Demystifying Climate Commitments

Net Zero Emissions

Net zero 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. It requires states to ‘achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century.'

Absolute Zero Emissions

No GHG emissions are attributable to an actor’s activities across all scopes. Under this definition, no offsets or balancing of residual emissions with removals are used.

Climate Neutral Emissions

An actor’s activities result in no net effect on the climate system. Any GHG emissions or other activities with warming effects are fully compensated by GHG reductions or removals, or other activities with cooling effects — irrespective of the time period or the relative magnitude of emissions and removals involved. A near synonym for GHG neutral, but climate neutral also includes non-GHG radiative forcing effects, such as land use changes with albedo effects.

Emissions Reductions

Actions that reduce the quantity of GHGs attributable to an actor vis-a-vis a baseline.

Carbon Neutral

An actor’s net contribution to global CO2 emissions is zero. Any CO2 emissions attributable to an actor’s activities are fully compensated by CO2 reductions or removals exclusively claimed by the actor — irrespective of the time period or the relative magnitude of emissions and removals involved.

GHG Neutral

An actor’s net contribution to global GHG emissions is zero. Any GHG emissions attributable to an actor’s activities are fully compensated by GHG reductions or removals exclusively claimed by the actor — irrespective of the time period or the relative magnitude of emissions and removals involved.