Greenextionary: What You May Want To Know About Carbon

Jul 29

You may have heard governments or organizations pledge to "achieve carbon neutrality" by a certain year. Some have even pledged to go "carbon negative" or "climate positive". Yet, what do these terms really mean?

Greenextionary is our new series that looks at all of the complicated and sometimes confusing terms that may appear frequently in sustainability news, which aims to help our audience get a bit clearer on what they mean.

Let’s start with the basics!

Why is it important?

The science shows clearly that in order to avert the worst impacts of climate change and preserve a livable planet, global temperature increase needs to be limited to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Currently, the Earth is already about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s, and emissions continue to rise. 2010-2019 is the warmest decade on record. On the current path of carbon dioxide emissions, the global temperature is expected to increase by 3 to 5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.

To keep global warming to no more than 1.5°C – as called for in the Paris Agreement – emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. In fact, 196 countries adopted the historic Paris Agreement to reduce global warming and build resilience to climate change. Its overall goal: limit warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Let's dive into the solutions!

The Time Is Now

Many governments are now moving in the right direction. By early 2021, countries representing more than 65 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions and more than 70 per cent of the world economy, will have made ambitious commitments to carbon neutrality.

For China, in September 2020, President Xi Jinping announced that the People’s Republic of China will "aim to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060", which is also sometimes referred to as "dual carbon goals". Hong Kong SAR is also committed to taking action under the Paris Agreement. In 2017, Hong Kong released the Climate Action Plan 2030+ and committed to peak carbon emissions by 2020 and to reduce them by 26-36% from 2005 levels by 2030.

Besides, over 1,200 companies have put in place science-based targets in line with net zero, and more than 1000 cities, over 1000 educational institutions, and over 400 financial institutions have joined the Race to Zero, pledging to take rigorous, immediate action to halve global emissions by 2030.

Further exploring

Net-zero or net-zero emissions

Net zero emissions balance the whole amount of emissions released and the amount removed from the atmosphere. Net zero is broadly the same as carbon neutral: Emissions are still being generated, but they’re offset by the same amount elsewhere. However, when referring to “net-zero”, it is crucial to specify net-zero carbon or emissions. Net-zero emissions refer to the overall balance of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) produced and GHG emissions taken out of the atmosphere.

Zero emissions

This one is easy to understand, but hard to achieve. Zero emissions means there’s no CO₂ released at all. In our current system, however, no technology is truly zero emissions.

Carbon Credit

A carbon credit is a generic term for any tradable certificate or permit representing the right to emit a set amount of carbon dioxide or the equivalent amount of different greenhouse gases.

Danie LIU