Overcoming the notion of environmental assets:

the concept of ecosystem services as a new category in Brazilian law.

Abstract

Ecosystem services are, by legal and scientific definition, the relevant benefits for society generated by ecosystems. Environmental science has highlighted, over the last two decades, the essentiality of these services for human well-being, as well as the risks arising from their collapse. For these reasons, the concept of ecosystem services has been internalized in several legal systems, becoming the basis for new public policies – such as the new Brazilian National Policy for Payment for Environmental Services (Law 14,119/2021). The notion of ecosystem services, therefore, advances the Law by translating into legal language the complexity of human dependence on ecosystems and biodiversity. This article aims to investigate the impacts that this concept may have on some institutes of law and environmental policy related to environmental compensation. As a research hypothesis, it is suggested that the notion of services can complement the concept of environmental assets. This complementation can prevent environmental compensation from operating through automatic fungibility between natural resources. The research is proposed from the inductive method, using bibliographical and documentary techniques.