E - Net Zero Critiques

Parents

Assumes that climate change is a technology problem
Bioenergy and BECCS as distraction
Carbon markets and offsets as distraction
CCS and DAC as distraction
Claire Stockwell, Climate Analytics: “It is all very well for leaders and governments to claim that they have a net-zero target, but if they don’t have plans as to how to get there, and their 2030 targets are not aligned with net-zero, then, frankly, these net-zero targets are just paying lip service to real climate action. That’s the key reason we think Glasgow at this stage has a very big credibility gap.”
Geological and terrestrial carbon are very different
Hydrogen as distraction
If the world is to be on the right path for net zero, that number would need to rise to around 1.7 billion tonnes of CO2 by around 2030. That's a 40x increase just the next eight years.
Industry has a huge impact on UNFCCC process
Inger Anderson, exec dir UNEP: “It is not good to see that net-zero pledges are generally vague and untransparent; they are hard to calculate and hold to account; many kick the can beyond 2030, when we know that we need to halve our emissions between now and 2030 to be on track to limit warming to 1.5C.”
Most plans avoid source reductons for decades
Nature-Based Solutions as distraction
Plans rely on highly uncertain technologies
So far the lack of stronger commitments for emissions cuts by 2030 creates a “very big credibility gap” for net-zero promises, according to the Climate Action Tracker.