The history of net zero: can we move from concepts to practice?

ABSTRACT

Net zero has become the new organizing principle of climate politics. Though the adoption of net zero targets has created optimism in the climate regime, there remain significant concerns that it is little more than a vague aspiration. Studies have focused on various net zero definitions, as well as the adoption and robustness of net zero goals. This paper builds on these works by conducting a systematic meta-review of scholarly research on net zero from 1991 to 2021. First, we find that the literature focuses on establishing pathways and creating policies, with much less research on target-setting and implementation. Second, most net zero scholarship focuses on the energy sector, including buildings, while hard to abate sectors are underexamined. Third, there is a disproportionate focus on creating policies for net zero buildings, which are relatively easy to measure and decarbonize compared to other sectors. Finally, there is a notable absence of work on the political factors that enable or constrain the implementation of net zero policies, as well as the efficacy of these policies. This indicates an urgent need for more research on the politics of net zero.

Key policy insights

• Existing scholarly research focuses primarily on the science of net zero, setting goals and translating those goals to emissions pathways.

• Substantively, the majority of scholarship is focused on energy – including buildings, transportation and power generation. There is a need for more research on other, often hard-to-abate sectors such as industrial processes, manufacturing and construction, agriculture and waste.

• More scholarly research on net zero is also needed to evaluate existing policies, both to understand which ones contribute to decarbonization (and not simply emissions reductions), and under what conditions.

• There is an urgent need for greater understanding about the political conditions which promote or constrain the creation and implementation of net zero policies across sectors.

• Without filling these research gaps, policymakers may struggle to design and implement effective net zero policies.

KEYWORDS:

• Net zero
• carbon neutral
• decarbonization
• climate governance

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Thomas Hale and Thijs Van de Graaf for their review and feedback that contributed to the development of this study. We would also like to thank the anonymous peer reviewers for their insights and comments. Finally, we would like to gratefully acknowledge funding from the Balzan Foundation.

Author’s contributions

Both authors contributed equally to the research, coding, data analysis and writing of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 These policy modes do not necessarily proceed chronologically.

2 https://web.archive.org/web/20030401101800/http://www.carbonneutral.com/

3 https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20120919132719/http:/www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/153125.pdf

4 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/QANDA_21_6686

5 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:02010L0031-20181224&from=EN#tocId4. Article 2.

6 https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2015/09/f26/A%20Common%20Definition%20for%20Zero%20Energy%20Buildings.pdf

7 Zerotracker.net.

8 The special issue was not part of our sample, but we include it since it speaks to the issue of which sectors are researched. We thank an anonymous reviewer for this point.

Additional information

Funding

Research for this paper was made possible by generous funding from the Balzan Foundation under the terms of a prize awarded in 2017 to Professor Robert O. Keohane and administered by Princeton University and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioural Sciences under his supervision.