The political dimension of implementing environmental reform: lessons from Costa Rica

This chapter examines the political and economic factors that explain why certain environmental policy reforms have been more successful in Costa Rica than others. In particular, it looks at why the country has advanced much faster in terms of reducing deforestation and creating national parks than...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kaimowitz, D., Segura, O.
Format: Book Chapter
Language:Inglés
Published: 1996
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/17584
_version_ 1855540248949293056
author Kaimowitz, D.
Segura, O.
author_browse Kaimowitz, D.
Segura, O.
author_facet Kaimowitz, D.
Segura, O.
author_sort Kaimowitz, D.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This chapter examines the political and economic factors that explain why certain environmental policy reforms have been more successful in Costa Rica than others. In particular, it looks at why the country has advanced much faster in terms of reducing deforestation and creating national parks than it has in the case of reducing urban air pollution. Reducing hazards associated with agricultural pesticides is presented as an intermediary case. The basic explanation given is that the Costa Rican economy (and power structure) was already moving away from extensive cattle ranching, which made it easier to conserve forests. On the other hand, the general context of structural adjustment and trade liberalization led to a massive influx of used cars, and that was a very popular policy among groups that were able to purchase cars for the first time.
format Book Chapter
id CGSpace17584
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 1996
publishDateRange 1996
publishDateSort 1996
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace175842025-01-24T14:20:47Z The political dimension of implementing environmental reform: lessons from Costa Rica Kaimowitz, D. Segura, O. politics dimensions environmental policies This chapter examines the political and economic factors that explain why certain environmental policy reforms have been more successful in Costa Rica than others. In particular, it looks at why the country has advanced much faster in terms of reducing deforestation and creating national parks than it has in the case of reducing urban air pollution. Reducing hazards associated with agricultural pesticides is presented as an intermediary case. The basic explanation given is that the Costa Rican economy (and power structure) was already moving away from extensive cattle ranching, which made it easier to conserve forests. On the other hand, the general context of structural adjustment and trade liberalization led to a massive influx of used cars, and that was a very popular policy among groups that were able to purchase cars for the first time. 1996 2012-06-04T09:02:15Z 2012-06-04T09:02:15Z Book Chapter https://hdl.handle.net/10568/17584 en Kaimowitz, D., Segura, O. 1996. The political dimension of implementing environmental reform: lessons from Costa Rica . In: Constanza, R., Segura, O. and Martinez-Alier, J. (eds). Getting down to earth: practical applications of ecological economics. :439-453.
spellingShingle politics
dimensions
environmental policies
Kaimowitz, D.
Segura, O.
The political dimension of implementing environmental reform: lessons from Costa Rica
title The political dimension of implementing environmental reform: lessons from Costa Rica
title_full The political dimension of implementing environmental reform: lessons from Costa Rica
title_fullStr The political dimension of implementing environmental reform: lessons from Costa Rica
title_full_unstemmed The political dimension of implementing environmental reform: lessons from Costa Rica
title_short The political dimension of implementing environmental reform: lessons from Costa Rica
title_sort political dimension of implementing environmental reform lessons from costa rica
topic politics
dimensions
environmental policies
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/17584
work_keys_str_mv AT kaimowitzd thepoliticaldimensionofimplementingenvironmentalreformlessonsfromcostarica
AT segurao thepoliticaldimensionofimplementingenvironmentalreformlessonsfromcostarica
AT kaimowitzd politicaldimensionofimplementingenvironmentalreformlessonsfromcostarica
AT segurao politicaldimensionofimplementingenvironmentalreformlessonsfromcostarica