TWN, Actionaid, Corporate accountability, Friends of the Earth, Demand Climate Justice and What Next?
There is a fine line between climate action that is intended to reduce emissions and that which is intended to offset it. This joint technical briefing by climate justice organisations highlights how ‘net zero’ initiatives fail to demonstrate a genuine commitment to reducing carbon emissions. The world’s biggest polluters can claim to ‘offset’ their emissions rather than reducing them. There is, however, not physically enough land to offset all the emissions produced by these actors. Further, where there is currently land that can be used for this purpose, it is predominantly located in the Global South. People who live and depend on these lands are oftentimes evicted. Finally, this solution quite literally ‘offsets’ the issue of climate change rather than resolving it. The move towards ‘Real Zero’, where actors take radical action to reduce their carbon emissions, is imperative.
Key words: ‘Net-zero’, Offsetting, Carbon Colonialism, ‘Real Zero’, Human Rights, Land Rights