Legal Aspects of Payment for Environmental Services in Brazil

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the concepts available and the main objectives of the institute called Payment for Environmental Services (PES) and Ecosystem, based on an analysis of  the regulatory system and mapping key bills introduced in the Brazilian House of Representatives and the Senate, which deal about this subject. We intend to investigate whether the PES systems can be recognized as a valid environmental public policy, in line with the constitutional norms and the principles of environmental law, and if they can contribute in the conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems. Therefore, we start from the assumption that the PES systems logic is different from that which prevails in our current environmental regulatory system, since environmental standards are mostly based on command and control rules. The PES logic, in contrast, is not guided in setting punishment for harmful acts to the environment, but in the establishment of encouragement and financial return to environmentally desirable behavior. In this sense, the systems of Payment for Environmental Services would be an innovation when compared to command and control systems, under the premise of not internalizing the negative externalities, but the positive actions; beyond the recognition of the social and economic value of activities that enable the conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems and their services.