Title: The role of microfinance in environmental governance: with a focus on payments for ecosystem services

Authors: Bawoke Atnafu Temesgen

Addresses: Department of Economics, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Abstract: The concept of triple-bottom in microfinance is a recent development. Moreover, the introduction of direct conservation schemes like payments for ecosystem services has been central to the environmental governance debate. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of green microfinance with particular emphasis on payments for ecosystem services. To this end, this paper reviews an article on microfinance plus and ecosystem services in Nicaragua in which the authors tried to assess the impact of a green microfinance program called Proyecto CAMBio. It is the first large-scale application of green microfinance and covered five Latin American countries. It aimed at combining credits, technical assistance, and payments for ecosystem services. This paper suggests the critical adoption of green microfinance as its effectiveness is dubious.

Keywords: microfinance; green microfinance; environmental governance; ecosystem services; PES; payments for ecosystem services.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGE.2021.119919

International Journal of Green Economics, 2021 Vol.15 No.2, pp.149 - 159

Received: 24 Feb 2021
Accepted: 22 Jul 2021
Published online: 23 Dec 2021 *

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