Aiming for Net Zero

How Costa Rican leaders adopted policies to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, and what other countries can learn from their actions.

As atmospheric greenhouse gases continue their steep ascent, the world has never been more in need of policies designed to reduce emissions. Among those few nations that have committed to ambitious emission reduction plans is the small Central American country of Costa Rica, whose pioneering policies include a Payments for Environmental Services program, a carbon neutrality pledge, and a goal of decarbonizing the economy. In this book, Aiming for Net Zero, Julia Flagg explores why Costa Rican leaders have adopted more climate mitigation policies than leaders of other nations and how these leaders have introduced and developed these policies.

Drawing on archival evidence and interviews conducted between 2013 and 2021 with three dozen people who have contributed to climate policy in Costa Rica, Flagg tells the story of Costa Rica’s climate mitigation policy development. Costa Rica’s historically egalitarian class structure and interconnected, green-minded urban elite, she writes, prioritized investment in public welfare as the means to enhance the national level of development, leading to the advancement of climate mitigation policies during four historical moments: the late 1980s, the mid-1990s, the mid-2000s, and the late 2010s.

Offering many lessons for other nations aiming to curtail planet-warming emissions, Aiming for Net Zero shows how investments in the public good enhance social development—which, ultimately, allows state planners to pursue ambitious climate mitigation policies.Contents
Acknowledgments
List of Acronyms
1   Introduction: Costa Rica as a Bright Spot amid a Climate Emergency?
2   Historical Class Dynamics as a Driver of Climate Policies
3   The Green Elite: Evolving Historical Dynamics
4   Foundations (1986–1990): Institutional Environmental Restructuring
5   Expansion (1994–1998): The Shift toward Sustainable Development and Climate Change
6   A Golden Opportunity (2006–2010): “Peace with Nature”?
7   Ratcheting Up (2015–2019): Costa Rica in the Global Spotlight and the Pledge to Decarbonize
8   Conclusion: An Uncertain Future for Costa Rica and for the World
Methodological Appendix
Notes
References
Index“A rare and necessary sociological insight into the political elites behind Costa Rica’s ambitious climate mitigation policy. Aiming for Net Zero offers lessons to advance climate policy in Latin America and beyond.”
—Amalia Leguizamón, Associate Professor of Sociology, Tulane University

“An engaging account of an ambitious national strategy to decarbonize. Flagg’s carefully constructed analysis connects egalitarian class structures, high social development, and environmental protection while shining a light on the critical role of leadership.”
—Tammy L. Lewis, Professor of Sociology, Brooklyn College; author of Ecuador’s Environmental Revolutions and coauthor of Green Gentrification

“With detailed analysis and crisp writing, Flagg pulls out lessons from Costa Rica’s bold pledges on climate change to explore the broader questions of what drives environmental ambition and success.”
—J. Timmons Roberts, Ittleson Professor of Environmental Studies and Professor of Environment and Society and Sociology, Brown UniversityJulia A. Flagg is Associate Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies at Connecticut College.