In Costa Rica, where the government has set an ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2021, livestock accounts for 30% of national emissions. Nationally, more than 45,000 livestock farms employ at least 12% of the Costa Rican workforce and occupy over 35.5% of the territory.

In order to lower those emissions, improve the livelihoods of the farmers, and generate eco-competitive livestock production, several national, public, private, and academic institutions worked together to develop the Costa Rica Livestock NAMA Concept.

The plan is a Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) that intertwines policy, economic incentives, and education to ensure lasting and transformative change. This NAMA is also supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and is another example of how sustainable development and the reduction of emissions are entirely complementary objectives that can improve lives and protect livelihoods. See the UNFCCC's NAMA News for all the latest stories.

Meat, dairy, and dual-purpose cattle make up the majority of the livestock production systems in Costa Rica, which are dependent on grazing. With that in mind, the livestock NAMA concept introduces new pasture management techniques for climate smart, profitable, productive, and socially sustainable livestock production. The techniques involve planting trees and hedges for fences that capture CO2, introducing more nutritious, easily digestible fodder species, implementing new fertilization strategies, and much more.

The NAMA further calls for creating a label to identify the products manufactured with low GHG emissions as an incentive for producers and to educate and inform the consumer, key elements for transformational change.

News and Photo taken from the UNFCCC news website