Minister Barbara Hendricks, from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Construction and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) of Germany, visited Costa Rica and announced the donation of 15 million euros to work on mitigation and adaptation to climate change carried out by Costa Rica.
The visit that began on June 16th and ended on Monday. Minister Hendricks met with President Luis Guillermo Solís and her counterpart, Costa Rican Minister of Environment and Energy, Edgar Gutiérrez, as well as senior officials of others Ministries.
The BMUB and the Ministry of Environment and Energy signed a memorandum of understanding which recognizes
the fruitful cooperation between Germany and Costa Rica in environmental protection, climate change and sustainable development, and further promotes cooperation between the two countries in these areas through activities and joint projects.”
The priority areas are:
-Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.
-The de-carbonization of the economy, including the development of electric transport.
-Adaptation to the impacts of climate change and green development for Costa Rica.
-The implementation of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030.
-Conservation of biological diversity.
-The sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
-Protection of the ozone layer, including the elimination of HFCs under the Montreal Protocol and any other area in which the two Parties decide to do so.
There will be integration of projects within the framework of the International Climate Initiative in Germany and within the framework of the NDC Alliance (with regard to the strengthening of Nationally Determined Contributions or climate plans of countries as part of the Paris Agreement). Both Germany and Costa Rica are founders of this association and are part of its steering committee.
Both sides also underlined the importance of the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030 as benchmarks for global transformation towards sustainable economies and lifestyles, as well as the long-term vision of keeping global average temperature rise well below the two degrees Celsius with respect to the preindustrial levels and to follow the efforts to limit that increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
This joint effort is proposed to achieve carbon neutrality and long-term climate resilience. To this end, Minister Hendricks and Minister Gutiérrez also signed a Joint Press Statement on Climate Action and Sustainable Development in the presence of the president.