With the goal of contributing to climate change mitigation, CRUSA launched the Methane Challenge 2025, an open call that seeks to identify and implement innovative solutions to prevent, reduce, or harness emissions of this highly polluting gas in key sectors of the country such as agriculture, livestock, and waste management.
Methane is responsible for nearly 30% of current global warming, and its presence in the atmosphere has doubled since the pre-industrial era. Despite having a shorter lifespan than carbon dioxide, its global warming potential is 80 times greater, making it a silent but powerful enemy of the climate.
In Costa Rica, this gas accounts for approximately 29% of greenhouse gas emissions (excluding land use and forestry), with the agricultural and waste sectors being the main emitters.
Methane has a devastating short-term effect. If we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C, we need to act now and decisively. This challenge is a commitment to concrete, local, and sustainable solutions that can be quickly scaled.
Methane Challenge 2025 with two categories:
Pre-investment: Aimed at supporting initiatives in an advanced design stage, that is, those that have already been conceptualized and have preliminary studies supporting their feasibility. Funding of up to $30,000.
Implementation: Aimed at supporting the execution of ready-to-execute projects. It will have a maximum contribution of $300,000.
A total of up to $725,000 will be allocated to the selected projects, as part of their commitment to sustainable development and climate action.
A Country Opportunity
Costa Rica is already part of the Global Methane Commitment, which seeks to reduce methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030, compared to 2020 levels. This challenge is a key step toward meeting that goal, by facilitating access to climate finance, technology, and cross-sector partnerships. The selected proposals will begin implementation in April 2026, following a rigorous evaluation and co-creation process.
