Coalition Power and Narrative Hegemony in Brazil’s Policy on Payment for Environmental Services

Abstract

This article analyzes the formulation process of the Brazilian National Policy on Payment for Environmental Services (PNPSA), a broad legislative framework that institutionalized a national PES system in Brazil. While the PNPSA encompasses governance structures, financing mechanisms, and implementation guidelines, this article focuses analytically on its most contested dimension: the eligibility of legally mandated conservation areas—Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs), Legal Reserves, and Restricted Use Areas—for PES payments using public resources. The study shows that the combination of dominant coalitions and hegemonic narratives produced a policy outcome consistent with institutional capture under the discourse of sustainability. Two complementary theoretical frameworks are mobilized: the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), which explores how belief systems and policy learning structure coalitions of actors; and the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF), which investigates how policy narratives legitimize positions and construct moral meanings. Methodologically, the research applies qualitative content analysis of legislative documents, public hearing transcripts, and news reports, supported by data triangulation. The results reveal the predominance of a coalition composed of agribusiness representatives and allied actors, which reinterpreted the concept
of “additionality” and consolidated a moral narrative legitimizing compensation for legally mandated conservation. The discussion shows that while the PNPSA is institutionally innovative, it reinforces historical patterns of power concentration and unequal representation within Brazil’s environmental governance.