The World Bank donated $60 million in non-reimbursable funds to Costa Rica for environmental protection.

Our country received recognition for its efforts in environmental matters; the donation comes from the World Bank and was granted in an agreement in Brussels last week.

The resources for this donation will come from the Emission Reduction Purchase Agreement with the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF ), known as ERPA. This is an agreement between the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), which is administered by the World Bank, and the Government of Costa Rica.

The payment will be made in three installments and will require a commitment to reducing tons of carbon dioxide (tCO2e). The payment installments will be made as follows :

- first payment to be made in 2021 with the capture of 3.4 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) between 2018 and 2019.

- The second payment in 2022 will be made for the capture of 3.4 million tons of carbon dioxide from the period between 2020 and 2021.

- The third and final payment will be made in 2025 in recognition of the capture of 5.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide that will come between 2022 and 2024.

The resources will be implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Energy (Minae) and will be provided through the National Forestry Financing Fund (Fonafifo) and the National System of Conservation Areas (Sinac).

An important detail is how this donation will be distributed. It will be given to individuals and organizations that own forested land and voluntarily wish to participate in the program. The main idea is to support key populations, such as Indigenous territories with forests and organized groups of women and youth who carry out conservation efforts but do not own the land.

Written by: Enrique Hernández

General Management: Marco Montero