How can depollution programs be covered by payment mechanisms for environmental services?

Responsible researcher: Viviane Pires Ribeiro

Article title: PAYMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL WATER RESOURCES SERVICES IN URBAN AREAS: POTENTIAL PERSPECTIVES FROM A WATER QUALITY RECOVERY PROGRAM IN THE CITY OF SÃO PAULO

Authors of the article: Vanessa Victor da Cruz de Souza, Amarilis Lucia Casteli Figueiredo Gallardo, Pedro Luis Côrtes, Ana Paula Fracalanza and Mauro Silva Ruiz

Location of intervention: São Paulo, Brazil

Sample Size: Public Management Program

Sector: Environment, Energy & Climate Change

Type of Intervention: Feasibility analysis of a Payment for Environmental Services scheme for water resources in urban areas

Variable of main interest: Payment for Environmental Services

Assessment method: Others - Exploratory Research

Assessment Context

Payment for Environmental Services (PSA) uses economic incentives as a way to manage ecosystems. Such incentives refer to remuneration for people or organizations involved in Payment for Environmental Services actions, direct reduction in taxes or fees, credit in future payments, among others. In recent years, this type of payment has seen increasing application in the management of natural resources, through a strategy of valuing services from ecosystems, as well as encouraging their provision by local agents.

The Clean Stream Program (PCL) was started in the city of São Paulo in 2007, guided by collaborative governance precepts for the depollution of urban streams. According to Souza et al. (2018), this program brings together characteristics to reflect on a possible proposal for Payment for Environmental Services as an instrument to strengthen the sustainable management of water resources in urban areas, since the program adds improvements to the urban ecosystem and benefits for the population, aligning the concept of offering Environmental Services (ES).

Intervention Details

In the context of river recovery programs, Souza et al. (2018) explore the feasibility of a Payment for Environmental Services scheme for water resources in urban areas based on the Córrego Limpo Program. The study was developed based on exploratory research, descriptive analysis, based on bibliographic sources and documentary evidence. Documentary sources refer to those officially produced by the Córrego Limpo Program and presented on electronic websites and other documents attached to digital media. The bibliography also provided data from the Córrego Limpo Program and the theoretical framework to compose the conceptual framework and discuss the feasibility of a potential Payment for Environmental Services scheme based on the PCL.

Methodology Details

The methodological guide adopted by Souza et al. (2018) for the development of the research was divided by the authors into 5 stages. The first stage consisted of collecting documentary data on the Córrego Limpo Program and bibliographical data on Environmental Services, Payment for Environmental Services and PSA feasibility. The second stage consisted of characterizing the activities of the Córrego Limpo Program and identifying Environmental Services originating from water resources in urban areas, which resulted in a table of Environmental Services associated with the PCL. In the third stage, this framework was associated with the stages of a Payment for Environmental Services scheme, resulting in a potential Payment for Environmental Services scheme applied to the Córrego Limpo Program. In the fourth stage, this scheme was compared to criteria for the success of Payment for Environmental Services schemes. The fifth stage presents the contribution of the study carried out by the authors regarding the discussion of the feasibility of Payment for Environmental Services for the Córrego Limpo Program.

Results

The results found demonstrate that urban stream depollution programs meet the main characteristics required for the implementation of a payment scheme for environmental services. In this sense, the analysis of the Córrego Limpo Program made it possible to identify the fundamental elements (environmental services, beneficiaries, providers and payers) that allow considering the feasibility of proposing a Payment for Environmental Services scheme for water resources in urban areas.

According to the research, it is evident that the activities to restore the quality of watercourses promoted by the Córrego Limpo Program generate diverse and important environmental services for the preservation of the urban ecosystem and with market value. Although these services are determined from the literature, it is observed that there is a wide range of environmental services offered in all categories of ecosystem services.

The characteristic of maintaining the provision of environmental services, essential for a successful and lasting Payment for Environmental Services, is supported by a public management program, the Córrego Limpo Program, implemented in 2007 by the public authorities. The main beneficiaries are tangible, covering the local population, but not limited to it, having been identified by Souza et al. (2018), other potential beneficiaries to be included in this Payment for Environmental Services scheme, such as the industrial, energy, health and real estate planning sectors.

Public Policy Lessons

How can urban stream depollution programs be covered by payment mechanisms for environmental services? The study carried out by Souza et al. (2018) shows that a payment scheme for environmental services of water resources in an urban area, based on a program to improve water quality in urban watercourses, can be established, using much of its own implemented structure . However, one of the challenges is to make payment possibilities for these environmental services viable, and defining the payment mechanism for these services is perhaps the biggest obstacle to their consolidation. Therefore, it is necessary to define the payment method, as well as the responsible authors. At the same time, the appropriate consideration of this link in payment for environmental services can also favor the achievement of results from the Córrego Limpo Program, on a temporal and spatial scale, including as an incentive for those river basins in which there are failures to achieve the program's objectives. . This aspect can even enhance collaborative governance actions, essential for the success of the Córrego Limpo Program in depolluting streams and, consequently, in offering environmental services.

The Strategic Master Plan of the municipality of São Paulo provides for Payment for Environmental Services as one of the environmental management instruments for urban planning. The proposal for the Payment for Environmental Services of the Córrego Limpo Program aims to expand the supply of environmental services in the city, beyond rural areas.

The potential environmental services offered by the Payment for Environmental Services of the Córrego Limpo Program bring diverse benefits to society, such as: improvement in quality of life, reduction of water-borne diseases and inconvenience caused by the bad smell of polluted streams and reduction of inequalities regarding access to water resources for populations in situations of socio-environmental vulnerability.

Reference

SOUZA, Vanessa Victor da Cruz de et al. Payment for environmental services from water resources in urban areas: potential perspectives from a water quality recovery program in the city of São Paulo. Cadernos Metrópole, v. 20, no. 42, p. 493-512, 2018.