America Costa Rica The government has passed a law that prohibits the marketing and free delivery of plastic bags and straws, and limits the use of plastic bottles
America Costa Rica President Rodrigo Chaves stated that the country is spending over US$300 million annually to host migrants, which is why he is requesting assistance from the US and Canada, countries that receive migrants who generally pass through the state to get there
America Costa Rica According to the World Happiness Report 2023, which is supervised by the United Nations, the country is the happiest in all of Latin America thanks to its income, health, and overall quality of life
America Costa Rica Local entrepreneur Lynne Corvaglia has founded a company that turns old airline seats into high-end leather products, and does so through teaching women in rural areas leather-working and business skills, to then recruit them and become paid artisans
America Costa Rica The state has issued a decree for the creation of a digital health strategy, aimed at digitizing the country’s health system, such as for the protection of personal data, interoperability of health systems, and the ethical use of AI in health
America Costa Rica The country has eliminated a previously obligatory 10% tax on imported beers, which had been deemed discriminatory towards foreign beers, creating an unequal market that rendered them more costly in comparison to locally-produced beers
America Costa Rica The European Union has formally added the state to its blacklist of non-cooperative countries in tax matters, as it has “failed to comply” with the commitment of reforming the tax system to tax passive offshore income
America Costa Rica China has sent a formal apology to the country after its meteorological balloon went into Costa Rican territory, causing great distress among authorities as they had already alerted neighbouring countries about a foreign object approaching
America Costa Rica The government has reformed its fishing regulations, eliminating the requirement for fishing companies to pay a fixed quota, and instead instituting a quota system based on the amount of fish caught - a change intended to decrease the overall catch
America Costa Rica The country will begin exporting its first ever carbon neutral pineapple: it follows a specific production protocol to have a carbon footprint equivalent to zero
America Costa Rica In recent years, the amount of women graduating from STEM careers has remained the same, as a response, throughout the past year the government granted over 1.000 scholarships for women studying STEM subjects
America Costa Rica The government has launched a new initiative to promote sustainable livestock farming, aimed at incentivising farms to continue their activities without deforesting by issuing fiscal rewards and certificates of sustainable practices
America Costa Rica The government has changed its migration policies in order to avoid “migratory excess”, which means that after years of accepting all migrants, it will now only accept political refugees and not those seeking to better their economic conditions