She talked about the authorities’ “double standard” since “the government shows an image outside the country but internally it does something else”.

The government policies on climate change have been very much influenced by what is happening outside the country, in particular at the UN Convention on Climate Change.

“Costa Rica is known as a conservationist country because it has dedicated to restoring protected areas, but many communities have been displaced as a result of it”

The government has also promoted the payment for environmental services, including reforestation. The beneficiaries “are a few private actors and large land owners”.

Porras mentioned that the government has also promoted “carbon neutrality” in order to make Costa Rica a “carbon neutral” country in 2012, so it has focused on transportation and agriculture.

The government focused “on issuing carbon neutral certifications to
corporations in order to encourage them to save electricity or to recycle, but there are no structural changes to reduce emissions”, she added.

Despite this “image” the government is trying to sell, little is being said of the expansion of pine and palm oil monoculture plantations, or the fact that there has been an increase in the import of chemical products.