Carbon neutrality

Climate Change 2021 – The Physical Science Basis, Annex VII: Glossary, written by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and published by Cambridge University Press in 2023, suggests that carbon neutrality is a:

Condition in which anthropogenic CO2 emissions associated with a subject are balanced by anthropogenic CO2 removals. The subject can be an entity such as a country, an organization, a district or a commodity, or an activity such as a service and an event. Carbon neutrality is often assessed over the life cycle including indirect (‘scope 3’) emissions, but can also be limited to the emissions and removals, over a specified period, for which the subject has direct control, as determined by the relevant scheme.

Note 1: Carbon neutrality and net zero CO2 emissions are overlapping concepts. The concepts can be applied at global or sub-global scales (e.g., regional, national and sub-national). At a global scale, the terms carbon neutrality and net zero CO2 emissions are equivalent. At sub-global scales, net zero CO2 emissions is generally applied to emissions and removals under direct control or territorial responsibility of the reporting entity, while carbon neutrality generally includes emissions and removals within and beyond the direct control or territorial responsibility of the reporting entity. Accounting rules specified by GHG programmes or schemes can have a significant influence on the quantification of relevant CO2 emissions and removals.

Note 2: In some cases, achieving carbon neutrality may rely on the supplementary use of offsets to balance emissions that remain after actions by the reporting entity are taken into account.

See also: Carbon neutral buildings.

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• Climate Change Act.
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