Environment minister, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, said that if the plan is achieved, his grandchildren in 2035 will have the same carbon footprint as his grandparents did in the 1940s – and by 2050 his grandchildren will have none at all.

Under the roadmap Costa Rica by 2050 would achieve “zero net emissions,” meaning it would produce no more emissions than it can offset through things such as maintaining and expanding its extensive forests. 

Such emission cuts are key to holding increases in global temperature to well under 2C (3.6F), the goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.