What does net zero emissions mean? | Explainer - Climate ...

'Net zero emissions' refers to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions taken out ... Join Donate News PopularCategories RenewableEnergy ExtremeWeather Solutions ClimateImpacts InternationalAction Leaders Science Politics Health Security TheFacts CitiesPowerPartnership AllNews Reports Resources Reports MediaReleases Videos Infographics Podcasts Mythbusting CommunicationGuides Explainers AllResources GetInvolved TakeAction PUTCLIMATEFIRSTONAUSTRALIA'SNATIONALAGENDA STANDWITHLOCALLEADERS Cutemissionsthisdecade Signontooursubmission:KurriKurriGasPowerStation FundraiseforUs Giving Volunteer Jobs Media AboutUs AboutUs Team FAQs ContactUs Reports MediaReleases Videos Infographics Podcasts Mythbusting CommunicationGuides Explainers Resources Explainers Whatdoesnetzeroemissionsmean? 09.07.20 By ClimateCouncil Thiscontentismorethanoneyearold Afterdraggingitsfeetonclimatechange,theAustralianFederalGovernmenthasfinallycommitedtoreachingnetzeroemissionsby2050,ashasmuchoftherestoftheworld.Almostalladvancedeconomieshavenowstrengthenedtheir2030targetsandcommittedtoroughlyhalvingtheiremissionsthisdecade.  Theimportantthingtorememberisthatnetzerotargetsmeanlittlewithoutaconcreteplantocutemissionsthisdecade.Thelion’sshareofemissionscutsneedtooccurthisdecadeifwearetoavoidcatastrophicclimatechange.Anetzerotargetisalsofundamentallyincompatiblewithnewcoalorgas.Allgasandcoalexpansionmuststop.  Thequestionweneedtobeaskingis:whatconcretestepswilltheFederalGovernmentbetakinginthe2020stocutemissionsasquicklyaspossible,andgetusonthepathwaytonetzero? Whatdoesnetzeroemissionsmean? ‘Netzeroemissions’referstoachievinganoverallbalancebetweengreenhousegasemissionsproducedandgreenhousegasemissionstakenoutoftheatmosphere.Thinkofitlikeasetofscales:producinggreenhousegasemissionstipsthescales,andwewanttogetthosescalesbackintobalance,whichmeansnomoregreenhousegascanbeaddedtotheatmosphereinanygivenyearthanistakenout.  Eventually,wewillprobablyneedtotipthemtheotherwaytorepairpastharm.Oncewestopemittinggreenhousegasesfromfossilfuels,westillneedtodealwithalltheemissionswe’vealreadypumpedintotheatmosphereovertheyears.  Gettingtonetzeromeanswecanstillproducesomeemissions,aslongastheyareoffsetbyprocessesthatreducegreenhousegasesalreadyintheatmosphere.Forexample,thesecouldbethingslikeplantingnewforests,ordrawdowntechnologieslikedirectaircapture.Themoreemissionsthatareproduced,themorecarbondioxideweneedtoremovefromtheatmosphere(thisiscalledsequestration)toreachnetzero.  However,toavoidaclimatecatastrophe,newemissionsofgreenhousegasmustbeaslowaspossible.Inotherwords,weneedtogetascloseaspossibletoarealzeroandonlyrelyonoffsettingwhenitisabsolutelynecessary. Thismeansthatweneedtorapidlyphaseoutfossilfuels–coal,oilandgas–andtransitiontorenewableenergy. Whyisnetzeroemissionsimportant? Climatechangeisn’tatapwecanturnoffoncewestopusingfossilfuels.Carbondioxide,themaincontributortoclimatechange,willstayintheatmosphereandkeepheatingtheplanetforyearsandyears.  