Enhancing climate and ecosystem outcomes through the promotion and upscaling of payment for environmental services in agriculture.

ECOPESIA envisions European agriculture as multifunctional systems that restore ecosystems and increase climate resilience beyond food production. Current remuneration mechanisms for farmers providing public goods – notably Payments for Environmental Services (PES) as CAP eco-schemes – encounter technical, financial, institutional and socio-economic barriers that hinder environmental objectives achievement. ECOPESIA is a collaborative effort involving 20 partners from across the environmental services supply chain. Utilising a participatory approach, the initiative aims to co-create and demonstrate PES schemes that are financially sustainable, digitally enabled, and socially inclusive. These schemes will be based on verifiable results and will leverage private funding. Digital tools for monitoring and administration will be deployed, and robust governance frameworks will be co-designed. Eight pilots in six countries will demonstrate result-based PES in representative agroecosystems and socio-economic contexts, across collective and spatially coordinated approaches, ensuring transparent and fair remuneration to farmers linked to measurable outcomes.ECOPESIA innovations go beyond current PES by including harmonised on-farm indicators, digital management tools, and an open call for new monitoring technologies. ECOPESIA will engage farmers, businesses, policymakers, NGOs, technology developers, SMEs and Social Sciences and Humanities experts in participatory co-design, pilot implementation, capability building, and knowledge transfer. By the project's conclusion, ECOPESIA will engage 175 farms, mobilised €1M in funding, and deliver environmental and socio-economic benefits. These contributions will align with the EU Green Deal, the Nature Restoration Law, and the post-2027 CAP. The project's outcomes will provide a blueprint for mainstreaming result-based PES, enhancing resilience of European agriculture.