The Net Zero Files: How greenwash is being used to reduce climate ambition

CLARA LAUNCHES THE NET ZERO FILES

Earth is finite, nature is finite, and the carbon-holding capacity of nature is finite.

The Net Zero Files, 18 concise briefings which call out bad Net Zero commitments and put the focus back on deep decarbonization, were launched this week by the Climate, Land, Ambition, and Rights Alliance (CLARA) at https://www.clara.earth/netzero and on Twitter @NetZeroFiles.

The remaining carbon budget to keep atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases below critical temperature thresholds is very limited. Yet these limitations are rarely, if ever, acknowledged in narratives about ‘net zero’.

The use of ‘Net Zero’ commitments feeds a false belief that we can quickly scale up enough carbon dioxide removal in forests, crop soils, and through geoengineering, to allow for continued fossil emissions out to 2050 and beyond.

But these proposed uses of nature for sequestration already add up to several Earth’s worth of forests and other carbon-rich ecosystems.

The Net Zero Files explain how the term shapes how we look at climate ambition, how the shift was enabled, who uses ‘net zero’ commitments and why, and what are the impacts.

The Net Zero Files also chart the way forward: Toward Real Zero.  According to CLARA: “To stay below 1.5°C requires the world to be on a pathway to real zero – complete decarbonization of power, transport, and building sectors – in the next two decades. Getting to real zero also requires stopping deforestation, minimizing emissions from agriculture while ensuring food security, and restoring forest and other ecosystems.”

Following are the 18 Net Zero Files, and more will be added in the future.

OVERVIEW
·       Nature and Net Zero (with definitions of key terms)
·       How to Read a Net Zero Pledge

ENABLERS
Carbon can be returned to landscapes, but not at the scales sought by the fossil fuel giants.
·       Article 4.1 and the ‘false equivalence’ of Net Zero
·       Article 6 and Net Zero
·       The Task Force on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets and Net Zero
·       Geoengineering and Net Zero
·       Big Conservation and Net Zero
·       Corporate Net Zero: Why it’s a problem

USERS
Are we going to allow the limited removal capacity of nature to be sold to the highest bidder?
·       The International Emissions Trading Association and Net Zero
·       Fossil Fuel Sector and Net Zero
·       From Net Zero to Greenwash – Global Meat and Dairy Companies
·       Mining and Net Zero

IMPACTS
Time has run out. The age of fossil fuels is ending. The era of offsetting is over.
·       Land Rights and Net Zero
·       Equity and Net Zero

TOWARD REAL ZERO
·       Article 6.8 and Non-Market Approaches
·       Missing Pathways: Rights-Based Solutions
·       Equity and Net Zero – the Special Case of Agriculture
·       Further Resources (from CLARA members and other organizations)

CLARA is a global civil society alliance with more than 40 members from conservation, agroecology, land-rights, faith-based, and forest restoration organizations and communities.

INTERVIEWS: A range of CLARA experts contributed to the Net Zero Files and experts on the specific topics are available for interviews.

CONTACT: Don Lehr (CLARA) / dblehr@cs.com / +1 917 304 4058

6 Oct, 2021
Posted in Resources and publications, Forests and Climate Change, Press releases