Farms are a critical part of sustainability transitions. To encourage sustainability at the farm level, state and non-state actors around the world are directly paying farmers to produce ecosystem services. There are both pros and cons of using monetary incentives to drive behavioral changes. In this presentation, I discuss findings from my work on US Agri-Environmental Policies where the government pays farmers over $6bn every year to support environmental goals. I hope to show that while paying for ecosystem services is an important policy instrument, such programs can do more to preserve the status quo than drive meaningful shifts. As India embarks on similar ecosystem payment programs, I will draw some insights on issues of policy design and implementation in the Indian context.
Ritwick Ghosh is an Assistant Professor of Sustainability at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Ritwick studies and teaches environmental policy and governance, with focus on market-based mechanisms. Ritwick received his PhD and Masters from Cornell University and has completed Fellowships at Arizona State University and the New York University.