![]() Net zero pledgesīecause net zero pledges depend on carbon offsets, many climate scientists believe the pledges actually perpetuate business as usual, enabling countries and companies to continue emitting greenhouse gases rather than doing the hard work of cutting emissions. ![]() Emissions can also be offset by investing in some type of carbon capture technology, such as carbon capture and storage or direct air capture of carbon. Carbon offsets can take a variety of forms, such as planting trees to store carbon, funding a methane capture project at a landfill, or paying farmers to reduce synthetic fertilizer use and plant cover crops. This involves funding a carbon reduction project somewhere else that is additional- meaning that the carbon removal would not occur without the funding. The idea is to reduce emissions has much as possible and then for those emissions that are harder or impossible to eliminate, use carbon offsets. The first is to reduce the amount of fossil fuel use directly, for example by producing power with renewable energy, decarbonizing transportation, or increasing energy efficiency. Net zero means that greenhouse gases are still being emitted, but the emissions are offset through some action taken. ![]() This is not the same as zero emissions, which means that no carbon or other greenhouse gases are released at all, or carbon negative, which means that more carbon is removed than is emitted. Net zero means that the greenhouse gas emissions produced by a country, state, city, company, or even a building are counterbalanced by an equal amount of emissions that are reduced. What does net zero mean, and are these targets ambitious enough to stave off the worst of climate change? What does net zero mean? One outcome of the recent UN Climate Summit, or COP26, was that 136 countries have pledged to reach net zero, with countries responsible for nearly half of global emissions aiming for 2050, while others have target dates further in the future. This means that carbon dioxide emissions need to fall 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. To avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change, we need to keep the planet from warming more than 1.5☌ above pre-industrial levels, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |