’s Climate Fight: Can the nation hold on to its green ideas?

Outrage + Optimism

Persephonica

Science, Finance, Energy, Policy, Business, Green, Society, Current Affairs, Climate, News, Planet, Society & Culture, Environment, Climatechange, Nature, Parisclimateagreement, Globalwarming

4.7 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 20 February 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How does a nation transform its forest coverage from 21% to 60% in half a century? What are the policies that can place nature at the very heart of political thinking? And why does Christiana Figueres see a picture of her dad when she visits an ATM?

Christiana is joined in her home country by co-hosts Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson as they explore Costa Rica’s remarkable history and constitutionally guaranteed environmental safeguards. Our resident expert explains her very deep personal bond to her country’s politics as her father, former President José Figueres Ferrer, was also the father of the Second Republic, most famous for abolishing the country’s army.

It is perhaps Costa Rica’s policies towards nature that truly elevates this nation above its peers, from its drive on rewilding to carbon taxes. But this incredible progress is now under threat: Christiana and former President Luis Guillermo Solís reflect on the populist Trump-like measures implemented by the current administration, including plans for a regressive return to fossil fuels. Will the government go through with it?

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Learn more:

📝 Check out Article 50 of the constitution of Costa Rica:

All persons have the right to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment. For that, they are legitimated to denounce the acts that infringe this right and to claim reparation for the damage caused.

🌱 Read about the human right to a healthy environment

💬 Have a suggestion for another country case study? Let us know by sending us a voice note!

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Producer: Jarek Zaba

Video Producer: Caitlin Hanrahan

Exec Producer: Ellie Clifford

Commissioning Editor: Sarah Thomas

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to outrage and optimism. I'm Tom Riffick-Karnak. I'm Christiana. I'm
0:07.6	Christiana Fierrez. And I'm Paul Dickinson. Today, the story of the little country that could,
0:12.6	how Costa Rica became the poster child for environmental leadership and whether that position is now under threat.
0:17.5	Thanks for being here. So friends, the first thing we should let our listeners know
0:25.6	is that we are very joyfully and happily together sitting here and it could not be more appropriate
0:30.3	in your beautiful garden, Christiana, looking at the ocean, enjoying the nature of Costa Rica.
0:35.5	And it's partly for that reason that we've decided to dedicate this episode to talking about this amazing country.
0:40.4	So these are two things that we have to celebrate.
0:42.7	A, we're together, which is so unusual for us.
0:46.5	B, we're in Costa Rica.
0:48.7	We're in Costa Rica.
0:49.6	As I call it, wild and wonderful Costa Rica.
0:53.1	So exciting.
0:55.7	Paul, tell us about what's your relationship with Costa Rica like? Just absolutely dazzled by such a small country with such a massive global
1:01.4	reputation and interested to dig in to how that happened, what the reputation is and what it means
1:06.2	and what we can learn from it. Well, that last point is the really critical one. Yes, but I am really
1:11.7	interested, Paul, and how are you going to get into that headspace, given the fact that
1:16.4	you're not entirely fauna friendly? Paul isn't in an advanced state of fear all the time.
1:23.6	All the time. Yeah, because there's snakes and spiders and lobsters and raccoons.
1:28.7	Crocodiles.
1:29.9	Gigantic.
1:30.4	What are those things in the...
	...

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