It is international scientific consensus that, in order to prevent the worst climate damages, global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) need to fall by about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching net zero around 2050. Global warming is proportional to cumulative CO2 emissions, which means that the planet will keep heating for as long as global emissions remain more than zero. This implies that climate damages, caused by global heating, will continue escalating for as long as emissions continue.
The key target is all gas and coal expansion must stop. A net zero target is also fundamentally incompatible with new coal or gas.
What is Net Zero?
The term “Net Zero Carbon” refers to a state in which the greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere are balanced by removal out of the atmosphere.
The term Net Zero is important because – for CO2 at least – this is the state at which global warming stops. The Paris Agreement underlines the need for net zero, requiring states to ‘achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century’.
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Why Do We Need Net Zero?
We need to reach net zero emissions in order to achieve the ambition of the Paris Agreement, which is to hold global average temperature increase to “well below 2°C above pre industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C”. The IPCC’s Special Report Global Warming of 1.5°C makes it clear that it is necessary to achieve a global balance between emissions and removals by 2050 in order to cap the rise in global temperatures below 1.5°C.
While the Paris Agreement sets a global objective, action to achieve that objective is driven at the national level – each country is responsible for setting their own policies to achieve the common goal. The delivery of these policies will take place at the local level. All countries, cities and businesses need to develop plans as to how they intend to achieve net zero.
While there may be different approaches to achieving net zero, it is important that such plans follow a common set of principles.
Net Zero as The Goal
All of the different terms (Carbon Neutral, Net Zero, Climate Neutral) point to the different ways in which emissions sources and sinks are accounted for in context, and help to indicate what is, and is not included in the calculation or a target. As net zero is the internationally agreed upon goal for mitigating global warming in the second half of the century, and the IPCC concluded the need for net zero CO2 by 2050 to remain consistent with 1.5C – the purpose of this site is to inform effective climate action that is net zero aligned in order to advance progress towards this goal.
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Many actors will be able to achieve absolute zero or zero emissions in the process, hence the choice of terms in the global ‘Race to Zero’ campaign focused on raising ambition. Others will need to scale up removals either themselves directly or by supporting other project, hence the ‘net’ in net zero.
Scope
The scope of net zero refers not only to which greenhouse gases are included, but also which activities are covered.
Generally, net zero refers to all greenhouse gases, that is, all gases covered under the Kyoto Protocol, unless the definition refers to a specific gas (e.g. net zero carbon).
In terms of activity coverage, most national and sub-national actors have a standardised approach to scoping net zero, following the IPCC’s guidelines for calculating national greenhouse gas inventories, bounded geographically (emissions that occur within a given territory).
Within the private sector there are differences, but generally emissions are bounded following the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s ‘scoped’ approach, and net zero aligned actors should attempt to cover all three scopes. The three scopes cover:
- Scope 1 – direct company owned or controlled emissions occurring at source
- Scope 2 – emissions associated with the production of energy consumed by a company
- Scope 3 – indirect emissions associated with company activities from sources not owned or controlled by a company.
Principles for Making A Net Zero Commitment
There are 3 principles for making a commitment; these are Joining the Race, Investing, and Offsetting
- Joining The Race
Net zero commitments are now expected standards for companies, local, regional and national governments. The following are clear steps to follow in setting net zero commitments, developed by the University of Oxford through an extensive series of stakeholder workshops. These are the same as the minimum criteria for the UNFCCC-backed Race to Zero Campaign ahead of the Conference of Parties in Glasgow this year, a pivotal moment in global climate negotiations. By taking these steps your institution can join the global effort to meet the Paris Agreement goals.
The steps below come from the official criteria for joining the Race to Zero campaign. The criteria were created by the networks and initiatives that form the Race to Zero’s international climate action community. Download a mapping of the criteria here, which provides questions to ask your institution about its targets.
a — PLEDGE, b — PLAN, c — PROCEED and d — PUBLISH
- Investing
The Oxford Martin Principles for Net Zero-Aligned Investing provide a framework for engagement between climate-conscious investors and companies across the global economy. Building upon the science of long-term climate change, they focus on how investments contribute to the global stock of cumulative carbon dioxide emissions, complementing other measures, such as carbon footprinting, that focus on emission flows.
- Offsetting
Carbon offsetting is a widespread tool in efforts to achieve net zero emissions. But current approaches to offsetting are unlikely to deliver the types of offsets needed to achieve global climate goals. Net zero pledges from many companies, such as those recently from BP and Google, and the recent 2060 “carbon neutrality” pledge from China are likely to use offsets. And many industry leaders are working to develop standards such as the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, as well as the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets. But what types of offsets are aligned with pathways to net zero and under what conditions should they be used? The Oxford Principles for Net Zero Aligned Carbon Offsetting, provide guidelines to help ensure offsetting actually helps to achieve a net zero society.
Governance
There are key governance considerations for setting net zero strategies. While actor-specific best practices may vary, it is of wide agreement in the climate community that strong governance towards net zero targets will include:
- Formal, top-level commitment
- Interim targets
- Transparency through regular reporting and tracking
- Clear action plans with specific operational implications.