Costa Rica, world-renowned for its environmental leadership and renewable electricity matrix, faces a modern paradox: being an ecological giant does not automatically guarantee green finances. However, the country has taken a firm step toward economic coherence, placing 15th in Latin America in the 2025 Sustainable Finance Index (SFI). This rise reflects an effort to align public capital flows with climate goals, although it also exposes the structural challenges that persist in reaching the region’s top spots.
The Sustainable Finance Index, developed by the Climate Finance Group for Latin America and the Caribbean (GFLAC), is not a natural beauty contest. It is a rigorous technical tool that measures the real money behind political discourse. Its methodology evaluates four critical variables: sustainable revenues, the budget allocated to sustainability, revenues derived from carbon-intensive activities, and the budget assigned to these same polluting activities. In simple terms, the index reveals whether a country is putting its money where its promises are.
Costa Rica’s ascent to 15th place must be read with nuance. While it represents an improvement (“climbing” in the ranking), the position in the lower-middle section of the table may surprise those who associate the “Essential Costa Rica” brand with absolute leadership. The reality is that regional leaders in this index, such as Guatemala or Brazil in previous editions, often have revenue structures less dependent on fossil fuels or higher direct budgetary allocations for climate adaptation relative to their GDP. The 15th place indicates that, although Costa Rica is moving forward, there is still a significant gap between its environmental ambition and its fiscal structure.
One of the determining factors in this result is the fiscal dependence on hydrocarbons. Despite its achievements in decarbonization, a considerable portion of the Costa Rican State’s revenue comes from the single tax on fuels. This “fiscal trap” penalizes the country in the index: to rise higher, it is not enough to protect forests; it is necessary to reduce economic dependence on what destroys them. Nevertheless, factors such as the recent implementation of the Sustainable Finance Taxonomy and the issuance of green bonds have been key catalysts for this improvement in 2025, sending positive signals to international markets.
For investors and economists, this ranking serves as a thermometer of risk and opportunity. A country that climbs in sustainable finance is a country that reduces its climate and transitional risks, becoming more attractive for foreign direct investment seeking decarbonized portfolios. The 15th position is, therefore, a turning point: Costa Rica demonstrates that it is correcting its course, moving from passive conservation to active financial action. The challenge now is to accelerate this transition so that its financial leadership becomes as indisputable as its natural wealth.
