Costa Rica's Second National Communication
Project Overview
The creation of a National Communication offers countries the opportunity to contribute with technically sound studies and information that can be used for designing mitigation and adaptation measures, and project proposals that can and will help increase their resilience to the impacts of climate change. Activities generally include: V&A assessments, Greenhouse Gas Inventory preparation, Mitigation Analysis or Education, and awareness raising activities.The ultimate goal is the integration of climate change considerations into relevant social, economic and environmental policies and actions.
Key Vulnerabilities identified in Costa Rica's Second National Plan (2009):
- Water Resources
- Forestry
- Agriculture and Livestock
- Energy
Project Details
Potential Adaptation Measures
Water Resources
- "Summer” programs by the Costa Rican Institute of Waterworks and Sewerages (AyA)
- Formal and informal education campaigns
- Construction of wells and water storage tanks
- Repair and renewal of broken down pipelines
- Sediment removal in water intakes
- Investment in infrastructure (wells and tanks) and technology
- Reducing concessional flow or maintaining environmental flow
- Protection of aquifers and water intakes
- Limiting concession number on basis of sector and source
- Water pollution levy
- Improved control measures and monitoring in resource use (meters)
- Improving infrastructure, surveillance and control of water capture from springs (ASADAS)
- Sanitary risk program from AyA
- Monitoring and control
- Water rationing
Forestry
- Protection, reforestation and prevention of degradation
- River bank restoration
- Agroforestry systems - erosion reduction through provision of organic material to soil water protection (quantity and quality) by encouraging infiltration and reducing runoff that could pollute waterways carbon capture, enhancing potential of silvopasture systems
- Watershed management (Pirris/ Platanar Project at the river spring level)
Agriculture and Livestock
- Integral farm management (Virilla upper river region)
- New production alternatives (hydroponics, greenhouses, controlled climates, others)
- Irrigation projects and capacity building to raise irrigation efficiency
- Drainage ditches in areas affected by excessive rainfall
- Combined aquaculture and irrigation systems, water recycling
Energy
- Greater efficient equipment, as in compact fluorescent lamps
- Charge control
- Generation from cleaner sources
Key Results and Outputs
- Sustainable development and the integration of climate change concerns into medium- and long-term planning
- Inventories of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases
- Measures contributing to addressing climate change
- Research and systematic observation
- Climate change impacts, adaptation measures and response strategies
- Education, training and public awarenes
Reports and Publications
Assessments and Background Documents
Monitoring and Evaluation
In 1992, countries joined an international treaty, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to cooperatively consider what they could do to limit average global temperature increases and the resulting climate change, and to cope with whatever impacts were, by then, inevitable.
Parties to the Convention must submit national reports on implementation of the Convention to the Conference of the Parties (COP). The required contents of national communications and the timetable for their submission are different for Annex I and non-Annex I Parties. This is in accordance with the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" enshrined in the Convention.
The core elements of the national communications for both Annex I and non-Annex I Parties are information on emissions and removals of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and details of the activities a Party has undertaken to implement the Convention. National communications usually contain information on national circumstances, vulnerability assessment, financial resources and transfer of technology, and education, training and public awareness.
Since 1994, governments have invested significant time and resources in the preparation, collection and validation of data on GHG emissions, and the COP has made determined efforts to improve the quality and consistency of the data, which are ensured by established guidelines for reporting. Non-Annex I Parties receive financial and technical assistance in preparing their national communications, facilitated by the UNFCCC secretariat.