Costa Rica receives first payment for reduced forest emissions from World Bank carbon fund

Costa Rica is also on a path to receive additional carbon payments from Norway. Last November, Norway announced a $10 million pledge for payments for reduced carbon emissions in 2017-21, verified by the ART-standard. Furthermore, to bridge the FCPF funds ending in 2024, Costa Rica has signed a Letter of Intent to sell carbon emission reductions to the LEAF coalition through 2026.

The FCPF Carbon fund is a multilateral fund consisting of governments, businesses, and civil society organisations. Norway has participated in FCPF since its inception in 2008, and has played an active role in establishing and developing the Carbon Fund.

Over the last years, the World Bank has signed 15 ERPAs with forest countries, which together unlock up to $720 million in results-based financing for approximately 145 million tons of carbon emissions reduced through 2025. This is the equivalent of a year of emissions from more than 28 million cars.

Costa Rica is the second country to receive a results-based payment under FCPF after Mozambique. Their program in FCPF has strengthened policies to protect the country’s forest landscapes and incentivised farmers and landowners to sustainably manage their land by expanding the country’s Payment for Environmental Services program.

In order to receive the payment, Costa Rica has submitted an official monitoring report and a thorough independent third-party validation and verification was conducted to confirm that the emission reductions were achieved.

Costa Rica has been a long-term pioneer in rainforest protection, and early put in place measures to reduce deforestation rates. Today, forests cover nearly 60% of costa Rica’s territory.