This Technology Transfer Advances Costa Rica's
- Nationally Determined Contribution to recude 170,500 tons of GHG per year until the year 2030, and contribute to the Monitoring, Verifications and Reporting (MRV) systems improvement proposed under FONAFIFO’s Emission Reduction Program
Context
Costa Rica has a long tradition of leadership and innovation in sustainable development and environmental protection. As part of its efforts to address the challenges of climate change, the country recently sent its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The INDC focuses on a concept of climate action that transcends the traditional separation of adaptation and mitigation; rather, it aims to exploit possible synergies and create an integrated strategy for these two action areas.
In terms of mitigation, Costa Rica has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to 9.47 million tons of CO2 by 2030 as part of a long-term decarbonisation plan aimed at achieving net carbon neutrality by 2085. In terms of adaptation, the country will develop a National Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy by 2016 and a National Adaptation Plan by 2018, alongside a series of complementary measures. These include ecosystem- and community-based adaptation, public infrastructure adaptation and capacity building. Costa Rica also intends to establish itself as a country-level testing ground for low-emissions development.
All of these plans require a robust system, with integrated monitoring and an evaluation infrastructure that includes a wide range of monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) mechanisms, accompanied by an accessible information system to facilitate decision-making. Costa Rica has made substantial efforts to build capacity, resulting in a solid body of knowledge and a strong band of local experts. This knowledge is, however, scattered and highly sectoral, thereby limiting its accessibility and use.
There is therefore a need to develop a National Metrics System for Climate Change that will centralize climate change information from a variety of sources. This will be made available through an open-access data platform and integrated in a series of key performance indicators (KPIs) that will effectively and efficiently demonstrate progress in Costa Rica’s climate change efforts.
Assistance Requested
- Transfer and exchange of experiences with other countries that are at a more advanced stage of developing national metrics systems for climate change.
- Workshops with national and international experts to develop the system’s KPIs.
- Development of a detailed system design (including data stream) based on the KPI requirements.
- General consultation of stakeholders in order to validate the system’s detailed design.
- Development of data exchange processes with key actors and sectors on two areas of work:
- Technical protocol workflow
- Trust-building workflow and capacity
Relevant Technologies and Approaches
- Climate change monitoring
- Monitoring and evaluation for adaptation
- Open source climate data and tools
Expected Benefits
CTCN assistance is expected to result in a robust set of KPIs aimed at monitoring Costa Rica’s climate change efforts, which will enable a better system to be designed. Through this support, Costa Rica expects to improve the transparency of its information and commitment to climate change challenges, thereby resulting in better decision-making. Moreover, a solid SINAMECC would greatly facilitate the MRV efforts of future projects and programmes. This is a major factor in the drive to becoming a country-level testing ground for mitigation and adaptation technologies aimed at a low-emissions economy.
