Ten years ago, the term “net zero” was a confusing term. Today, it is an important goal in the fight against climate change and a well-known topic around the world.
The concept is simple and clear. In the words of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), “Net Zero Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions are the amount of anthropogenic CO2 emissions worldwide. Deletion for a specified period of time.”
It is also easy to see how this concept came to attract attention. Once the need for net-zero emissions to halt temperature rise was established, it was first addressed as policy in the 2015 Paris Agreement. After that, 2018 IPCC Report clearly states that to avoid the worst effects of global warming, the world must achieve net zero by 2050.
The UK quickly became the first major economy to make a net-zero emissions commitment. Currently, most countries, including the three largest emitters, China, the United States, and India, have made some sort of such commitment.
But it is less clear whether all these targets are strong enough to reach net zero quickly enough, and what will happen to the climate once we reach them.
Many Net zero pledges ‘not enough’ by climate action tracking project. National plans often lack achievable intermediate steps or leave out important sectors of the economy. This suggests that most deadlines are not met. However, it is not enough to achieve net zero in, say, 50 years. Amanda Levin at the Natural Resources Center…
Source: www.newscientist.com
