Environmental Requirement for Companies
The Chamber of Industries of Costa Rica (CICR) announced that it was becoming concerned about the way in which trade will be impacted by measures which seek to combat global climate change. "Costa Rica has a good position with respect to the carbon footprint of its products, but you have to prove it and that's expensive," said chamber president Juan María González in a news conference.
According to industry representatives, at the next climate change summit which is to be held in Copenhagen from December 7 - 18, it is likely that guidelines will be implemented so that exported products will have to prove their carbon footprint in the future.
The carbon footprint is the total of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted by the direct or indirect effect of an individual, organization, event or product. Highly industrialized countries and countries which are rapidly developing and becoming highly industrialized, such as China and India, tend to have a larger carbon footprint than small countries such as Costa Rica.
The summit will be successful, depending on certain perspectives, because people from different nations are demanding true commitments from their leaders. The USA has already announced that it will take important steps in this matter and this loudly announces that there is political will in countries to take real action on behalf of the environment.
Industry believes that Costa Rica should cautiously take actions to meet the future. The measures being proposed have a high cost. "It's cheaper to meet environmental standards than to demonstrate compliance with them," Gonzalez said.
The industrial sector produces about 800,000 tons of CO2, and it sits as the fifth sector in the country that emits the most greenhouse gases, according to the Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Telecommunications (MINAET). The industrial sector's Carbon intensity is increasing at an annual rate of 14%.
Given this figure, CICR proposed an industrial climate change strategy which would be a response to environmental challenges faced by industrial companies, which are increasingly demanding, said Gonzalez.
What is still uncertain is what the future holds for companies who fail certify their carbon footprint. However, Costa Rica claims to be a green or environmentally friendly country and this comes with a responsibility to meet the requirements in order to be able to use this moniker.
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Author: dioniso ferlini