Principal investigator: Viviane Pires Ribeiro
Article title: Payment for Environmental Services of Water Resources in Urban Areas: Potential Perspectives from a Water Quality Recovery Program in the City of São Paulo
Article authors: Vanessa Victor da Cruz de Souza, Amarilis Lucia Casteli Figueiredo Gallardo, Pedro Luis Côrtes, Ana Paula Fracalanza and Mauro Silva Ruiz
Location of the 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.
Primary variable of interest: Payment for Environmental Services
Evaluation method: Other – Exploratory Research
Evaluation Context
Payment for Environmental Services (PES) uses economic incentives as a way to manage ecosystems. These incentives refer to remuneration for individuals or organizations involved in PES actions, direct tax or fee reductions, credits for future payments, among others. In recent years, this type of payment has seen increasing application in natural resource management, through a strategy of valuing ecosystem services and incentivizing their provision by local agents.
The Clean Stream Program (PCL) was initiated in the city of São Paulo in 2007, guided by principles of collaborative governance for the depollution of urban streams. According to Souza et al. (2018), this program has characteristics that warrant reflection 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 to the population, aligning with the concept of the provision of Environmental Services (ES).
Intervention Details
In the context of river restoration programs, Souza et al. (2018) explore the feasibility of a Payment for Environmental Services scheme for water resources in urban areas based on the Clean Stream Program. The study was developed from exploratory research, using descriptive analysis, based on bibliographic sources and documentary evidence. The documentary sources refer to those officially produced by the Clean Stream Program and presented on websites and other documents attached in digital media. The bibliography also provided data from the Clean Stream 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 Clean Stream Program.
Methodology Details
The methodological roadmap 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 bibliographic data on Environmental Services, Payment for Environmental Services, and the feasibility of PES. The second stage consisted of characterizing the activities of the Córrego Limpo Program and identifying Environmental Services derived from water resources in urban areas, which resulted in a framework of Environmental Services associated with the Córrego Limpo Program. 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 show that urban stream cleanup programs meet the main requirements for implementing a payment for environmental services scheme. In this sense, the analysis of the Clean Stream Program identified the fundamental elements (environmental services, beneficiaries, providers, and payers) that allow us to consider 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 Clean Stream Program generate diverse and important environmental services for the preservation of the urban ecosystem, 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, finds support in a public management program, the Clean Stream Program, implemented in 2007 by the public authorities. The main beneficiaries are tangible, encompassing the local population, but not limited to it, as Souza et al. (2018) identified other potential beneficiaries to be included in this Payment for Environmental Services scheme, such as the industrial, energy, health, and real estate planning sectors.
Lessons in Public Policy
How can urban stream cleanup programs be supported by payment for environmental services mechanisms? The study by Souza et al. (2018) shows that a payment scheme for water resources in an urban area, based on a program to improve water quality in urban waterways, can be established, utilizing much of its existing infrastructure. However, one of the challenges lies in enabling the payment for these environmental services, and defining the payment mechanism is perhaps the biggest obstacle to its consolidation. Therefore, it is necessary to define the payment method, as well as the responsible authors. At the same time, the proper addressing of this link in payment for environmental services can also favor the achievement of results from the Clean Stream Program, on a temporal and spatial scale, including as an incentive for those watersheds where failures are observed in achieving the program's objectives. This aspect can even enhance collaborative governance actions, which are essential for the success of the Clean Stream Program in cleaning up streams and, consequently, in providing environmental services.
The Strategic Master Plan of the municipality of São Paulo foresees Payment for Environmental Services as one of the environmental management instruments for urban planning. The Payment for Environmental Services proposal of the Clean Stream 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 Clean Stream Program bring diverse benefits to society, such as: improved quality of life, reduction of waterborne diseases and the nuisances caused by the bad smell of polluted streams, and reduction of inequalities in 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 of water resources in urban areas: potential perspectives from a water quality recovery program in the city of São Paulo. Cadernos Metrópole, v. 20, n. 42, p. 493-512, 2018.
