For over twenty years, Costa Rica has maintained a ban on oil and gas exploration and production, set to run until 2050. However, this moratorium is based on a presidential decree, making it legally fragile, as any president can revoke it without parliamentary approval. Recognizing this vulnerability, the former government pledged in 2020 to codify the ban into law as part of its climate commitment under the Paris Agreement to combat climate change.
The fossil fuel moratorium has been a cornerstone of Costa Rica’s climate strategy, enabling the country to generate nearly 90 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. Despite this success, in November 2025, during the UN global climate talks, the government quietly removed the commitment to formalize the ban from its updated Nationally Determined Contribution, raising concerns about the future of the policy.
Costa Rica has been a global pioneer in advocating for an end to fossil fuel production, co-founding the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance in 2021 and joining over 80 countries calling for a fossil fuel phase-out. Several Latin American countries, including Belize and Colombia, have followed its lead by legally restricting oil and gas exploration. Yet domestic policy must align with international advocacy to maintain credibility and environmental leadership.
The moratorium’s origins date back to 2002, following decades of campaigning by environmental and human rights groups. Previous oil exploration efforts, including more than two dozen wells drilled by foreign companies from 1916 to 1988, yielded no commercially viable deposits. In the late 1990s, a massive concession covering over 10 percent of Costa Rican territory was granted for onshore and offshore oil exploration, sparking fierce opposition from environmentalists, local communities, and Indigenous Peoples, including the Bribri and Cabécar.
Legal challenges played a critical role in halting these projects. In 2000, the Constitutional Court annulled onshore concessions due to lack of adequate community consultation, violating Indigenous Peoples’ rights. In 2002, the environmental authority rejected the offshore Environmental Impact Assessment, citing errors and omissions that could underestimate risks to marine ecosystems and coastal communities. Following these rulings, President Abel Pacheco signed the decree banning oil and gas operations, which successive governments in 2006 and 2011 upheld amid public opposition.
Recently, there have been renewed calls to explore fossil fuels in Costa Rica. President Rodrigo Chaves Robles has suggested opening the country to exploration, supported by the business federation advocating “sustainable oil and gas extraction” and discussions with Norway. These proposals drew criticism from civil society and four former presidents. In 2025, President Chaves again floated the possibility of resuming exploration, highlighting the precarious nature of the presidential moratorium.
Codifying the moratorium into law is considered essential to ensure its permanence. Laws require parliamentary debate and broad political consensus, making protections far more durable than presidential decrees. Civil society groups, particularly the Drill Free Costa Rica coalition, have campaigned tirelessly, resulting in three bills being introduced to formalize the ban. Bill No. 23.579, the most advanced, would prohibit any permits or concessions for oil and gas exploration or extraction nationwide.
Costa Rican lawmakers are urged to pass Bill No. 23.579 to safeguard the country’s climate commitments, align national policy with international pledges, and secure the environmental rights of current and future generations. By doing so, Costa Rica can maintain its global reputation as an environmental leader and prove that keeping fossil fuels in the ground is both possible and sustainable.
