Payment for Environmental Services: The Social Dimension
In a Payment for Environmental Service (PES) scheme, landholders are paid by the beneficiaries of an ecosystem service (such as carbon storage or flood control) to provide or sustain this service. PES can potentially help to fight climate change, improve water quality, preserve heritage landscapes and conserve biodiversity. Since the late 1990s, researchers and international institutions have broadly promoted PES. Several factors explain this enthusiasm. PES are voluntary instruments, they can attract private financing, and allow for a wide range of governance mechanisms based on public-private partnerships. Research and policy analysis on PES have focused on cost-efficiency. Until recently, social dimensions, including equity issues, have been largely overlooked. The proposed research, presented during this Twelve O’Clock Talk, will use recent empirical findings, case studies and behavioural economics to assess the extent to which distributive impacts, social norms and collective action matter in the success of PES, and draw policy recommendations.

PRESENTER:
Elen Lamaitre-Curri
PhD Student, School of Public Policy and Administration