Launched in October 2017, the European Interreg project Channel Payments of Ecosystem Services (CPES) have brought together 14 French and English partners with the purpose of creating and implementing an innovative financing mechanism, Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES). PES schemes are designed to strengthen measures for the protection of water resources, particularly on the chemical quality of water bodies.

During these 4 years of work, partners’ work showed evidence that PES Schemes are fundamentally different and innovative compared to existing financing tools for farmers, such as the agri-environmental climate measures (MAEC) of the second pillar of the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy). These differences rely mainly on the recognition of a positive action from farmers in supplying ecosystems services, on the outcome-based payment system and an economic rationale of a payment that includes the opportunity costs and risks which is far beyond the costs considered in the MAEC.

The effective implementation of PES contracts on the CPES pilots both in France (Normandy and Brittany), as well as in United Kingdom (mainly in the south of England), has resulted in a real performance in economic, social and environmental terms. Despite these positive impacts, the pilots’ development has been limited by some issues related to the financial sustainability of PES. One of them is the legal framework which seems to be non-adapted to promote public-private partnerships, another is the burden costs for water companies to establish administrative and organizational models tailored to their PES schemes.

Therefore, one of the major objectives, besides reporting of the results and the lessons learned from the CPES project, is to exchange more widely on extensively discuss the future of PES in national contexts where priorities are oriented to the promotion of an agriculture sector which is evolving towards a low environmental impact and agro-ecological agriculture. This trend is also aligned with the priorities of the new CAP European common agricultural policy and the Green Pact that stands for being “ambitious in terms of food security and environmental and climate objectives”.

In this context, the national seminar will provide a synthesis of achievements and lessons learnt, as well as food for thoughts about the future vision of PES.