Costa Rica is preparing, for the first time, to have a comprehensive measurement of the state of corporate, social and environmental sustainability in the country. The initiative seeks to move beyond perceptions and international recognition by using national data to understand how companies are actually progressing and where the main gaps remain.

The project, called State of Sustainability in Costa Rica 2026, is promoted by the National Sustainability Council (CNS) and aims to establish a national baseline that can be used to compare progress and guide future decisions.

A national snapshot of sustainability

The study seeks to analyze sustainability from different perspectives and not limit itself to large companies that already have specialized policies or reports.

The initiative includes the participation of companies of different sizes and from different economic sectors, as well as a consumer survey. According to information released by the CNS, the project plans to involve around 100 companies and more than 600 consumers across the country.

The first stage has already included interviews and consultations with representatives from the public sector, businesses, academia and civil society. Policies, programs and actions related to sustainability currently being developed in the country were also analyzed.

The objective is to obtain a broader picture of the Costa Rican business landscape and determine which practices have already been incorporated, which still face difficulties and which factors could accelerate the transition toward more sustainable business models.

What does measuring corporate sustainability mean?

Corporate sustainability is no longer limited to environmental initiatives or social responsibility programs. In recent years, the concept has expanded to include environmental, social and governance factors, known as ESG criteria.

These may include aspects such as emissions and natural resource management, working conditions, relationships with communities, equal opportunities, risk management, transparency and the way decisions are made within an organization.

The Government of Costa Rica itself has information systems that bring together social, economic and environmental indicators to analyze sustainable development in the country. The Sustainable Development Indicators System (SIDES), managed by Mideplan, integrates information from institutions such as INEC, the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, among others.

The new corporate measurement seeks to provide a different perspective: understanding how sustainability is being translated into the actual operations of companies and how important it is to those who produce, invest and consume.

An information gap that still remains

One of the main arguments behind the study is the lack of comparable national information covering the business sector as a whole.

Existing sustainability reports tend to focus on large companies that already have dedicated structures to measure and communicate their impacts. This makes it difficult to understand the situation of small and medium-sized enterprises, which represent an important part of the national productive sector.

For this reason, one of the objectives of the research will be to include companies with different levels of progress. The goal is not only to understand the experiences of organizations that already have developed sustainability strategies, but also to identify the barriers faced by those that are just beginning.

This information could help determine whether these difficulties are related to costs, lack of knowledge, access to technology, data availability, internal capabilities or a lack of incentives.

Sustainability is also becoming part of financial decisions

The importance of measuring these aspects has increased as sustainability criteria become more directly connected to financial information and risk management.

Costa Rica adopted IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, which relate to the disclosure of financial information on sustainability. IFRS S1 establishes general requirements for disclosing information about sustainability-related risks and opportunities, while IFRS S2 focuses specifically on climate-related risks and opportunities.

The standards seek to ensure that information is relevant, comparable, verifiable and useful for those making economic and financial decisions.

In Costa Rica, the regulatory framework of the financial system also provides for the incorporation of the new IFRS standards into the rules applicable to supervised entities, with provisions whose entry into force is scheduled for 2028 according to the current version of CONASSIF’s Financial Information Regulation.

This means that sustainability is progressively moving beyond being merely an element associated with corporate image and is also becoming a matter related to risk management, transparency and financial information.

What could the study reveal?

One of the main expected contributions of the State of Sustainability 2026 will be to establish a reference point that can be used to measure the country’s progress in the coming years.

The information could help answer questions such as which business sectors are the most advanced, what the main obstacles to incorporating ESG criteria are, which practices are most widespread and how important sustainability is to consumers.

It will also make it possible to observe potential differences between large, medium-sized and small companies, which is particularly relevant to ensure that the measurement of sustainability is not limited to companies with greater resources to produce specialized reports.

The National Sustainability Council states that having its own data will make it possible to identify progress and gaps more accurately and contribute to more informed decision-making.

From reputation to data

Costa Rica has had a strong international reputation in environmental matters for decades. However, a positive international image does not necessarily make it possible to understand how the business sector as a whole operates.

That is why this first measurement aims to provide a different tool: a national snapshot based on data, business perceptions and consumer opinions.

The interest will not only lie in knowing how many companies have a sustainability strategy, but also in understanding what that strategy means in practice, what results it produces and what obstacles prevent progress.

The results of the State of Sustainability in Costa Rica 2026 will therefore provide a starting point for more accurately assessing the evolution of corporate, social and environmental sustainability in the country.