Monica Araya: A small country with big ideas to get rid of fossil fuels
Mónica Araya: Un país pequeño con grandes ideas para eliminar los combustibles fósiles
In 2015 Monica Araya's native Costa Rica produced almost all of its electricity from renewable sources. She advocates for the next step: a fossil-fuel-free world. Full bio
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could take the lead in this transition.
podrían tomar la iniciativa.
is a contentious statement,
una afirmación polémica,
is at stake in our countries
en juego en nuestros países
estén en el centro de nuestro desarrollo.
at the center of our development.
entre desarrollo o calidad de vida,
between development on the one hand
y energías renovables.
renewables, quality of life, on the other.
a developing country.
of the Americas,
el lugar donde vivimos.
to remember where we live.
de energía es petróleo.
de los combustibles fósiles,
on fossil fuels,
transition as a marathon,
energética como una maratón,
¿cómo podemos llegar a la meta?
to the finish line,
el resto de la economía?
the rest of the economy?
that if we don't succeed,
si no tenemos éxito,
de Costa Rica,
to talk to you about Costa Rica,
desarrollo sin combustibles fósiles.
for development without fossil fuels.
was coming out of civil war.
de una guerra civil.
won the hearts and minds:
se ganó los corazones y las mentes:
no tendría ejército.
would have no army.
las paredes de la base militar.
by smashing the walls of an army base.
en la nueva constitución,
in the new constitution,
historia casi 70 años después.
nearly 70 years later.
esa decisión antes de haber nacido,
before I was born,
and millions of others
y a millones de personas
that it was good luck,
free education and free health care.
educación y atención médica gratuita.
el gasto militar en gasto social,
into social spending,
investing in hydropower,
a invertir en energía hidroeléctrica,
para generar electricidad,
for electricity generation,
está luchando hoy día.
is struggling with today.
en los parques nacionales,
of growth, growth, growth at any cost
del crecimiento a cualquier precio
en el mundo en desarrollo.
especially in the developing world.
for ecosystem services,
en pagos por servicios ambientales,
la deforestación
es un motor clave del crecimiento.
which today is a key engine of growth.
en protección ambiental
que seamos perfectos
we don't have contradictions.
by making our own choices,
al tomar nuestras propias decisiones,
frente a los problemas de desarrollo.
in dealing with development problems.
is around 11,000 dollars,
the Social Progress Index,
Índice de Progreso Social,
el PIB en progreso social.
into social progress.
with big ideas,
con grandes ideas,
crecer con esa narrativa.
to grow up with that narrative.
para esta generación?
for this generation?
los combustibles fósiles,
to let go of fossil fuels for good,
propician el cambio climático.
a los impactos del cambio climático.
to the impacts of climate change.
es en nuestro mejor interés
it is in our best interest
sin combustibles fósiles
las personas en primer lugar.
del agua de nuestros ríos,
comes from water in our rivers,
disrupting our transportation system
es abolir nuestro sistema de transporte
autobuses y trenes con electricidad
buses and trains with electricity
para nosotros los costarricenses,
for us Costa Ricans,
no nos está funcionando.
is not working for us.
las políticas y la infraestructura,
and infrastructure fail,
que aceptar esto como normal.
we have to accept this as normal.
every single day.
así todos los días.
que se ve en otros países
in other countries
recurriendo a la violencia
es feliz y "pura vida".
happy in pura vida.
de transporte limpio
about clean transportation
some distant utopia out there.
eléctrica que sucede hoy en día.
that is happening today.
and conventional cars
eléctricos y convencionales
electric buses.
autobuses eléctricos.
of oil-based transportation, we can,
transporte a base de petróleo, podemos,
que no teníamos antes.
that we didn't have before.
with this idea,
y también Costa Rica, sean realistas.
and so is Costa Rica, so get real.
a ese argumento?
to that argument is?
el mundo dependía de los ejércitos,
the world is stuck with armies,
nuestro ejército, también.
to be brave again
sea valiente de nuevo
las que tenemos que hacer esto.
why we have to do this.
and urbanization is broken,
y urbanización no funciona;
el futuro urbano y la movilidad.
to redefine our urban and mobility future.
that are built for cars.
se construyan para los autos.
y usar las bicicletas.
that is clean and dignifying.
adding fleets of conventional cars,
flotas de autos convencionales,
no va a ser suficiente.
is not going to be sufficient.
incremental projects in my country,
incrementales en mi país,
autos eléctricos bonitos aquí
with really beautiful electric cars here
el mismo tipo de infraestructuras,
in the same kind of infrastructure,
liberarnos del petróleo
breaking free from oil,
de manera incremental.
through incrementalism.
can be an inspiration to others,
una inspiración para los demás,
cuando divulgamos
ningún combustible fósil
we were not using any fossil fuels
hace sentir muy orgullosa,
Figueres, desempeñó un papel decisivo
of the Paris climate agreement.
sobre el clima de París.
and be an example.
ese legado y ser un ejemplo.
se apropie de esto?
sin combustibles fósiles?
the ground up is needed.
we created Costa Rica Limpia.
creamos Costa Rica Limpia.
e inspirar a los ciudadanos.
and we want to inspire citizens.
will be bogged down by endless,
limpio no progresarán
técnicas interminables,
por diversos intereses establecidos.
by various established interests.
powered by renewables
alimentado por energías renovables
take that away from us.
from our seven provinces
de nuestros siete cantones
en términos importantes para ellos,
in terms that matter to them,
a no sentirse pequeña.
a un lenguaje ciudadano
into citizen language
tienen un papel que desempeñar juntos.
and can play it together.
the promises that were made
a las promesas que se hicieron
que tienen que cumplir,
that they have to deliver it,
cuando formemos coaliciones,
when we form coalitions --
la nueva normalidad,
the new normal,
tendrán que dar su postura
will have to disclose where they stand
de los combustibles fósiles.
has to enter our mainstream politics.
en nuestra política principal.
this is not a question of climate policy
una cuestión de política climática
what we have to show
que están vivos hoy en día
que aún no han nacido.
who haven't been born.
que eran cuarteles militares
these were military barracks
sin un ejército en ese lugar,
without an army in this place,
se dará a conocer algún día.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Monica Araya - Climate advocateIn 2015 Monica Araya's native Costa Rica produced almost all of its electricity from renewable sources. She advocates for the next step: a fossil-fuel-free world.
Why you should listen
Monica Araya is the founder and director of Costa Rica Limpia (Spanish for "clean"), a citizen group that promotes clean energy. Costa Rica Limpia tracks governmental pledges on key issues such as renewable energy and public transport investment, and it hosts citizen consultations to give visibility to people's preferences on these topics. Araya is also the founder of Nivela, an international thought leadership group that advances narratives on development and climate responsibility by combining senior and millennial perspectives from emerging economies.
After earning a master's in economic policy from Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, Araya obtained a PhD in environmental management from Yale. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs named her 'Personality of the Future' in 2014.
In 2017 Araya was named resident expert at "Next Visionaries," a global initiative by TED and BMW i that seeks to reimagine the future of mobility.
Monica Araya | Speaker | TED.com