Presentation short abstract

This study examines how PES research addresses justice and argues for a Reparative Justice approach. A theoretical and systematic review shows current work focuses narrowly on project-level justice, overlooking historical and structural harms. A reparative lens can deepen justice analysis on PES.

Presentation long abstract

Research on Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) has largely prioritised technical and managerial concerns, often overlooking the historical, political, and socioeconomic conditions shaping environmental problems. This stands in contrast to reparative justice debates, which call for addressing historically inherited structures that drive today’s ecological crises and unequal burdens.

This dissertation examined how PES research engages with justice issues and how a Reparative Justice (RJ) approach could strengthen it. The study combined a theoretical literature review—building a conceptual basis for Environmental Justice (EJ) in PES and developing a Reparative Environmental Justice (REJ) framework—with a systematic review of 61 empirical PES studies addressing justice. Together, these phases assessed how justice is currently conceptualised in the field.

Findings show that justice-related PES research mirrors broader trends: it focuses mainly on distributive, procedural, and recognition justice at an individual project level. This narrow scope sidelines global and historical environmental injustices, limiting engagement with deeper questions about moral responsibility for environmental harm and the systemic changes needed to address the environmental crisis.

The study recommends integrating an REJ approach to broaden justice analyses in PES. Such an approach encourages critical engagement with environmental solutions that acknowledge historical debts to marginalised communities and to nature. A set of analytical questions is offered to guide future research.