06/16/2025

How the IKI is boosting Costa Rica’s NDCs

Aerial view of a rural settlement with tin-roofed houses spread along both sides of a muddy river. The area is densely vegetated with green trees. On the right side, an unpaved road with visible puddles runs parallel to the river. The image reflects a blend of natural landscape and informal housing.

From composting in the coffee-growing region to managing climate refugia and early warning systems for floods: this is how Costa Rica breathes life into its NDCs.

Costa Rica joined the international effort to address climate change and biodiversity loss early on. However, turning political commitments into measurable results requires more than ambition. It depends on technical expertise, institutional capacity and international cooperation.

Germany supports Costa Rica in implementing its NDCs through the International Climate Initiative (IKI). It channels this support via the ACCIÓN Clima project, which the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) implements.

The Green Sheep Programme

In the cool mountain region of Los Santos, Costa Rica’s coffee heartland, lives a green sheep – or rather, a whole flock of them. Over 100 families are part of the Oveja Verde (Green Sheep) programme for organic waste management. This local effort responds to a national emergency caused by overfilled landfills and aligns with a key NDC target:

By 2025, at least 10 municipalities implement the National Composting Plan.

Costa Rica's NDC Target 6.1

Two people stand side by side in front of an open truck. They are jointly holding a black plastic bucket with a sticker showing a cartoon sheep wearing sunglasses, labelled “Oveja Verde.” The person on the left wears a black jacket and a bucket hat; the person on the right wears a blue hoodie, beanie, and glasses. The truck’s loading area is visible in the background.

This pilot, developed by ACCIÓN Clima, is underway in the municipalities of Dota, León Cortés and Tarrazú. Participating families – “green sheep” – were trained to separate and store organic waste, which the local municipality collects weekly.

The trained collectors deliver the food scraps to CoopeTarrazú, a local coffee cooperative with experience in composting coffee pulp. This innovative public-private partnership adds value: by blending household waste with coffee pulp, they now produce higher-quality compost to nourish Costa Rica’s prized “golden bean.”

Open innovation: climate change and biodiversity

Innovation plays a key role in climate mitigation and adaptation. Through the Open Innovation call, the project sought novel solutions to manage climate refugia – places where climate change is expected to progress more slowly than in surrounding regions, offering better conditions for species adaptation. This initiative supports the following NDC target:

By 2026, at least 6 biological corridors manage climate refuges, as defined by the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC).

Costa Rica's NDC Target 7.9

Among several participating teams, a winning proposal emerged: “Network of Climate Refugia in Costa Rica: An Innovative Model for Biodiversity Conservation”, a joint effort by startup GreenXpoLab, the Costa Rica Institute of Technology and the Costa Rican Federation of Fishing.

The proposal offers a holistic solution for identifying and managing marine and terrestrial climate refugia using advanced tech, automated data analysis and local community engagement. The goal: to strengthen ecosystem and species resilience while promoting a sustainable, replicable model for the Mesoamerican region.

Disruptive Municipalities Programme: Winning Project “SIMATH”

A group of six adults stands under a bridge by a rocky riverbank. Two people in beige uniforms appear to be explaining something to the rest of the group. In the background, there is a stone-covered slope, green vegetation, and utility poles. — Field visit to Cañas to learn about the community’s main challenges in the face of climate-related events, as part of the Disruptive Municipalities programme.

As part of the Disruptive Municipalities Challenge led by IKI’s ACCIÓN Clima project, local governments across Costa Rica were invited to submit innovative proposals to strengthen climate resilience, integrate biodiversity into public spaces and boost local competitiveness – using design thinking methods and provided with technical guidance throughout the process.

Out of 90 proposals, 12 teams were selected for technical training and support, all contributing to the following NDC target:

By 2022, 20 municipalities have developed skills and knowledge to integrate climate risk and adaptation into their planning processes.

Costa Rica's NDC Target 3.1

Among the selected municipalities, Cañas in the province of Guanacaste was awarded in the “Climate-Resilient Cantons” category for its project SIMATH: Hydro-Environmental Early Warning and Monitoring System. Due to it’s geography, Cañas is a canton that is highly vulnerable to climate impacts – espcially to flooding. Through the innovation process, the team developed SIMATH: a local initiative that empowers communities to respond proactively to climate-related events such as floods through an early warning system.

A local effort with global impact

From a country characterised by diverse ecosystems and volcanic landscapes, local solutions are being developed that contribute to global climate and biodiversity goals. The NDCs serve as a framework for coordinated environmental action. In Costa Rica, these commitments extend beyond technical targets; they involve collaboration among communities, young people, local authorities and international partners. Together, they demonstrate that achieving a low-emission, climate-resilient future is not a utopia – but an achievable goal when we work together.

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Project

ACCION Clima III - NDC implementation Costa Rica and regional knowledge exchange

Contact

IKI Office
Zukunft – Umwelt – Gesellschaft (ZUG) gGmbH
Stresemannstraße 69-71

10963 Berlin

iki-office@z-u-g.org

Funding priority

Prioritised field of action: Ambitious further development and implementation of NDCs and LTSs

The IKI strategy

The IKI aims to achieve maximum impact for the protection of the climate and biodiversity. To this end, it concentrates its funding activities on prioritised fields of action within the four funding areas. Another key element is close cooperation with selected partner countries, in particular with the IKI's priority countries.

To the IKI strategy