I didn’t make this up. Costa Rica is literally Champion Of The Earth!
Champions of the Earth is the UN’s highest environmental honor, and it celebrates outstanding figures from the public and private sectors and from civil society whose actions have had a transformative, positive impact on the environment.
Costa Rica was named for 2019 in the policy leadership category.
We recently started a series on the blog where we outline the various things we love about the country of Costa Rica. But this news definitely takes the cake!
Awarded At UN General Assembly
As New Yorker’s, we have long been familiar with the late September event known as the United Nations General Assembly, because of the traffic chaos it creates in parts of New York City.
It has annually been the bane of my commuting existence, but since we are now empty nesters, and in the middle of visiting Costa Rica for a month, that is one headache that has gone away from my life.
But many important events are held each year during this week, and it draws leaders from all over the world. Last week, in the lead up to the General Assembly, the UN Environment Programme announced the winners of their Champions Of The Earth award.
The winners for 2019 are:
- Entrepreneurial Vision – Patagonia
- Inspiration and Action – Ant Forest
- Inspiration and Action – Fridays for Future Movement
- Policy Leadership – Costa Rica
- Science and Innovation – Professor Katharine Hayhoe
The awards have been handed out since 2005, and going back through at least the last 5 years, I couldn’t find another country that has been given the distinction.
Costa Rica: Designing a template for a cleaner, carbon-free world
In a world where some countries are backing out of coalitions to reduce carbon emissions, and other countries are struggling to meet their goals, Costa Rica is a model of what is possible.
You could say that Costa Rica is so small, no matter what they do, it won’t have an impact on global emissions. But what is done in Costa Rica proves that it is possible.
How is it possible that a middle income country has 99.5 percent clean and renewable electric energy? That’s proof that it can be done.
— Carlos Alvarado Quesada, Costa Rica President
The accomplishments highlighted include:
- 98% of energy is renewable
- Forest cover is more than 53%, reversing deforestation trend
- Quarter of the land in the country is protected
- New National Decarbonization Plan aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050
- Costa Rica is co-leading the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) in December 2019, and is hosting the Pre-COP in October
Click the video below to watch the Costa Rica President accept the award.
Costa Rica recibe el premio “Campeones de la Tierra”, la máxima distinción de @ONU_es a la labor ambiental. Este premio es para todas las personas que han construido nuestro país a través de la historia. ¡Sigamos ese camino! #UNGA #EarthChamps #AcciónClimática #ClimateAction pic.twitter.com/aU3XXnxeM5
— Carlos Alvarado Quesada (@CarlosAlvQ) September 27, 2019
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As we are wrapping up our stay in Costa Rica for the month of September, we couldn’t be happier that this is the location we’ve chosen as our home base outside of the United States. News like this makes us very proud!
We are Scott and Caroline, 50-somethings who spent the first 20+ years of our adult lives in New York City, working traditional careers and raising 2 kids. We left full-time work in our mid-40’s for location-independent, part-time consulting projects and real estate investing, in order to create a more flexible and travel-centric lifestyle. 
Financial independence and early retirement is not something we originally focused on, but over time realized it was possible. Our free report, 
