Costa Rican Bananas To
Achieve Carbon
Neutrality In Four Years
The Costa Rican banana
industry is the first
banana industry in the
world to put in place a
coherent and holistic
environmental strategy
in order to offset its
carbon dioxide
emissions.
Corbana, the Costa Rican
banana producers’
association, has
recently submitted to
Costa Rica’s Ministry of
Environment and Energy
the ‘Banana Industry
Action Plan against
Climate Change’, which
aims at cutting its net
greenhouse gasses
emissions to zero by
2012. The plan was
formally presented to
the Minister of
Environment and Energy,
Roberto Dobles Mora,
under the framework of
the National Strategy
for Climate Change (ENCC)
that the Costa Rican
government marked as a
top priority in its
2006-2010 agenda.
The Costa Rica Banana
Industry Action Plan
against Climate Change
will first calculate the
overall level and source
of CO2 and other
greenhouse gasses
produced by the industry
in order to properly
advise individual banana
farms on what steps and
measures they must take
to offset them. Once the
emissions assessment is
finalized, Corbana and
the Banana Environment
Commission will
encourage producers to
adopt a number of
concrete measures,
namely:
- Creating more carbon
sinks through
reforestation programs;
- Cutting back in the
use of fossil fuels and
fertilizers;
- Switching to bio-fuels
and biodegradable
plastics;
- Reducing the use of
traditional pesticides
and fertilizers through
the application of
bio-pesticides and
bio-fertilizers;
- Implementing
energy-saving programs.
Furthermore an
educational program will
be implemented, to raise
awareness amongst banana
workers of the
importance of combating
climate change through
CO2 emissions reduction;
and a manual of good
environmental practices
will be developed to
reinforce this program.
“Even though there are
several courses of
action open to
producers, Corbana
encourage growers to
build carbon sinks
through replanting
schemes and to reduce
the use of traditional
pesticides and
fertilizers,” says Jorge
Sauma Aguilar, CEO of
Corbana. “These two
concrete measures have
been proved to be very
successful in the past
and are totally aligned
with Costa Rica’s
National Strategy for
Climate Change.”
While Costa Rica makes
up only 0.03% of the
world’s landmass, it
holds 5% of the world’s
biodiversity. That is
why the Costa Rica
banana industry is a
leader in the
environmental field. For
over 15 years, most of
Costa Rica’s banana
farms have been carrying
out long-term
reforestation projects
in their plantations.
For example, the banana
industry’s current
contribution to
conservation and
reforestation is 6,305
hectares of replanted
forests, 14.4% of the
land used for banana
plantations. More
importantly, banana
plantations only use
less than 1% of the
country’s territory.
A case in point is
Platanera Río Sixaola, a
banana farm located in
Limón Province, which
was the first banana
plantation in the world
to become carbon
neutral. Corbana expects
that by following
Platanera Río Sixaola’s
example, the Costa Rican
banana industry will
create added value to
its product and will be
a key differentiator for
Costa Rica bananas in
the European market. “On
top of the environmental
contributions and
benefits of this
initiative for Costa
Rica as a whole, this
holistic strategy adds
value to our product,
improves the
competitiveness of our
growers and consequently
contributes to the
economic development of
our country,” explains
Mr Sauma. Minister
Dobles adds: “there is
an ethical
responsibility here
because climate change
is everybody’s problem,
however the Costa Rica
banana industry also has
a strong sense of social
responsibility which
differentiates them from
competitors in the world
markets.”
All actors involved in
the banana industry have
committed themselves to
C-Neutrality by means of
environmentally
responsible management.
The action plan was
developed by the Banana
Environment Commission
(CAB in its Spanish
acronym), formed by the
following local actors:
o CORBANA
o ANAPROBAN, National
Chamber of Banana
Producers
o Ministry of
Environment and Energy
o Ministry of Health
o University of Costa
Rica
o Chamber of Agriculture
Inputs
o Standard Fruit
Company, multinational
marketer of fresh fruit
o Del Monte,
multinational marketer
of fresh fruit
o BANACOL, national
marketer of fresh fruit
o Chiquita Brand’s,
multinational marketer
of fresh fruit
o Fyffes, multinational
marketer of fresh fruit
Costa Rica is an
international leader on
green issues, with
protected areas like
national parks and
biological reserves
covering more than a
quarter of its
territory. It is the
first tropical nation to
reverse deforestation.
Thanks to conservation
and replanting, its
forest cover has
increased from 21
percent in 1986 to 51
percent today. The
country also generates
78 percent of its energy
with hydroelectric power
and another 18 percent
by wind or geothermal
power. The next step is
to cut emissions from
transport, farming, and
industry. |
