Net zero refers to a state in which the greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere are balanced by removal out of the atmosphere. Once the balance is achieved, it is expected that global warming would stop. Under Net Zero scenario, we stop adding new greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Even when the emissions are released, but these will be balanced by absorbing an equivalent amount through various methods.
The term Net Zero has now become a global call to countries and businesses to take all the steps necessary to successfully address the climate change impacts.
There is found to be a conclusive evidence based on science that to prevent the disastrous consequences of climate change (draughts, cyclones and hurricanes, sea level rise etc) greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced, reaching to net zero by middle of this century. Unless we aim for Zero we cannot stop warming of the planet and avoid the worst effects of climate change.
The Paris Agreement signed in 2015 by all the countries emphasized 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’. 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 –
WHY NET ZERO and impact on Business
We need to reach net zero emissions in order to prevent the global warming. The more the plant warms, it becomes difficult for humans to survive. Hence it is necessary 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”.
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 pIn particular to business, UNs ILO reported that over 80 million jobs would be at risk if rising temperature predictions materialize with productivity impacted by unliveable working environments. The impact of climate change on business are classified under physical (flooding, hurricanes, drought, wild fires etc) transitional (change of policy, regulation, technologies, consumer trends etc) and liability (failure to mitigate, adopt to, disclose or comply with changing regulatory or legal expectations) risks. (Zurich.com) olicies 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.
