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The meaning of net zero and how to get it right

Nature Climate Change volume 12, pages 15–21 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

The concept of net-zero carbon emissions has emerged from physical climate science. However, it is operationalized through social, political and economic systems. We identify seven attributes of net zero, which are important to make it a successful framework for climate action. The seven attributes highlight the urgency of emission reductions, which need to be front-loaded, and of coverage of all emission sources, including currently difficult ones. The attributes emphasize the need for social and environmental integrity. This means carbon dioxide removals should be used cautiously and the use of carbon offsets should be regulated effectively. Net zero must be aligned with broader sustainable development objectives, which implies an equitable net-zero transition, socio-ecological sustainability and the pursuit of broad economic opportunities.

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Fig. 1: Net-zero balance of carbon emissions and removals.
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  • 09 March 2022

    In the version of this article initially published, the width of the outflowing arrow in the bottom-left of Fig. 1c (Lithosphere to Atmosphere) was oversized relative to the balance of the two inflowing arrows, and has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

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Acknowledgements

All authors are part of Oxford Net Zero, which is supported by the University of Oxford’s Strategic Research Fund. We also acknowledge funding from ClimateWorks (grant 19-1501), the Economic and Social Research Council (grant ES/S008381/1), EU Horizon 2020 (grants 869192 and 869357) and the Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/V013106/1). The charts were produced by S. Littlewood.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Sam Fankhauser, Stephen M. Smith, Kaya Axelsson, Cameron Hepburn, Radhika Khosla & Thom Wetzer

  2. School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Sam Fankhauser, Myles Allen & Eli Mitchell-Larson

  3. Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Thomas Hale

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    J. Michael Kendall & Rosalind Rickaby

  5. Institute for Science, Innovation and Society, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Javier Lezaun

  6. Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Michael Obersteiner

  7. Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Lavanya Rajamani & Thom Wetzer

  8. Nature-based Solutions Initiative, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Nathalie Seddon

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  1. Sam Fankhauser
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Contributions

The production of the manuscript was coordinated by S.F., who also had overall editorial responsibility. All authors contributed to the content, structure and framing of the article. Drafting was led by K.A., M.A., S.F., L.R., N.S. and S.M.S.

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Correspondence to Sam Fankhauser.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Peer review information Nature Climate Change thanks Hongbo Duan, Daniel Huppmann and Sally Benson for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Fankhauser, S., Smith, S.M., Allen, M. et al. The meaning of net zero and how to get it right. Nat. Clim. Chang. 12, 15–21 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01245-w

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