Costa Rica Clean Trip

The world's first carbon-neutral nation

Having earned global fame first for abolishing its army, and then as an Eden of biodiversity and eco-tourism, Costa Rica is now looking to use its booming travel market to reduce green-house gases and become the world's first carbon-neutral nation.

Clean Trip program

To combat global climate change, the government is hoping to enlist the nearly 2 million tourists expected to visit here this year to help pay to protect the country's forests, which cover 51 % of the national territory.

By using a government web page to calculate how much carbon dioxide they will produce during their flight here, tourists can then make a corresponding donation to protect the amount of forest needed to store all that greenhouse gas.

A traveler from the eastern United States, for example, would produce three tons of carbon dioxide, offset by just a $15 donation to FONAFIFO. A flight from Germany can be made "clean" with just $30.

Roberto Carlos Benavides, Costa Rica's Tourism Minister, said, "this program has an enormous importance. It is consistent with our goal of being a sustainable tourism destination, and with the desire of millions of people around the world to visit places that list caring for the environment as their goal."

Peace with Nature

In July 2006, President Oscar Arias, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Central American Peace Plan during his first presidency in the late 1980s, announced a sweeping environmental plan called Peace With Nature. In addition to the Clean Trip program, the plan included the planting of 5 million trees across the country.

This goal was achieved in December. President Arias has also ordered his government to reduce its energy consumption because of its environmental impact. The president, who in 2006 made an event of his public viewing of Al Gore's film on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth", has instructed his cabinet ministers to use the Clean Trip program whenever they travel, and to pay out-of-pocket to compensate their emissions.

The president made a respectful request to all the ministers that our travels be carbon neutral," said Tourism Minister Benavides.

The Environment Minister gave a presentation at our cabinet meeting explaining the importance of being carbon neutral, and my colleagues are registering their trips.

Carbon-neutral services

The program also meets a growing demand from tourism businesses in Costa Rica wanting to offer carbon-neutral services. Airlines, car rental agencies and tour operators are among a growing number of companies already involved in the program, which uses the donated money to pay private landowners for conserving or reforesting their property.

Many airlines company's based in Costa Rica and claims to be the first airline that is voluntarily 100% carbon neutral, has donated more than $40000 since 2004 to conserve 307 acres of forest to counterbalance its fleet's yearly emissions. Lisette Acosta, Nature Air's Director of Marketing, said the company's carbon neutrality has won its international recognition, and gets the most response from European clients.

No excuse

Tourism Minister Benavides warned, however, that paying for conservation does not excuse other, less environmentally friendly practices.