TIME

Small countries lead big on climate change

Costa Rican President Alvarado Quesada plans to eliminate fossil fuels in his country by 2050

THE MOST VALUABLE RESOURCE AT THE WORLD ECONOMIC Forum at Davos is time. No one has enough of it, so everyone makes compromises to make the most of it. President Carlos Alvarado Quesada of Costa Rica is no exception. As we near the 10-minute point of our interview at his hotel in the Swiss ski resort, his press officer begins to wrap things up. The Costa Rican leader is expected at the conference center, a mile and a half away, in 15 minutes, she says. So the interview continues in the presidential SUV through the icy, snow-packed streets. Even TIME has to make the most of time.

If Alvarado Quesada gets his way, such

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