Through the ZEV Community's 'Taking action on zero emission vehicles' series, we've shone a spotlight on Costa Rica's leading commitments and ambition on ZEVs.
The series aims to profile the ZEV policies, targets and achievements of governments from around the world.
Click to download Costa Rica's profile
In 2021, 99.8% of Costa Rica's energy was generated from renewable sources. The country is leading the drive to net zero and is expanding its ZEV rollout to help create a green, resilient and equitable economy.
Costa Rica's timeline for ZEV rollout includes:
- 95% of light duty vehicles (private and institutional) to be zero emission by 2035
- 85% of all public transport to be zero emission by 2050
- 20% reduction of GHG emissions from freight transport by 2050 (compared to a 2018 baseline)
The Government of Costa Rica is offering a mixture of financial and non-financial incentives to increase the uptake of ZEVs, as well as developing a national fast recharging network. This is already having success, and in 2021 ZEV sales grew by 40%. Additional measures to electrify its public transport system are also helping to drive the country's net zero ambitions. For example, Costa Rica has a target to upgrade 5% of its bus fleet every two years, and construct a new urban electric train by 2030.
Through its participation in the ZEV Community, Costa Rica has joined state, regional, city and national governments from around the world in exchanging best practice and experiences of accelerating the transition to clean transport.
