Carbon Farming: New Regulatory Challenges for Agricultural Law[L'agriculture bas-carbone: quels défis pour le droit et la politique agricoles?]

Carbon farming is often represented as a way to offset greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. The Chapter first examines the paradoxical nature of the relationship between climate change and agriculture and the uncertainties surrounding (i) the potential for carbon reduction and (ii) the assessment of carbon reduction, sequestration and storage. It then directs its focus to the legal framework, which is indeed complex, in that carbon farming falls under two areas of governance that may adopt different approaches. European Union (EU) climate law and policy promote an accounting regime for Member States, which has the capacity to encourage engagement by private companies in the agricultural sector. Within this umbrella regime, attention is directed to two specific legislative initiatives, the Effort Sharing Regulation and Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry Regulation, to demonstrate both their scope and shortcomings in practice. The second area of governance of relevance for understanding the legal framework for carbon farming concerns two policy areas which are operational: the Common Agricultural Policy and the Carbon Farming Certification Policy. The Chapter demonstrates how the relevant mechanisms are based upon a contractual approach, or at least on voluntary participation. These developments indicate that carbon farming is 'on the radar' for legislators. However, they also indicate that there remain questions on their effectiveness in regulating carbon farming, which merit further research.