Dubbed “Transition to a Green Urban Economy with Global Environmental Benefits, the project is led by the Ministry of Environment and Energy (Minae), implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Organization for Studies Tropical (TE).
When the President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado, found out about the GEF’s contribution, he wrote on his Facebook profile that the project involved sustainable integrated urban planning, reforms of outdated laws, the construction of bike lanes and green sidewalks, sustainable mobility and greening of two thousand people promotes hectares of the GAM.
Likewise, he continued, funds will flow to circular economy companies that prioritize employing women in areas such as waste management, and there will be training in business leadership. “Another example of how decarbonization can boost the country’s economic development,” concluded Alvarado.
The Minae indicated that the initiative coordinates with local governments of the GAM and institutions with experience in this field and promotes circular economy companies, legal and institutional reforms and new works to improve urban mobility with a focus on people’s health and the ecosystems will promote .
The delivery of these resources was announced during a virtual activity attended by Tico holders of Minae, Andrea Meza, and Housing and Human Settlements, Irene Campos; the President of the GEF, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez; the UNDP representative in Costa Rica, José Vicente Troya, and the Mayor of Alajuelita, Modesto Alpízar.
Meza announced that $1 million of total funding will be used to invest in sustainable mobility with bike lanes, shared routes, green space pedestrian walkways and more.
In this context, Alvarado explained that Costa Rica is counting on the construction of the Metropolitan Electric Train as one of the most important opportunities to decarbonize and transform a public transport system that is inefficient today.
Troya argued that coal and other fossil fuels are drowning humanity and have put us in a danger zone we could never have imagined.
For his part, the President of the GEF said that the focus of this project is extremely ambitious as it aims to change the economic logic by decarbonizing an entire country’s income base.
“That is the ambition that the GEF wants to see in the projects that countries are proposing. We are honored to share a vision with Minae, OET and UNDP to accelerate sustainable cities and achieve netzero emissions by 2050, said Rodríguez.
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