Start-ups to decarbonize agriculture? Empirical elucidation of the promise of ecologization

Léo Magnin () and Antoine Doré ()
Additional contact information
Léo Magnin: CNRS, LISIS
Antoine Doré: INRAE, AGIR

Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, 2024, vol. 105, issue 1, No 9, 199-223

Abstract: Abstract At the intersection of the “digitalization” and the “climatization” of the agricultural sector grows a promise of the “decarbonization” of agriculture by “start-ups.” Based on a qualitative study (40 interviews, 9 days of observation, documentary analysis), this article is a contribution to the political sociology of this promise of ecologization by reconstructing its meaning (what does it signify?) and its implementation (what practices is it referring to?). The study analyzes the bases of a narrative allying the political agendas of agricultural leadership and the executive branch of the French state. The focus on soil CO2 sequestration and the politicization of innovative “start-ups” converge on the promotion of economic solutions to global warming. The authors found the “start-ups” working on this “decarbonization” were quite diverse, but could be sorted into three types: innovative businesses seeking rapid growth, consultancy firms offering expertise without aims of growth, and administrative intermediaries. The latter, the most numerous and the least innovative, are invested in voluntary carbon markets, most commonly the “low-carbon label,” a public framework overseen by the Ministry of Ecological Transition. The promise of the decarbonization of agriculture through start-ups thus falls short, as the study documents an optional and partial greening of agriculture that is overseen by the state, implemented by private administrative service providers, and funded by businesses wishing to improve their carbon footprint.

Keywords: Ecologization; Start-up; Agricultural policy; Voluntary carbon market; Intermediaries; Greening (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s41130-024-00213-0 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:roafes:v:105:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s41130-024-00213-0

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer ... nomics/journal/41130

DOI: 10.1007/s41130-024-00213-0

Access Statistics for this article

Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies is currently edited by Stephan Marette and Ronan Le Velly

More articles in Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().