Soreducinggreenhousegasemissionsishugelyimportant,butwecan’tstopthere.Theendgoalistobalancethescalesagain,andrestoretheglobalclimatetopre-climatechangelevels.Togetthere,weneedtoreducegreenhousegasemissionstozeroANDthengetcrackingonrepairingpastharmbydrawingdownpastemissions. Whatdoesagoodnetzeroemissionstargetlooklike? BasedontheguidedevelopedbytheUnitedNationsFrameworkConventiononClimateChange(UNFCCC),therearekeymeasuresthatneedtobeusedtodeterminewhetheranetzerotargetmeasuresup:  ​​Isitaboutnow?  >Reducingemissionsthisdecadeiscriticalifwearetoavoidlockinginthemostcatastrophicimpact. Anylongtermnetzerotargetmustalsobecomplementedbyaninterimtarget Isthereacredibleplan?  >Anynetzerotargetmustbeaccompaniedbyaclearplanofimmediateandlongertermaction,andmustnotjustrelyonoffsetting  Isitfastenough?  >Thetargetmustreduceemissionsquicklyenoughthisdecadeandensureournationisdoingitsfairshare Canweseeprogress?  >Willthetargetbereportedonpubliclyatleastannually? Willitcoverallemissions?  >Thetargetmustcoverallgreenhousegasesandcoverallsectorsoftheeconomy Basedonthelatestscience,theClimateCouncilrecommendsAustraliashouldcutouremissionsby75%by2030andreachnetzeroemissionsby2035.Thisgivesusthebestchanceofavoidingcatastrophicclimateconsequences.Animportantfirststepwouldbematchingthecommitmentsfromourkeyallies,andpledging–beforeGlasgow–toatleasthalveouremissionsby2030. HowcanAustraliaachievenetzeroemissions? Wealreadyhavethetechnologyweneedtoacceleratetowardsnetzeroemissions,includingreplacingcoal-andgas-firedpowerstationswithcheap,cleanandreliablerenewableenergybackedbystoragetechnologies.  Australiahasunrivalledpotentialforrenewableenergy,cleanindustries,andcleanjobs.Climateleadershipfromstatesandterritorieshasshownuswhatworks,andthebenefitsthatdecarbonizingoureconomycanbringbenefitslikeregionaljobs,cleanercitiesandcheaperpower.TheFederalGovernmentshouldbeworkingwithothertiersofgovernmenttorapidlystepupthiswork. Toreachnetzeroweneedtostopallgasandcoalexpansion.Itisvitalthatwereplaceallfossilfuelsuseasquicklyaspossible,meetallofourenergyneedswithrenewablesandtakeconcreteactiontorestoredamagedlandscapes,promoteresilienceofthoselivingonthelandandrepairpastharmtotheatmosphere.Doingthiswillreducenewemissionsofgreenhousegastoasclosetozeroaspossible,andremovethegreenhousegasesweputthereinthepast. Atafederallevel,Australialackscredibleclimateandrenewableenergypolicytodriveustowardsthatfuture,andouremissionreductiontargetsareinadequatetomeetourParisclimatecommitments.What’smore,ourexportedemissions(intheformofcoalandgas)areabout2.5timeshigherthanourdomesticemissions.WhilethesearenotcountedonAustralia’sledger,it’sstillworseningclimatechange. Whyiseveryonetalkingaboutnetzeroemissionstargetsallofasudden? TheIntergovernmentalPanelonClimateChange’srecentreportwasdescribedasacoderedforhumanity.Thisreportmadeitcleartotheworld’sgovernmentsthevitalimportanceofgettingtonetzeroasfastaspossibleandsettingstronginterimtargets.Thishasseenmanymoregovernments—local,stateandnational—aroundtheworldsettheirownnetzerogoals.  ManyofAustralia’skeytradingpartnersandstrategicallies,havenowsetnetzeroemissionstargets.TheUS,EU,UK,andJapanhaveallcommittedtonetzeroemissionsby2050,andChinahascommittedtonetzeroby2060.Andnow,afterdraggingitsfeetfordecades,Australiahasannouncedanetzeroemissionstargetof2050.  