What Is Net Zero?

Where did the term “Net Zero” come from?

In 1992 the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), commonly referred to as “the Rio Earth Summit” (the Summit) was held. Leaders from around the world attended. The Summit led to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or Convention) which underpins negotiations regarding greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 is one such green house gas as is methane). The ultimate goal of the UNFCCC is to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations “at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (man-made) interference with the climate system.”

The UNFCCC came into force on 21st March 1994, the UK and Northern Ireland ratified it on 8th December 1993 and as at today’s date one hundred and ninety-eight (198) countries have ratified it – essentially all the governments of the world!

Since the UNFCCC came into force, the parties to the Convention have met, annually, at the “Conference of the Parties” or “COP”. The COP takes decisions required for the effective implementation of the UNFCCC – it is the decision-making body of the UNFCCC.

Conference of the Parties

COP21 (i.e. the 21st meeting of the Conference of the Parties) was held in 2015 in Paris and resulted in a new international climate agreement known as the “Paris Agreement”. It was here that the term “Net Zero” emissions was first popularised.

196 countries out of the 198 countries to the Convention ratified the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement’s main goal is to hold “the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and to pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” To achieve this, the Paris Agreement provides that countries must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The world’s governments, unable to finalise firm dates for specific reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, ended up agreeing that the amount of CO2 emitted globally by society should be “balanced out” by the amount absorbed by nature and that this should be achieved by the second half of the century. This is where the concept of “Net Zero 2050” was born.

It is important to understand that this target was NOT proposed by climate scientists, but rather it was a political compromise that kept all the world governments at the table regarding climate talks. 

COP29 will be held from 11th to 22nd November 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Like its predecessors, the focus is on advancing the goals of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement i.e. confronting the “climate crisis” through implementation of Net Zero policies.

Net Zero = Decarbonisation of the Economy = Impoverishment of the People.

For a greater understanding of the ramifications of Net Zero policies on the lives of those living in the UK, there are two key documents: (1) The Absolute Zero Report; and (2) The Future of Urban Consumption in a 1.5°C World. Both provide extensive detail on consumption interventions which will be needed to meet the Net Zero target. Summaries of these two documents can be read here.

What do Net Zero policies mean on a practical level for the people?

At the core of Net Zero policies is decarbonisation i.e. carbon (CO2) removal. Put simply, those in support of the climate emergency claim the world is getting too hot and that we, the people, are causing it through our use of fossil fuels. To avert this so called “existential” threat to the planet and human life and meet the 1.5°C threshold, explained above, the elimination of the fossil fuel industry is required – we must stop using coal, oil and natural gas. This will require people to make fundamental changes to their lives as they are forced to switch to low carbon alternatives such as solar and wind power.

Net Zero policies will curtail air travel; personal cars will be replaced by public transport and bikes; the food we eat will change with far less meat being consumed; food will be in short supply and thus expensive; heating of our homes will change with gas boilers being replaced by expensive heat pumps; energy prices will rise; many will lose their jobs; the way we build things will change and, ultimately, freedoms and liberties will be lost.

This image shows how UK Fires suggest the UK gets to Net Zero as set out in the Absolute Zero document.

The Cost of Net Zero Transition

In January 2020, Mckinsey & Company published a report entitled “The net-zero transition: What it would cost, what it could bring”.

Mckinsey & Company is a World Economic Forum (WEF) “strategic partner”. The WEF supports Net Zero policies (as you can see here) so it should come as no surprise to learn that Mckinsey & Company align themselves with the WEF in their support of the climate alarmist position as is illustrated by the first sentence of the Preface to the said report:

“More than 10,000 years of continuous and accelerating progress have brought human civilisation to the point of threatening the very condition that made that progress possible: the stability of the earth’s climate.”

The report goes on to state that “capital spending on physical assets for energy and land-use systems in the net-zero transition between 2021 and 2050 would amount to about $275 trillion, or $9.2 trillion per year on average, an annual increase of as much as $3.5 trillion from today”. 

In other words, in order to meet Net Zero emissions by 2050 spending on power, industry, mobility, buildings, agriculture, forestry and waste (which, according to McKinsey & Company, are the seven “energy and land-use systems” that create the worlds greenhouse gas emissions) has to increase astronomically. The result? A fundamental change in the world economy and the way we live our lives.

But what if such fundamental and destructive changes to the world economy and the way we live our lives makes no difference to climate change because… there is no climate “emergency”. What if the dangers of CO2 increases are simply fabricated? Explore our website and decide for yourself.