Presentation short abstract

Mapping key actors, financial and labor flows involved in incentive-based NbS projects offers insights on the extent to which uneven ecological exchange is a structural condition to the implementation of such mechanisms — with significant implications for justice and socio-ecological ownership.

Presentation long abstract

Incentive-based mechanisms such as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) are long-standing and highly popular strategies, often falling under the label of Nature-based Solutions (NbS). In this contribution, we analyze the extent to which social justice, political legitimacy and power asymmetries are central features of how NbS are implemented and have significant implications in addressing intersectional forms of inequality where NbS are implemented. We conduct a Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis to map financial and labor flows, and key actors involved in incentive-based NbS research and program design/financing. In doing so, we seek to understand how and to what extent uneven ecological exchange is a structural condition to the implementation of incentive-based NbS projects. We argue for the adoption of a reparative justice lens in the design and implementation of such schemes as a means to reclaim socio-ecological ownership by those co-producing nature.