A number of countries, including the UK, have made
 commitments to move to a net zero emissions economy.
 This is in response to climate science showing that 
in order to halt climate change, carbon emissions have
 to stop – reducing them is not sufficient. ‘Net zero’
 means that any emissions are balanced by absorbing an
 equivalent amount from the atmosphere.

In order to meet the 1.5°C global warming target
 in the Paris Agreement, global carbon emissions 
should reach net zero around mid-century. For 
developing nations, that can mean the 2050s or
 2060s; for developed nations such as the UK, it
 means 2050, or preferably earlier. Many have already 
set such dates.

Climate science is clear that, to a close approximation, the eventual extent of global warming is proportional to the total amount of carbon dioxide that human activities add to the atmosphere.

So, in order to stabilise climate change, CO₂ emissions need to fall to zero. The longer it takes to do so, the more the climate will change. Emissions of other greenhouse gases (such as methane, for instance) also need to be constrained.

#Climate science

#net zero

#IGBC