Context: Recently, the independent charitable organisation Oxfam has said that ‘net zero’ carbon targets that many countries have announced may be a “dangerous distraction” from the priority of cutting carbon emissions.
About Net Zero

• Net-zero, which is also referred to as carbon-neutrality, does not mean that a country would bring down its emissions to zero.
• It would be gross-zero, which means reaching a state where there are no emissions at all, a scenario hard to comprehend.
• A net-zero is a state in which a country’s emissions are compensated by absorption and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

Net Zero Targets announced by countries

• In 2019, the New Zealand government passed the Zero Carbon Act, which committed the country to zero carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner.
• In 2019, the UK’s parliament passed legislation requiring the government to reduce the UK’s net emissions of greenhouse gases by 100 per cent relative to 1990 levels by the year 2050.
• The US president Joe Biden announced that the country will cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
• The European Commission has asked all of its 27 member countries to cut emissions by 55 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030 under Fit for 55.
• In 2020, China also announced that it would become net-zero by the year 2060 and that it would not allow its emissions to peak beyond what they are in 2030.

Key Highlights on Net Zero Targets

• The report says that if the challenge of change is tackled only by way of planting more trees, then about 1.6 billion hectares of new forests would be required to remove the world’s excess carbon emissions by the year 2050.
• It says that to limit global warming below 1.5°C and to prevent irreversible damage from climate change, the world needs to collectively be on track and should aim to cut emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 from 2010 levels.
• It states that if only land-based methods to deal with climate change are used, food rises are expected to rise even more.
• It highlighted that if the entire energy sector -whose emissions continue to soar- were to set similar ‘net-zero’ targets, it would require an area of land nearly the size of the Amazon rainforest.

It emphasizes that reducing emissions cannot be considered a substitute for cutting emissions.

• Currently, countries’ plans to cut emissions will only lead to a one percent reduction by the year 2030. Oxfam estimates that it could rise by 80 percent by the year 2050.

Risks associated with Net Zero Targets

• According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), even if the current net zero commitments were fully implemented, our world would still see 2.7°C of warming by the end of the century.
• It would have profound consequences for people and vulnerable communities, increasing the likelihood of them facing more frequent and more intense droughts and flooding.
• Many of the net zero targets are vague and poorly defined, which means that they can be used as a way for countries and companies to ‘greenwash’ their activities as they go about business as usual.
• The vast majority of net zero commitments (over 80%) are no further advanced than the proposal or strategy stage.
• Most countries, states and cities cover only CO2 emissions, while only 27% of companies cover Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions (as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol) in their targets.
• The long-term net zero targets distract attention from delivering near-term and tangible climate action.
• Another consequence of net zero pledges is that they have shifted the framework for climate commitments from a focus on reducing emissions to a scenario that involves a mix of emissions reductions and removals.
• The net zero commitments could dramatically increase demand for land to be used for carbon sequestration, jeopardizing people’s rights to food and to land.

Policy Recommendations for Net Zero Targets

• The net zero targets must prioritize ambitious emissions reductions to align with the goal of limiting warming to below 1.5°C and ensure rapid decarbonization by 2030.
• For companies, it is important that long-term net zero targets are based on robust science-based targets aligned with the goal of limiting warming to below 1.5°C.
• The net zero commitments must be backed by meaningful transparency and disclosure.
• The land-based climate action must be anchored in food first, rights-based approaches that help to achieve zero hunger and zero emissions.