Sadly,impactswillstillworsenafterwereachnetzeroduetotheinertiaintheclimatesystem. Netzerodescribesthepointintimewhenhumansstopworseningclimatechange. WhendoesAustralianeedtoreachnetzeroemissions? Everynewtonneofgreenhousegasisheatingtheplanetfurther.Thesoonertheworldstopsaddinggreenhousegastotheatmosphere,thebetter. AccordingtotheIntergovernmentalPanelonClimateChange,inordertohonourtheParisAgreementandlimitglobalwarmingtowellbelow2degrees(andpursueeffortstolimitthatincreasetoonly1.5degrees!),globalcarbonemissionsshouldreachnetzeroby2050atthelatest.Over100countrieshavealreadypledgedtodothis.  Howeveronitsown,reachingnetzeroin2050isnowherenearenough.Tohelplimitglobalwarmingtonomorethan1.5degrees,thewholeworldwouldneedtoreduceemissionsby7%peryeareverysingleyearbetween2020and2030.Evenlimitingglobalwarmingtowellbelow2degreeswouldrequireannualglobalreductionsofgreenhousegasemissionsof2.6%percentperyear. Australia,givenourveryhighemissions,ourwealth,andourunrivaledpotentialforrenewableenergy,shouldgoaboveandbeyondthis.TheClimateCouncilrecommendsAustraliareduceitsemissionsby75%by2030,andreachzeroemissionsby2035,toplayitspartinavoidingcatastrophicclimateconsequences.   Unfortunately,Australiaislaggingbehindtherestoftheworld.Wearenowherenearontracktomeetourweak2030target,whichisinsufficienttomeettheinternationallyagreedtemperaturegoals.Ontopofthis,Australialacksacredibleclimatepolicy.Australiaisabigemitter,butwehavesomeofthebestrenewableresourcesintheworld.Netzeroby2050isastartingpoint,butweshouldbeaimingtohitnetzeroassoonaspossible. Fortunately,despiteFederalGovernmentinaction,everysingleAustralianstateandterritoryhasaformaltargettoreachnetzeroby2050.Now,weneedtostepthingsup. Haveanyothercountries/statesreachednetzeroemissionsalready? Attimeofwriting,thirteencountrieshaveanet-zerotargetinplacebylaw,includingtheUnitedKingdom,Germany,Japan,FranceandCanada.Two–SurinameandBhutan–havealreadyachievednetzeroemissions..  Closertohome,wehaveanentirestatethathasbeennetzeroincertainyears.In2014and2018,Tasmania’semissionsdroppedbelownetzero.Twothingsallowedthistohappen:Tasmania’smassivehydroelectricdams,andTasmania’slargecarbon-denseforests.Withthestate’selectricitysupplyalreadynearing100%renewable,theremainingemissionsfromthestate–acrosstransport,manufacturing,agricultureandforestry–wereoffsetbythegreenhousegasessuckedoutoftheatmospherebythestate’sforests.Tasmaniahasworktodotomakethispermanent,andcouldeasilymovebeyondnetzerotoprovideanoverallbenefittotheworldbydoingmoretoreduceitsfossilfuelconsumption,butitstartsfromanexcellentposition. Ishavinganetzeroemissionstargetaneffectivewayoftacklingclimatechange? Atargetisonlyasgoodasthepoliciesunderpinningit.Australia’sstatesandterritoriesallhavenetzerotargets,butmostgovernmentshavenotoutlinedhowthesetargetswillbemet.Severalgovernmentswithanetzerogoal,suchasWesternAustralia,NorthernTerritoryandQueensland,arestillincreasingtheiremissionseachyear.Evengovernmentsthatareleadingthepackwhenitcomestoclimateaction–likeSouthAustraliaandtheACT– stillhavemoreworktodotooutlinehowtheywillmeettheirnetzerogoals.Ontopofthis,nomatterwhatdomesticemissionsare,itisnotpossibleforagovernmenttobetakingclimatechangeseriouslywhilecontinuingtosupportfossilfuels–especiallyifthatgovernmentisincreasingfossilfuelexports. 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