Committee: United Nations Environmental Programme
Topic: Renewable Energy
Country: Republic of Costa Rica
Delegate: Catherine Hwang, Forest Hills Northern High School
Although energy is a fundamental aspect of everyday life among citizens, according to the Energy Access Outlook of 2017, 14% of the global population does not have access to electricity. While solving the issue of providing electricity for everyone, we must begin to do so in an environmentally friendly manner. Globally, carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have increased by about 2.7 percent in 2018 after a 1.6 increase in 2017. The role of renewable energy solutions mitigates climate change. The 2016 Paris Agreement marked the imperativeness of implementing renewable sources to replace fossil fuels which have been recognized to be the biggest contributor to climate change.
Costa Rica has focused on environmental sustainability from the outsiders and has recently taken affirmative actions to pioneer the future of running on renewable energy sources to better the climate and environment whilst providing the same necessary components of energy to daily citizens. The Costa Rican Institute of Electricity was established in 1949 as a way to solve the sizes of electric energy availability in the country. Costa Rica has made tremendous progress, for almost 100% of the country’s energy is now produced through 5 different renewable sources and has been for the past 4 years. Approximately 78 percent is generated through hydropower, 10 percent wind, 10 percent geothermal energy, and 1 percent solar and biomass energy. Costa Rica hosts more than 5 percent of the world’s biodiversity, and the country utilizes key components of the environment to carry out these functions. Costa Rica has worked with several countries such as China to help finance the installation of renewable generators. Recently, Costa Rica has implemented over 50,000 solar panels, three 50 MW geothermal power plants, and 305.5 MW hydroelectric plants to set power to over half a million homes in the nation. Costa Rica also strives to achieve carbon neutrality within the next few years to further its contribution to resolving the issue regarding sustainable and renewable energy to better their climate and environment.
Costa Rica highly encourages the countries represented in the United Nations Environmental Programme to cooperate in hopes of setting goals and attaining similar milestones. With the financial aid of more affluent countries, Costa Rica recognizes that lesser developed countries can continue to work on providing basic necessities such as electricity to their citizens while doing so in an environmentally friendly manner by implementing renewable resources generators to provide such power. These tasks must be carried out in a responsible and cooperative manner among the members of the committee to establish a firm resolution in which countries can strive to begin converting to renewable resources.
- Catherine Hwang
