The Associated Ecological Communities of La Ceiba and Friends of the Earth in Costa Rica (COECOCEIBA in Spanish) is a non-profit organization that since 1999 has been dedicated to different environmental protection campaigns. Members of COECOCEIBA are farmers, environmentalists and academics. COECOCEIBA recently published an opinion regarding Volkswagen’s new Think Blue campaign, which has received the approval of the Neotropic Foundation, another NGO that is dedicated to environmental protection.

Online newspaper El Pais has given equal space to Volkswagen, the Neotropic Foundation and COECOCEIBA to print their opinions on the Think Blue campaign. El Pais is a publication that is dedicated to informing its readers on environmental matters in Costa Rica and abroad, and it deserves praise for running the contrasting opinions side-by-side.

At the heart of COECOCEIBA’s opinion is the concept of blue carbon. According to the Blue Carbon Project, mangroves have the potential to reduce atmospheric CO2 and limit global climate change. Coastal vegetation is called “blue carbon” because it is able to sequester carbon far more effectively and more permanently than the abundant land forests of Costa Rica.

Carbon is stored in peat below coastal vegetation habitats. The sediment underneath mangroves does not release or break down organic carbon. This is how the Blue Carbon Project explains the rest of the process:

Coastal vegetation also continues to sequester carbon for thousands of years in contrast to forest, where soils can become carbon-saturated relatively quickly. Therefore, carbon offsets based on the protection and restoration of coastal vegetation could be far more cost effective than current approaches focused on trees. Furthermore, there would be enormous ad-on benefits to fisheries, tourism and in limiting coastal erosion from the conservation of blue carbon.

Volkswagen, the Neotropic Foundation and COECOCEIBA all have an interest in protecting the mangroves and salt marshes of Costa Rica. COECOCEIBA, however, takes exception to the way that the government is handling the matter, and the way Volkswagen seems to be cashing in on it without providing material support to the mangroves. COECOCEIBA recognizes that the Ministry of the Environment has moved to protect the mangroves by including them in its Payment for Environmental Services (PSA) program. The problem that COECOCEIBA sees is that the PSA tends to favor rich landowners, and not the members of the communities where the PSA is practiced.

In the case of the coastal mangrove areas where fishermen and farmers make a living, COECOCEIBA argues that these members of the community do everything to protect the mangrove instinctively; they know that when ecosystems are disrupted, such disruption can have a negative impact on their livelihoods. But when it comes to receiving the benefits of programs such as the PSA in Costa Rica, they tend to get the short end of the stick.

With regard to the Volkswagen Think Blue campaign, COECOCEIBA thinks that the German automaker will benefit from the carbon blue initiative -by greenwashing. The main criticism by COECOCEIBA of Volkswagen lies in the mechanics of the Think Blue campaign: the car manufacturer is calling on vehicle owners to shell out a certain amount of cash when their odometers indicate that they have traveled 20,000 kilometers. This money will then be used by Volkswagen to support reforestation efforts in the mangrove areas. The amount to pay will depend on the level of carbon emissions produced by the model, and the year the car rolled out of the assembly line.

This is what COECOCEIBA thinks of Volkswagen’s Think Blue campaign in Costa Rica:

“We are not surprised that Volkswagen is part of this blue carbon idea in our country since it is a good business. A very good business indeed: Volkswagen will invite those who drive their vehicles to donate a certain amount of money so that it can be used to plant trees and give awards to communities that protect the mangroves. In this fashion, the company projects an image of concern for the environment, but it does not give a single cent or does anything meaningful, and continues with its polluting activities. In this way, the causes of the problem are not addressed, and the polluters are the ones rewarded. It is thanks to these initiatives that greenwashing is achieved.”

You can read the press release by Volkswagen and the Neotropic Foundation at Puro Motor magazine.