“Non-extractivist” extractivism:The valorization process of voluntary soil carbon schemes

Abstract

This article examines the political economy of voluntary carbon farming schemes from a theoretical perspective. To do so, it introduces the concept of valorization (Inwertsetzung), which has so far been confined largely to debates in German. Originally developed to describe classic extractivism and land change in developing countries, the concept traces how natural resources are defined as, then turned into, commodities to be sold on the world market. Examining carbon farming through this lens reveals a number of prerequisites—from scientific knowledge, to technological developments and legal frameworks—that are essential parts of the valorization process, but are often not sufficiently covered in economic discussions of carbon farming. It also highlights how soil organic carbon, the material substance carbon farming is based on, is not extracted, but instead marketed as a commodity that only bears a symbolic connection to this substance: that of a “carbon credit”. This twist on classical resource extraction leads to what I call “‘non-extractivist’ extractivism”: Valorization occurs in the form of a symbolic claim rather than a tangible, physically extraction; more importantly, this practice occurs on top of, rather than instead of, the valorization of soils through regular (extractive) farming practices.