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...
In the five years since the Paris Agreement, achieving net zero emissions has become a defining frame for climate action. We review over 4000 countries, companies, and subnational governments, which together make up the preponderance of global emissions. We find 769...
Meeting the Paris Agreement temperature goal necessitates limiting methane (CH4)-induced warming, in addition to achieving net-zero or (net-negative) carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In our model, for the median 1.5°C scenario between 2020 and 2050, CH4 mitigation...
“Net zero” has gone from a scientific concept, to a demand of fringe activists, to a mainstream organizing principle for mitigation in record time. After COP26, at least 90% of the global economy is covered by some kind of net zero pledge. But having reached the “end...
The question of how humans have influenced individual extreme weather events is both scientifically and socially important. However, deficiencies in climate models’ representations of key mechanisms within the process chains that drive weather reduce our confidence in...
