IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/tcpoxx/v22y2022i1p18-29.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing the rapidly-emerging landscape of net zero targets

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Hale
  • Stephen M. Smith
  • Richard Black
  • Kate Cullen
  • Byron Fay
  • John Lang
  • Saba Mahmood

Abstract

In the five years since the Paris Agreement, achieving net zero emissions has become a defining frame for climate action. We review over 4000 countries, companies, and subnational governments, which together make up the preponderance of global emissions. We find 769 of these entities have net zero targets, but only 152 meet minimum criteria for robustness, including timing, status, coverage, use of offsets, and governance. Though net zero is now widespread as a concept, its operationalization is still in its infancy. Making net zero targets robust should now be a priority for policymakers in order to deliver Paris-consistent action, as well as securing more ambitious targets.Key policy insightsNet zero targets now cover two-thirds of the global economy, but robust net zero targets only cover around five percent.Strengthening targets and their implementation is particularly needed in the following areas: target status (including setting targets into law); coveraneuge of activities; limits to and transparency regarding the use of offsets; and publication of plans and of progress reports.Policymakers should aim to strengthen net zero targets by setting standards for robust net zero targets; building the capacity of entities, particularly those in the global South, to meet the technical and resource challenges required to effectively operationalize net zero emission targets.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Hale & Stephen M. Smith & Richard Black & Kate Cullen & Byron Fay & John Lang & Saba Mahmood, 2022. "Assessing the rapidly-emerging landscape of net zero targets," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 18-29, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:tcpoxx:v:22:y:2022:i:1:p:18-29
    DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2021.2013155
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/14693062.2021.2013155
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/14693062.2021.2013155?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Govindan, Kannan, 2023. "How digitalization transforms the traditional circular economy to a smart circular economy for achieving SDGs and net zero," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    2. Hemmings, Peter & Mulheron, Michael & Murphy, Richard J. & Prescott, Matt, 2023. "Investigating the robustness of UK airport net zero plans," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    3. Holly Jean Buck & Wim Carton & Jens Friis Lund & Nils Markusson, 2023. "Why residual emissions matter right now," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 13(4), pages 351-358, April.
    4. Kai RĂ¼dele & Matthias Wolf, 2023. "Identification and Reduction of Product Carbon Footprints: Case Studies from the Austrian Automotive Supplier Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-24, October.
    5. Sean Low & Livia Fritz & Chad M. Baum & Benjamin K. Sovacool, 2024. "Public perceptions on carbon removal from focus groups in 22 countries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    6. Xin, Baogui & Jiang, Kai & Santibanez Gonzalez, Ernesto D.R., 2024. "The coevolution effect of central bank digital currency and green bonds on the net-zero economy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    7. Comello, Stephen & Reichelstein, Julia & Reichelstein, Stefan, 2023. "Corporate carbon reporting: Improving transparency and accountability," ZEW Discussion Papers 23-026, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    8. Maksym Chepeliev, 2023. "GTAP-Power Data Base: Version 11," Journal of Global Economic Analysis, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, vol. 8(2), pages 100-133, December.
    9. Gregory Trencher & Sascha Nick & Jordan Carlson & Matthew Johnson, 2024. "Demand for low-quality offsets by major companies undermines climate integrity of the voluntary carbon market," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    10. Piana Monsur Mindia & Md Qamruzzaman & Nusrat Farzana, 2024. "Exploring the Impact of Good Governance and Innovation on Export Earnings, Clean Energy, Remittances, and Zero Carbon Emissions in Sub-Saharan African Countries," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 14(4), pages 265-284, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:tcpoxx:v:22:y:2022:i:1:p:18-29. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/tcpo20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.