(Sinalevi Note: The Communities Category of the Country Program for Carbon Neutrality was extracted from the website of the Climate Change Directorate and is transcribed below:)
Costa Rica Country Program for Carbon Neutrality (PPCN) The Costa Rica Country Program for Carbon Neutrality (PPCN) is an official mechanism for organizations, products, communities, educational centers, and events to join the country's long-term decarbonization goal, in order to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
The PPCN is a voluntary country-level mechanism that allows organizations, product manufacturers, communities, educational centers, and event organizers to measure their carbon inventories, demonstrate emission reductions, and achieve verifiable carbon neutrality. This program belongs to the Climate Change Directorate (DCC) of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE).
The program was created in 2012 with an organizational category. That year, two pioneering companies joined that category and achieved Carbon Neutrality by reducing and offsetting all their emissions. In 2018, the PPCN was reactivated with a five-step recognition system (see "The recognition system" next page), which allows organizations to advance in their decarbonization efforts. Currently, more than 200 organizations participate in the program.
Following the success of its first category (organizational), the PPCN expanded its scope and now includes recognition for organizations, product manufacturers, events (as a subcategory within products) and educational institutions (as a subcategory within the organizational one).
The PPCN categories The five categories of the PPCN offer pathways for different social actors.
ORGANIZATIONS Public and private organizations can join this category, with differentiated criteria related to the complexity of each organization. Each organization must report, reduce, and offset all direct and indirect energy emissions, while other indirect emissions may be reported voluntarily. Recognitions are valid for one year, subject to annual verification. Plus recognitions are granted to organizations that carry out extraordinary efforts that go beyond the minimum requirements, such as creating additional reductions, developing low-carbon supply chains, and fostering civil society participation.
Preschool educational centers, primary schools, and secondary schools can opt for this differentiated category, which has specific and simple criteria for this type of organization, but with a greater focus on raising awareness among the student population, its administrative staff, and their families.
Companies can create a life cycle analysis for specific products and thus reduce and offset their carbon footprint. Each company that designs, develops, distributes, or markets a product must estimate its carbon footprint and offset it, even before entering the market, generating a verified and reliable environmental product declaration. Final recognitions are granted after verification.
The carbon footprint of events in this subcategory includes everything from planning to the execution of the event, including closing activities. Events receive a preliminary "in progress" recognition before and during their execution. Final recognitions are granted after completion, once verified, and, if necessary, additional measures are taken.
The cantonal category allows municipalities and districts to measure and manage emissions in their territories. Most emission sources are subject to a mandatory report, which includes road transport, energy use in buildings and industry, agriculture, and waste, as well as other types of land use.
SUBCATEGORY: EDUCATIONAL CENTERS Preschool educational centers, primary schools, and secondary schools can opt for this differentiated category, which has specific and simple criteria for this type of organization, but with a greater focus on raising awareness among the student population, its administrative staff, and their families.
PRODUCTS Companies can create a life cycle analysis for specific products and thus reduce and offset their carbon footprint. Each company that designs, develops, distributes, or markets a product must estimate its carbon footprint and offset it, even before entering the market, generating a verified and reliable environmental product declaration. Final recognitions are granted after verification.
SUBCATEGORY: EVENTS The carbon footprint of events in this subcategory includes everything from planning to the execution of the event, including closing activities. Events receive a preliminary "in progress" recognition before and during their execution. Final recognitions are granted after completion, once verified, and, if necessary, additional measures are taken.
CANTONAL The cantonal category allows municipalities and districts to measure and manage emissions in their territories. Most emission sources are subject to a mandatory report, which includes road transport, energy use in buildings and industry, agriculture, and waste, as well as other types of land use.
The recognition system The PPCN is built around a five-step recognition system, which rewards decarbonization actions through its official and public recognition. The recognition system allows citizens, consumers, and other organizations to identify participants and their level of commitment. The recognition system describes the stages that organizations, product manufacturers, communities, educational centers, and event organizers must follow to achieve carbon neutrality. This system provides a clear path towards carbon neutrality, including two plus categories, which recognize outstanding efforts.
Furthermore, it gives each participating organization, product manufacturer, community, educational center, and event organizer the opportunity to contribute according to their respective circumstances and capacities, and at the same time establishes a clear path of self-improvement.
Who participates in the program?
The PPCN has four direct types of participants: the implementing party, the verification entity, the accreditation body, and the DCC. An indirect interested party is the general public, which uses the program's information to make better decisions regarding the organizations, products, or activities they engage with.
Any participating organization, product manufacturer, community, educational center, and event organizer participating in the PPCN becomes an implementing party. They are responsible for producing their carbon inventory and taking any reduction or offsetting action required for their respective recognition.
The verifying party must review the inventory and the measures adopted by the implementing party and provide a report. Each category has its own verification cycle, which ranges between one and three years. The verifying party must be accredited before the Costa Rican Accreditation Entity (ECA).
The Climate Change Directorate is responsible for overseeing the program and granting recognitions, once the official declaration by the verifying parties has been made.
Results The PPCN has been a key component of climate action in Costa Rica, with quantifiable and verifiable results since its creation. The highlights of its work include:
· More than 200 organizations, 21 municipalities, and 2 districts have joined the program since 2012.
· The PPCN is explicitly mentioned as a key action in Costa Rica's National Decarbonization Plan.
· The participating municipalities represent 38% of Costa Rica's territory and include 42% of its population.
· In 2015, the equivalent of 875,711 tons of CO2 were reported by the organizations participating in the program. This means that the equivalent of 8% of that year's national emissions in Costa Rica were reported to the PPCN.
· More than 1,700 people have been trained through the PPCN's organizational category, and 400 more in the cantonal category.
· Between 2017 and 2020 alone, the organizations participating in the PPCN invested more than $14.9 million in their own fund reduction actions (such as solar panels, efficient energy use, and vehicles). This alone represents the actions of 161 organizations, which reported those data.
· The social benefit of the PPCN is over $45 million. With a social cost of carbon of $42 per ton, the PPCN has contributed greatly to society. Nearly the equivalent of 630,761 tons of carbon dioxide have been reduced or offset since 2012, and another 449,674 tons have been removed.