Net zero: just patching over emissions or path for saving planet?
More than 190 countries committed in 2015 to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in an effort to stave off the worst effects of climate change such as drought, flooding and loss of species.
Scientists say bringing global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to ‘net zero’ by 2050 is the way to meet the central goal of the Paris Agreement, although it was left to individual states to work out how to achieve what they signed up to.
Some such as Britain and France have enshrined a net zero 2050 target into law, while many other countries and countless companies have stated policies aiming for net zero by 2050.
