Abstract
This paper takes the concept of valorization (Inwertsetzung) proposed by Elmar Altvater (Altvater 1987) and expanded by Alvater and Mahnkopf (1999) to examine how carbon farming schemes valorize ecosystem services in novel ways. Originally developed to analyze the extraction of natural resources in “underdeveloped” regions of the globe such as Brazil in the 1980s, Altvater and Mahnkopf’s multi-step model offers a tool for analysis of the different steps involved in the valorization process of a natural resource from its “discovery”, its scientific description, and its definition as a valuable resource to its integration into the world market. In the case of carbon farming this involves the scientific understanding of carbon sequestration in soils and the measuring of carbon content and ends with the sale of CO2 certificates. The paper will introduce the steps of Altvater and Mahnkopf’s model and describe how they can serve as a lens to identify the steps along the valorization process. At the same time, the model’s origin as a tool to analyze more traditional extractivist activities, reveals the peculiarities of carbon farming (and by extension the valorization of other ecosystem services) as a business model that valorizes an ecosystem service without transferring any physically commodities.