Green energy for carbon neutral ecosystem

• Perspective • 20 December 2021 The meaning of net zero and how to get it right • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2100-7888 • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5737-0155 • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1721-7172 • • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8871-3376 • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0467-7441 • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1486-3945 • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7730-8041 • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5483-3628 • • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6981-2769 • • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6095-8419 • • … • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5728-7012 Show authors Nature Climate Change volume 12, pages 15–21 ( 2022) The concept of net-zero carbon emissions has emerged from physical climate science. However, it is operationalized through social, political and economic systems. We identify seven attributes of net zero, which are important to make it a successful framework for climate action. The seven attributes highlight the urgency of emission reductions, which need to be front-loaded, and of coverage of all emission sources, including currently difficult ones. The attributes emphasize the need for social and environmental integrity. This means carbon dioxide removals should be used cautiously and the use of carbon offsets should be regulated effectively. Net zero must be aligned with broader sustainable development objectives, which implies an equitable net-zero transition, socio-ecological sustainability and the pursuit of broad economic opportunities. Climate policy has a new focus: net-zero emissions. Hi...

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The United States is struggling to squeeze opportunity out of an energy crisis that should have been a catalyst for cleaner, domestically produced power. After decades of putting the climate on the back burner, the country is finding itself unprepared to seize the moment and at risk of emerging from the crisis even more reliant on fossil fuels. “The energy crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine has seen a perilous doubling down on fossil fuels by the major economies,” U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said at a conference in Vienna on Tuesday, according to prepared remarks. He warned governments and investors that a failure to immediately and more aggressively embrace clean energy could be disastrous for the planet. U.S. climate envoy John F. Kerry suggested that nations are falling prey to a flawed logic that fossil fuels will help them weather this period of instability, which has seen gas prices climb to a record-high national average of $5 per gallon. “You have this new revisionism suggesting that we have to be pumping oil like crazy, and we have to be moving into long-term [fossil fuel] infrastructure building,” In the United States — the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China — the hurdles go beyond the supply chain crunch and sanctions linked to the war in Ukraine. The country’s lofty goals for all carbon pollution to be gone from the electricity sector by 2035 and for half the cars sold to be electric by 2030 are jeopardized by years...

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Special Report (56 pages) The built environment ecosystem consists of real estate and infrastructure and touches all aspects of human life, from homes and offices to factories and highways. It is also responsible for about of a quarter of the world’s greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. To help industry players make progress toward decarbonization, “Building value by decarbonizing the built environment” assesses the most effective solutions available today. Our analysis shows that many levers not only have proven abatement potential but also are already cost-effective. In other words, companies across the built-environment ecosystem could derive value immediately from these less-emissive technologies and solutions. This article is a collaborative effort by Further decarbonization levers would be cost-effective by 2030 if they are industrialized—that is, produced and implemented at scale with a focus on quality, cost, and time to market. Because today’s value chains are often fragmented and localized, industrialization poses its own challenge. However, those that act now will likely be able to take advantage of powerful new business opportunities as global decarbonization gains traction. This report identifies 17 such opportunities that could prove particularly attractive for industry players. Together, the 22 levers we highlight can potentially reduce overall emissions from the built environment by up to 75 percent if implemented at scale in the next five to ten years. In these...