In this year’s Bartels lecture from the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, former president of Costa Rica Carlos Alvarado Quesada shares how conservation and sustainability are crucial for preserving democracy around the world.

After you register, by clicking on the registration button at the top of this page, you will receive a confirmation e-mail with a link to join the presentation on March 22.

Costa Rica is one of the most biodiverse spots on the planet, with
more than one-quarter of the nation’s land protected in parks and
preserves. As Costa Rica’s leader from 2018 to 2022, Alvarado proposed a
challenge for his country and the world: to make Costa Rica a
decarbonized nation by 2050.

During his visit to Cornell, Alvarado explores some of the questions
that guided his administration: What roles do democracy and governance
play in shaping environmental policies at the local, national, and
global levels? And how can we meet the basic needs of the world’s
ever-growing human population—equitably and democratically—without
sacrificing the health of the planet and its other inhabitants?

How did President Alvarado’s policies protect Costa Rica’s environment? Read a Bartels explainer by the Lab of O’s Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez.

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About Carlos Alvarado Quesada

Carlos Alvarado Quesada
was Costa Rica’s 48th president, serving from 2018 until 2022. He was
Costa Rica’s youngest president in a century, taking office at age 38.
Representing the Citizens’ Action Party (PAC), Alvarado previously
served as minister of labor and social security.

Alvarado received the 2022 Planetary Leadership Award from the
National Geographic Society for his commitment and action to protect the
ocean. He accepted on behalf of his country the 2019 Champion of the
Earth Award, the United Nations’ highest environmental honor.

A writer and political scientist, Alvarado is currently Professor of
Practice of Diplomacy at Tufts University’s Fletcher School in
Massachusetts.

Speakers

 

 

Carlos Alvarado Quesada
President of Costa Rica, 2018-22

 

 

 

Michael Kotlikoff
Provost
Cornell University

 

 

Rachel Beatty Riedl
Director, Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies
Cornell Brooks School of Public Policy
Department of Government, Cornell University

 

 

 

 

Mario Herrero
Nancy and Peter Meinig Family Investigator in the life Sciences
Department of Global Development
Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability
Cornell University

 

 

About the Bartels World Affairs Lecture

The Bartels World Affairs Lecture is a signature event of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. Part of Einaudi’s work on democratic threats and resilience, this year’s lecture is cosponsored by Einaudi’s Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program.

The Einaudi Center’s flagship event brings distinguished
international figures to campus each academic year to speak on global
topics and meet with Cornell faculty and students, particularly
undergraduates. The lecture and related events are made possible by the
generosity of Henry E. Bartels ’48 and Nancy Horton Bartels ’48.