Innovation and Green Transition in Romania

In the current context of technological development, the quantity, but especially the quality of food depends on the environmental conditions in which the primary production processes take place. Natural resources are limited and under increasing pressure, the main cause of which is the increasing demand for food from a growing population. On the other hand, the overexploitation of natural resources and anthropogenic pollution accelerate the negative effects that climate change produces on the natural capacity of environmental factors to support life. The EU ranks fourth in the world in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, after China, the United States and India, which led to the setting of the EU’s goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. In this context, the food system can play an important role, both in ensuring its own climate neutrality and in neutralising the effects produced by other systems, with a negative impact on the environment. A decisive role in the green transition is played by the openness to innovation of the agribusiness sector and the large-scale adoption of innovative techniques and technologies supported by a human capital open to novelty and capable of adopting new business models and using modern technologies. This chapter presents an analysis of the ecological trajectories of the food system and the agricultural knowledge and innovation system in Romania as a foundation for the green transition.