Discover Costa Rica's 2025-2035 NDC: New materials to learn about the country's climate agenda

20/03/2026

At the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference (COP30), Costa Rica presented its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for the 2025-2035 period, the result of a broad intersectoral and territorial participatory process. To bring this climate commitment closer to the public, a series of videos, infographics, and audiovisual resources was developed to explain how the NDC was built and what its main targets are.

In November 2025, during a side event at COP30, the time finally came: Costa Rica’s delegation presented the new 2025-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), thereby marking the country’s roadmap for addressing climate change over the next decade.

This milestone was the result of a broad participatory process involving 19 sectoral workshops across the country, 4 thematic focus groups, more than 15 bilateral interviews, and, finally, 2 NDC validation workshops (more details in our previous note here). More than 360 representatives from different sectors, institutions, and population groups took part in these activities, united by a common goal: to move toward a sustainable, low-emissions, climate-resilient Costa Rica.

The process was led by the Climate Change Directorate (DCC, from its acronym in Spanish) of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE, from its acronym in Spanish), with technical support from the ACCIÓN Clima III and Support Project for the Implementation of the Paris Agreement (SPA) projects of German Development Cooperation - GIZ, financed by the International Climate Initiative (IKI, from its German acronym) of Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUKN, from its German acronym). This support made it possible to model emissions pathways for mitigation targets and to develop the participatory process for updating the NDC and the Second National Communication on Adaptation. It also led to the design and development of an NDC communication and outreach strategy that turns technical information into historical memory and educational tools for the public.

This outreach strategy contributes to positioning Costa Rica’s climate vision through four strategic pillars:

C - Collective and Coherent: Building the NDC through broad participation and transparency strengthens the social contract and gives continuity to a long-term vision.
N - Nature: The NDC is a tool to preserve our natural heritage and guarantee the future well-being of our communities and the country’s economy.
D - Decarbonized Development: Betting on clean energy, sustainable transport, and green production today makes us stronger in the face of the climate crisis and more attractive to international investment.
D - Direction: Making visible and strengthening the role of the Climate Change Directorate as a technical, reliable, and multisector-coordinating body capable of guiding the country through a complex, long-term process.

What is Costa Rica’s NDC and how does it contribute to meeting the country’s climate targets? This video explains it. © DCC-MINAE and GIZ

Based on this strategic framework, and grounded in the voices of different actors, sectors, population groups, and territories, audiovisual products were created to document and reflect how the NDC was built and what aspirations are feeding into its implementation.

Today, Costa Rica has a repository of informational materials that includes:

5 audiovisual pieces for social media featuring interviews with participants in the consultation workshops; explanatory videos on the NDC; key messages; and lived experiences of climate change shared by with public- and private-sector institutional representatives from sectors such as agriculture and livestock, transport, health, tourism, environment, biodiversity, energy, and water resources; as well as civil society, financial institutions, women’s organizations, local governments, youth, and others.
4 testimonial videos with statements from sector leaders, including representatives from the Vice Ministry of Strategic Management-MINAE, Conservation International, the MINAE Climate Change Directorate, and the La Abundancia ASADA.
4 animations about the NDC, its benefits, a quick guide to understanding the NDC, and the role of the private sector in the NDC.
10 infographics that explain what the NDC is and its regulatory framework, its strategic pillars, benefits, impacts, progress, and its main mitigation and adaptation contributions, as well as the inclusion of human

Infographics summarizing the main commitments in areas such as greenhouse gas emissions mitigation and climate change adaptation (click to enlarge). © DCC-MINAE and GIZ

This set of materials seeks to facilitate access to information about the NDC and encourage more actors to join the implementation of the country’s climate targets.