[MCN] The Economist : Net-zero carbon emissions are necessary, but not sufficient

[Lance Olsen]

The Economist Oct 17th 2019

Carbon-reduction targets
The right way to measure carbon emissions
Net-zero targets are necessary, but not sufficient

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2019/10/17/the-right-way-to-measure-carbon-emissions <https://www.economist.com/leaders/2019/10/17/the-right-way-to-measure-carbon-emissions>

1st 2 paragraphs

Slowly but surely, climate change is taking a prominent place in the rich world’s political debates. Extinction Rebellion protests, backed by hedge-fund managers and barristers as well as students and celebrities, shut down parts of London for several days this month. The Green Party is now the second-most popular political force in Germany and the main opposition party. Some 57% of Americans, and 84% of self-declared Democrats, say climate change is a big threat.

As public opinion shifts, politicians are reacting by adopting new policies. One of the most popular is to set targets to reach “net zero” carbon emissions within a defined geographical border. These targets have plenty going for them. They are easy to understand, galvanising and will spur countries to shift their energy mix towards renewables. They also have two drawbacks. One stems from the word “net”. Net zero means taking as much carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere as you put in, and this requires assumptions about as yet unproven ways of subtracting that carbon from the atmosphere. The more generous such assumptions are, the less emissions need to be cut. The other is that, because they ignore the impact of trade, such targets typically undercount the emissions for which rich countries are responsible. Countries and cities tackling climate change need to make their assumptions more transparent and take a more holistic view of their carbon footprint (see article <https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2019/10/17/greta-thunberg-accuses-rich-countries-of-creative-carbon-accounting>).

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“We have only one planet and the time has come to transform our present lifestyle and consumption patterns...”

From the Executive Summary, WWF:  China Ecological Footprint: Report 2012 : Consumption, production, and sustainability.
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"People should want more, make more, earn more, spend more -- ever more."

Donella Meadows. Just So Much And No More. Yes magazine June 30, 2001
http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/reclaiming-the-commons/437
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“Conservationists are unquestionably useful people. And among the many useful services that they have rendered has been that of dramatizing the vast appetite the United States has developed for materials of all kinds.”

“But what of the appetite itself? Surely this is the ultimate source of the problem. If it continues its geometric course, will it not one day have to be restrained? Yet in the literature of the resource problem this is the forbidden question. Over it hangs a nearly total silence.”

John K. Galbraith. “How much should a country consume?”
In Jarrett, Henry (editor), Perspectives on Conservation. John Hopkins Press. 1958
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https://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/file_attachments/mb-extreme-carbon-inequality-021215-en.pdf







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