Summary (English)

This working paper: (i) provides an overview of 56 Payments for Environmental Services (PES) experiences in 19 countries from the global south that combine social protection and environmental objectives within one programme (ii) analyses the Brazilian Bolsa Verde programme and four PES schemes from China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and one public work programme in South Africa from a social protection point of view by building upon the guidance provided by the Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202); (iii) extracts some lessons learnt from existing PES schemes that may be useful when designing, implementing and monitoring social protection programmes such as the Brazilian ‘Bolsa Verde’ programme; (iv) proposes some concrete and innovative ideas on how to combine existing social protection programmes with PES schemes with a view to protecting both people and environment and ultimately supporting the achievement of sustainable development for everyone everywhere.