In defence of Net Zero –  James Murray – Business Green  ‘Concerns about the efficacy of net zero targets are justified, but could condemnation of the concept from Greta Thunberg and others inadvertently serve to undermine efforts to decarbonise?

“The enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect one” Carl von Clausewitz, 1780-1831

The backlash is underway. And it’s coming from the unlikeliest of quarters.

For much of the past two years the global push to deliver net zero emissions has enjoyed a remarkable golden run. National and state governments have rushed to announce long term net zero emissions goals, to the point where around two thirds of global GDP is now covered by some form of target. Businesses and investors have followed suit, with over 2,100 of the world’s largest corporates having set net zero goals under the UN-backed Race to Zero campaign while asset managers and owners worth trillions of dollars having pledged to deliver net zero emission portfolios by mid-century at the latest.

These various goals have helped trigger billions of dollars of investment in low carbon infrastructure and R&D, as well as an entire new ecosystem of campaigners, academics, regulators, investors, politicians, and business executives who are working round the clock to translate long-term net zero ambitions into credible near term decarbonisation strategies. While still daunted by the epic and tragic scale of the climate crisis, this community has been buoyed by the way in which their work has already helped deliver both plummeting clean technology costs and a decoupling of greenhouse gas emissions and global GDP.

Less than six years on from the Paris Agreement, the combination of the landmark accord’s 1.5C temperature goal and its commitment to “achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century” has unleashed one of the fastest and most consequential corporate trends since the inception of the first Industrial Revolution. It is, in many regards, one of the most successful environmental campaigns in history.

And now it is facing fierce criticism not just from the perennial climate-denying opponents of climate action, who allege the net zero mission is an exorbitantly expensive and unnecessary pipe dream, but also from a growing number of the world’s most influential and respected environmental campaigners and scientists.

Trials and tribulations

It seems each story announcing a fresh net zero pledge now sparks outraged warnings on social media that “net zero is not zero” or heartfelt explanations as to why net zero commitments are meaningless ‘greenwash’ and what is needed is “real zero”, like, yesterday. This critique has been amplified by Greta Thunberg, who has used her huge Twitter platform and vital position as one of the world’s only functioning accountability mechanisms to warn that “net zero targets” are “being used as excuses to postpone real action“. “Yes we need to balance out some emissions that can’t be eliminated (agriculture etc),” she argued last week. “But as it is now I dare to claim that these distant net zero targets aren’t about that, rather they’re about communication tactics and making it seem like we’re acting without having to change.” Click here to read more