Mechanisms similar to Payment for Environmental Services (PES) to promote socio-environmental development: An analysis based on the case of Alpargatas S/A

Abstract

The objective of this work is to analyze the mechanisms of actions inspired by the approach of Payments for Environmental Services (PES) as a promotion for socio-environmental development by the private sector based on a case study of Alpargatas S/A. The research was carried out in the bibliographic and documentary modality. The document analysis of the data was for the years 2021 and 2022, when the company began to publish the Annual Sustainability Report as a transparency and governance strategy. For documental analysis of the management instruments, it was carried out in search of evidence of mechanisms similar to those of PES. Thus, under the lens of analysis from the social perspective, the company acts in the promotion of education, inclusion and income generation, considered by the organization as structural aspects of society. Under the lens of environmental analysis, it invests in the use of resources through reverse logistics, and in suppliers that are in accordance with the socio-environmental criteria of Alpargatas S/A, in the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), and energy reduction. The company's challenges consist of carbon retention or capture, seeking to offset emissions through the process of reverse logistics, carbon neutrality and carbon offsetting from reforestation in the Amazon. As far as water sources are concerned, there is no surface water abstraction. There is no water withdrawal in an area of water stress.