Recently a great initiative from 4 nations and a considerable number of cities and corporations was announced during a special session of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the project was officially announced as The Carbon Neutral Network, a Web- based information hub created in order to help meet a pledge to radically de-carbonize their economies in the coming years.

Costa Rica, Norway, Iceland and New Zealand are the proud founding nations of what it is now known as “CN Net,” designed as an information exchange platform for nations, local governments and businesses which seek to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions to zero.

“Climate neutrality is an idea whose time has come” commented UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

He predicted that the movement will be driven, not just by the urgent need to address climate change but by the abundant economic opportunities emerging for those willing to embrace a transition to a green economy.

The logic in those words is unquestionable; however CN Net’s founding members admitted facing unique problems on the promise road to “zero emissions” economies. Norway’s main challenge, for example, is curbing oil- and gas-related emissions; while New Zealand gets ready from another angle, as agriculture represents 50 percent of its current greenhouse gases.

What about Costa Rica?

The Central American country is the first tropical nation to effectively reverse deforestation, thanks to conservation and replanting; its forest cover has increased from 21% in 1987 to 52% today. With most of its electricity coming from hydro-generation, Costa Rica expects to be the world’s first carbon neutral country in time to celebrate 200 years of independence in 2021.So while Costa Rica looks for different ways to achieve its carbon neutral goals, its quite sure to say that many different project developers will be looking forward to “lend a helping hand,” to the local government.