Principles for making a net zero commitment
Principles for making a net zero commitment
Net Zero: Joining the race, investing, and offsetting
This page provides principles for joining the race to net zero, investing in alignment with net-zero goals, and approaching carbon offsetting in alignment with net zero commitments. Click on the buttons to find out more about each set of research-based principles, or scroll down to browse through all three.
How to Commit to Net Zero:
Criteria for Joining the Race to Zero
Net zero commitments are now expected standards for companies, local, regional and national governments. The following are clear steps to follow in setting net zero commitments, developed by the University of Oxford through an extensive series of stakeholder workshops. These are the same as the minimum criteria for the UNFCCC-backed Race to Zero Campaign ahead of the Conference of Parties in Glasgow this year, a pivotal moment in global climate negotiations. By taking these steps your institution can join the global effort to meet the Paris Agreement goals.
The steps below come from the official criteria for joining the Race to Zero campaign. The criteria were created by the networks and initiatives that form the Race to Zero’s international climate action community. Download a mapping of the criteria here, which provides questions to ask your institution about its targets.
Looking for tools to help you follow these steps?
1 — Pledge
2 — Plan
3 — Proceed
4 — Publish
HOW TO COMMIT TO NET ZERO:
PRINCIPLES OF NET ZERO-ALIGNED INVESTMENT
The Oxford Martin Principles for Net Zero-Aligned Investing provide a framework for engagement between climate-conscious investors and companies across the global economy. Building upon the science of long-term climate change, they focus on how investments contribute to the global stock of cumulative carbon dioxide emissions, complementing other measures, such as carbon footprinting, that focus on emission flows.
Looking for tools to help you follow these steps?
1 — COMMIT TO NET-ZERO EMISSIONS
2 — DEVELOP A PROFITABLE NET-ZERO BUSINESS MODEL
3 — use QUANTITATIVE MEDIUM-TERM TARGETS
how to commit to net zero:
Net ZERO-AliGNED OFFSETTING PRINCIPLES
Carbon offsetting is a widespread tool in efforts to achieve net zero emissions. But current approaches to offsetting are unlikely to deliver the types of offsets needed to achieve global climate goals. Net zero pledges from many companies, such as those recently from BP and Google, and the recent 2060 “carbon neutrality” pledge from China are likely to use offsets. And many industry leaders are working to develop standards such as the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, as well as the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets. But what types of offsets are aligned with pathways to net zero and under what conditions should they be used? The Oxford Principles for Net Zero Aligned Carbon Offsetting, provide guidelines to help ensure offsetting actually helps to achieve a net zero society.
Looking for tools to help you follow these steps?
1 — Cut emissions, use high quality offsets, and regularly revise offsetting strategy as best practice evolves
2 — Shift offsetting towards carbon removal
3 — Shift offsetting towards long-lived storage
4 — Support the development of net zero aligned offsetting
HOW TO GET NET ZERO RIGHT – The 7 attributes
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, using our recent paper in Nature Climate Change.
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.
The attributes:
1. Front-loaded emission reductions
2. A comprehensive approach to emission reductions
3. Cautious use of carbon dioxide removal and storage
4. Effective regulation of carbon offsets
5. An equitable transition to net zero
6. Alignment with broader socio-ecological objectives
7. Pursuit of new economic opportunities
News and Events


Oxford Net Zero Engagement Team is Hiring Research Assistants
Spring and Summer Research Assistant Opportunities with Oxford Net Zero The Oxford Net Zero Engagement Team, working out of the Smith School for Enterprise and the Environment is seeking research assistants to support with the development of a ... Read more


5 Key Takeaways from Oxford Net Zero Policy Masterclass
On 9 March 2022, the University of Oxford’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment (SSEE) and Oxford Net Zero (ONZ) held a joint masterclass on policy interventions for accelerating the transition to net zero, hosted by Apolitical. This ... Read more


Net zero business or business for net zero? A report on corporate climate leadership practices on scope and offsetting
A new report (PDF) outlines how companies considered sustainability leaders, at the forefront of net zero ambition, are defining and managing their Scope 3 emissions, and using credits, sinks offsets, and insets to compensate emissions or ... Read more


The Oxford Net Zero Engagement Team is Hiring
The Oxford Net Zero engagement team is growing with two job posts open now: Read more


The Carbon Club revisited: Harnessing enterprise and trade to decarbonise the global economy
In this new paper (PDF) by Bethan Adams, Kaya Axelsson and Adam Parr, a Carbon Club is proposed, consisting of states that are considering a Border Carbon Adjustment (BCA). This would include the EU, the UK, Canada, Japan, and the US, which ... Read more


7 Attributes for a Successful Net Zero – read Oxford Net Zero’s new Nature Climate Change paper
The Oxford Net Zero team has authored a new paper, published in Nature Climate Change, on 'the meaning of net zero and how to get it right'. The readiness with which a growing number of countries, sub-national entities and individual ... Read more
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