What is Net Zero?

The dictionary definition of net zero is “resulting in neither a surplus nor a deficit of something specified when gains and losses are added together”[1]. When used in relation to the environment and climate change it “…refers to a state in which the greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere are balanced by removal out of the atmosphere. “[2]

The first step to achieving Net Zero is to be able to accurately measure the difference between the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere and the amount removed. Greenhouse gases most commonly refers to carbon dioxide; but also includes methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone.[3]

Most human activities produce some form of greenhouse gas. This can be via their production or manufacture or when they’ve stopped being used. The main source of greenhouse gases are energy use in industry, transport, and buildings. This accounts for 73%, and agriculture which accounts for 18%.[4]

Why Does it Matter?

So, why do we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Almost all scientists recognise the increase in production of greenhouse gas by human activity as being a key driver in climate change. The planet has warmed by an average of 1°C since the 1970s[5] and is on course for 3°C of warming by 2050 at the latest.[6]

This 1°C change is an average and although some areas have seen little change others have seen larger changes. This has caused:

melting permafrost
disruption to under-sea currents
reductions in sea ice and glaciers
more extreme weather events around the world
breakdown of eco-systems
reduction in biodiversity

A world with 3°C change would become largely uninhabitable to humanity and many creatures would become extinct. For a visual explanation of why such a small change matters watch Global Weirding by Prof Katharine Hayhoe, Texas Tech University (US).

The #climatestripes is a wonderful project by Ed Hawkins, Professor of Climate Science at the University of Reading (UK). You can add your own information and find the temperate changes locally, this idea has also been used to create the #biodiversitystripes.

How do we achieve it?

There are several accepted ways to achieve Net Zero – such as Zero Emissions, Climate Positive, and Net Negative – as well as several acceptable intermediate steps – such as Climate Neutral and GHG Neutral. Neutralization activities such as Offsetting, Insetting, and GHG Removal are not enough to achieve Net Zero and, although they are useful tools, need to be accompanied by a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.[7]

One of the keys to achieving Net Zero is honesty. The effort to tackle climate change has attracted a rogue’s gallery of greenwashing, giving corporations and governments an easy way to show they are taking action without changing behaviour.

For example, although tree planting is an effective to way to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations (as well as potentially helping reduce flood risk and increasing biodiversity) it doesn’t work if the trees are grown in a mono-culture and then harvested for wood-fired energy generation. The carbon sequestered by tree planting must be locked in and not released back into the atmosphere otherwise it is a pointless activity that may actually increase greenhouse gas emissions.[8]

Combatting climate change is the single largest challenge facing humanity and Net Zero is one of the ways to do this. Achieving climate goals is something that requires co-operation from the individuals, businesses and national governments. It is an incredibly complex task – even just being able to accurately measure greenhouse gas emissions is not straightforward. However, the more people and businesses make it a core part of their activities, the easier the task will get.

Precision Organic & Net Zero

We use the Sustainable Development Goals to focus our planning and business goals. Many of these align with a Net Zero ethos, we also run our facility on renewable solar power. Working with Ecologi, we fund projects to offset our data storage needs.