Country Dialogue: Support for Costa Rican climate policies

The Paris Agreement has been a giant step in the right direction in the fight against climate change. However, states’ commitments must be made a part of their public policies if they are to have a real effect. Because of this, the EUROCLIMA+ programme, which is funded by the European Union and jointly managed by FIIAPP, is helping Costa Rica to adopt public policies that address climate change through the Country Dialogue methodology.   

The Country Dialogue is a methodology for establishing a framework for joint demand-oriented work between the EU and partner countries. Work is now underway to support Costa Rica in several priority areas related to its national climate policies. The objective is to turn Costa Rica’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) -a voluntary commitment to climate action the country made before the international community within the framework of the Paris Agreement- into real actions.  

To achieve these goals, FIIAPP and GIZ organised a new Country Dialogue meeting. The session was the start of an exchange process to identify strategic areas for cooperation between the European Union and Costa Rica based on the country’s own needs and priorities. The meeting gave participants a deeper understanding of the country’s needs and their impact on policy reform, design and implementation.  

The meeting highlighted the importance of Costa Rica in the Latin American region and the progress made to design and develop climate policies to achieve national targets. Costa Rica’s NDC includes mitigation and adaptation goals, incorporating the just transition approach and identifying vulnerable populations, aligned with its National Decarbonisation Plan.