Context

Oxfam in new report titled “Tightening the Net” stated that ‘net zero’ carbon targets may be a “dangerous distraction” from the priority of cutting carbon emissions.

What does Net-zero mean?

• Also referred to as carbon-neutrality, net-zero does not mean that a country would bring down the emissions to zero.
• The emission would be gross-zero, which means reaching a state where there will be no emissions at all.
• Therefore, in a net-zero state, a country’s emissions are compensated by the absorption and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
• The carbon can be absorbed is by creating carbon sinks such as a forest.
• A country can have even negative emissions if the absorption and removal exceed the actual emissions.
• For example-Bhutan has negative emissions as it absorbs more than it emits.

Key findings of report

• The ‘net zero’ schemes are a Land-hungry scheme as it would require land resources for achieving the net-zero targets.
• For tackling the challenge by planting more treesthen about 1.6 billion hectares of new forests would be required to remove the world’s excess carbon emissions by the year 2050.
• It could result in an 80 percent rise in global food prices and more hunger while allowing rich nations and corporates to continue “dirty business-as-usual”.
• To limit global warming below 1.5°C and to the prevention of irreversible damage from climate change, the world needs to aim to cut emissions by 45 percent by 2030 from 2010 levels.
• Currently, countries’ plans to cut emissions will result in a reduction of only one percent by the year 2030.

India’s objections

• India is the only country opposing this target because it is likely to be the most impacted by it.
• Over the next two to three decades, India’s emission is likely to grow at the fastest pace in the world, as it moves for higher growth to pull hundreds of millions of people out of the poverty.
• No amount of afforestation or reforestation will be able to compensate for the increased emissions.
• Most of the carbon removal technologies available now are either unreliable or very expensive.
• According to India, the net-zero goal does not figure in the 2015 Paris Agreement. India is arguing that instead of opening up a parallel discussion on net-zero targets outside the Paris Agreement framework, countries must focus on delivering on what they have already promised.
• It is well on its way to achieving its three targets of the Paris Agreement.