According to Costa Rica’s last national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory (2010), the livestock sector is the second largest emitting source, being responsible for 23.6% of national GHG emissions.

To support creating a more eco-competitive livestock sector, Costa Rica is implementing three closely-related initiatives in parallel in an integrated process to improve coherence and synergy. These are the National Strategy for Low Carbon Livestock, a Livestock NAMA, and its NAMA pilot plan for implementation. These initiatives, led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, are carried out in a participative process with active involvement of private sector representatives. The strategy serves as an umbrella, giving political orientation to the sector. The NAMA provides operationalisation guidelines that are being implemented through a pilot plan.