The Ministry of Environment of Korea signed an MOU with the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications of Costa Rica on environmental cooperation on December 7, 2010(Korea time).

Minister Maanee Lee, participating in the 16^th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Cancun, Mexico, visited Costa Rica to sign an MOU on environmental cooperation.

Following Chile, Peru and Ecuador, it is the fourth time for Korea to sign an environmental cooperation MOU with a Latin American country. Besides signing an MOU, Minister Lee had a meeting with the Costa Rica’s Minister of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications Teofilo de La Torre Arguello and discussed the way to promote environmental cooperation between the two countries. In addition, Minister Lee made an official call on the First Vice President Alfio Piva Mesen to discuss environmental fields in which Korea and Costa Rica can build a cooperative system.

The Korea-Costa Rica MOU especially emphasizes cooperation in biodiversity preservation and prescribes that Korea’s National Institute of Biological Resources and Costa Rica’s National System of Conservation Areas shall play a key role in cooperation in the field of biodiversity. In addition, other fields for cooperation include climate change adaptation, water quality preservation, sewage treatment, waste management and recyclable energy.

Costa Rica, bordering the Pacific and the Atlantic, has unique biogacies and is ranked the second in biodiversity per unit area. Also, it designated 25 percent of its territory as national parks to preserve and manage them.

The Ministry of Environment expects that the Korea-Costa Rica MOU can lead to conducting joint research on biological resources and waste-to-energy.

Minister Maanee Lee (Left) and Minister Teofilo de La Torre Arguello, signing an MOU

Minister Maanee Lee (Left), making an official call on the First Vice President Alfio Piva Mesen