Hi everyone! My name is Genevieve Echternach and I just wrapped up my freshman year at Pitt with an intended double major of Accounting and Marketing! Additionally, I am pursuing a Certificate in Leadership and Ethics which is a perfect fit for our upcoming trip to Costa Rica and I am a proud member of the Fredericks Honors College. Beyond the classroom, I recently became the VP of Event Planning for the club that I am involved with, the American Marketing Association (AMA). I also love going to concerts and find reading and arts and crafts to be enjoyable pastimes. I’m really looking forward to immersing myself in Costa Rican culture and experiencing international exchange for the first time!
Costa Rica at its core is known for being very eco-friendly and highly progressive in terms of sustainability. Much like what we learned in our pre-departure meetings, it is incredible that after having a mere 21% forest coverage in the 1980s, now the forest coverage is up to 60% in only 45 years. This recovery of forestation is due to major initiatives put forth by the Costa Rican government like the Payment for Environmental Services (PES) program that incentivizes landowners to maintain or increase forests on their lands. Costa Rica’s focus on sustainability can also be seen in their more recent National Decarbonization Plan which aims to attain net zero carbon emissions by 2050 by slowly increasing the number of electric vehicles to ultimately reach 100% electric in public transportation and use entirely renewable energy by 2030. As of right now, Costa Rica boasts 95% renewable energy, but they show a desire to reach even greater heights with this goal of 100% renewable energy.
As Costa Rica shows exactly how much of a priority sustainability is for them, I can only imagine that those in Costa Rica have a clear idea of what our future looks like without such initiatives. As someone about to visit Costa Rica, I must say that seeing a country so focused on sustainability and growth makes me have hope for the future and makes me even more eager to learn as much as I can and apply what I learn to my own future endeavors!