Many people are talking about sustainability nowadays, it is one of the soundest words on earth, looking to save the planet. But what is the real concept of this complex word? The best definition that I have found is based on the UN World Commission’s Environment and Development (WECD) “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Costa Rica has a reputation of being a “green country”, but are we really doing sustainable development? Are, our regulations, really looking and forcing the professionals involved on development projects, such as lawyers, architects, engineers, and so forth to design projects in a real sustainable way? Sadly, the real answer, would be NO.
Before we talk about materials or designing in “sustainable” ways, we are immediately brought to think on a bigger scale, because when you are creating new towns and urbanizations, it requires one to think beyond what is, especially about eventual population density and the actual consumption of our resources, and how we will affect our land by the use of these resources.
In order to really talk about sustainability, there are three different pillars to consider and they work in parallel:
• Economic Sustainability
• Social Sustainability
• Environmental Sustainability
Currently, we don’t have an economy that is designed sustainably. We have an economy designed and based on the consumption of resources. For example, main suppliers and hardware stores are not committed to selling recycled products, just a few are doing something, but the majority is committed to selling their new product.
We do have a limited number of people committed consuming less and this is something I have to congratulate local movements on that are acting and helping in Costa Rica with beautiful ideas. They are teaching us how to live better, by consuming less from our earth, starting with the food needs, cloth needs, and a very different lifestyle, but still the most important action is missing, equity.
In order to have an environmental sustainable pillar, it is mandatory to maintain integrity in all the systems, but for this we really need to make a big change in our lifestyle, starting by stoping from taking and consuming hydrocarbons from our ground. This last involves a big step from us, that is not using energy based on the consumption of hydrocarbons, really how we get our power is
killing us.
In October 2020, the government approved a new law called “Reglamento de Fraccionamiento y Urbanizaciones” which translated means “Sub-division and Urbanization Regulations”. With this law the Costa Rican government is trying to stop in a very formal way, projects that subdivide large tracts of land that are zoned agricultural. But the real issue is that local municipalities don’t have the resources and funds to invest in a proper zoning map. The developers have the funds and access to professionals with experience and truly should work together, with the government, in order to avoid additional environmental impact, especially for the county of Osa.
The best way to do this would be to go back to our roots and live how our older generations lived in the past, working the land, protecting it at the most, using nature in a responsible way, living with equity, integrity and real love for the land.
Written by Adrian Coto
