This paper examines and compares two national sustainable development plans: Abu Dhabi's Masdar initiative and Costa Rica's long-standing sustainability strategy. It analyzes each plan across four dimensions — financing, employment, resource use, and land management — before drawing comparisons and contrasts. Abu Dhabi's oil-funded Masdar plan prioritizes infrastructure and education to build a post-fossil-fuel economy, while Costa Rica leverages ecological wealth through ecotourism, sustainable agriculture, and debt restructuring. The paper concludes that despite sharing a common goal of economic uplift, the two plans diverge fundamentally in philosophy: Abu Dhabi develops first and retrofits sustainability, while Costa Rica treats sustainability itself as the engine of development.
Each of the emirates that comprise the United Arab Emirates is subject to rule by its own sheikh. The largest emirate, Abu Dhabi, has set forth a sustainable development plan known as Masdar, with a stated goal of leading the world in sustainable development and a target completion date of 2030. Costa Rica, a Central American nation with a very different resource base, offers an instructive point of comparison. Together, these two plans illustrate how national context shapes sustainable development strategy.
Masdar has no plan for fiscal shortfalls. Funded with oil revenue, the emirate does not anticipate financial difficulty for the next several decades and will not require assistance from international agencies. One of the major employment issues that Masdar hopes to address is youth unemployment. Abu Dhabi's youth suffer high unemployment because they are unwilling to take low-skill jobs, yet there are not enough high-skill positions available to absorb them. Part of the Masdar plan involves creating new universities — including the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology — to better educate Abu Dhabi's youth so they can engage more fully in their own careers and in job creation.
Masdar addresses resource needs in two principal ways. The program is designed to transition Abu Dhabi from fossil fuel dependence to alternative forms of power, particularly the region's abundant solar and wind resources. Water is already a critical issue for the emirate; current supplies come from underground reservoirs, and no plans exist to change this. It is worth noting, however, that unlike neighboring Dubai, Abu Dhabi is not pursuing golf courses, indoor ski hills, and other water-intensive tourism ventures that would compound the problem.
Costa Rica is another emerging nation with a robust sustainability plan. The country has long incorporated sustainable development principles into its decision-making. Its land-use strategy has included the creation of multiple protected parks to support a thriving ecotourism industry. The nation still faces challenges, however, particularly the clearing of unprotected forests for agricultural development.
Costa Rica has financed its sustainability plans largely by restructuring its external debt, setting aside the funds needed to pursue development goals. This has been augmented by assistance from organizations such as the IMF and grants from the World Bank. On the employment side, the ecotourism sector provides higher-quality jobs, while sustainable small-scale agriculture — in which farm owners retain their profits — supports rural livelihoods. Land resources are also deployed to boost the pharmaceutical industry through the sustainable harvesting of key plant species. Costa Rica has addressed carbon pollution by instituting taxes on vehicle emissions and by selling carbon credits to Norway.
"Shared goals and philosophical differences examined"
The plans diverge significantly in their underlying philosophy toward sustainable development. The Abu Dhabi plan assumes that development comes first, with efforts to ensure sustainability following afterward. Costa Rica, by contrast, holds that sustainability itself will generate the right types of development. As a result, the two plans differ vastly in their execution.
Though Abu Dhabi and Costa Rica share the broad objective of sustainable development, their approaches reflect fundamentally different national circumstances and philosophies. Abu Dhabi's oil wealth allows it to invest heavily in infrastructure and education before sustainability is fully achieved, while Costa Rica's ecological richness makes sustainability the precondition rather than the by-product of development. Examining these two cases side by side underscores that there is no single template for sustainable development — context, resources, and values all shape the path a nation chooses.
Masdar.ae website. (2009). Retrieved November 22, 2009 from http://www.masdar.ae/en/home/index.aspx
No author. (2004). Costa Rica case study: Analysis of national strategies for sustainable development. International Institute for Sustainable Development. Retrieved November 22, 2009 from
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