Net zero

Also called: Carbon neutrality · Topic: Climate Change: Causes, Evidence and the Global Response · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Net zero (also called carbon neutrality) is a state where a country still releases some greenhouse gases, but removes the same amount from the air, through forests or carbon-capture technology, so the balance is zero. Net zero is now the long-term frame for national climate goals. It shows how and when each country plans to stop adding to global warming.

Explanation

How net zero works

• Two sides of a balance:
• Emissions: gases a country puts into the air, from burning coal, oil and gas, from farming and from industry.

• Removals: gases taken back out of the air.

• The result: if removals equal emissions, the net (final) amount added to the air is zero.

• Net zero does not mean zero emissions. Some emissions can continue. They only need to be balanced by an equal removal.

Ways to remove gases from the air

• Natural carbon sinks: a carbon sink is anything that takes in more carbon than it gives out.
• Forests and trees take in CO₂ as they grow.

• India plans to create an extra carbon sink of 2.5–3 billion tonnes of CO₂-equivalent by 2030 through more forest and tree cover [3]. CO₂-equivalent is a way of counting all greenhouse gases in one common unit, based on CO₂.

• Technology: carbon capture catches CO₂ from factories or power plants, or straight from the air, and stores it.

How it links to the Paris Agreement

• Paris goal (Article 2): keep warming "well below 2 °C" above pre-industrial levels and "pursue efforts" to limit it to 1.5 °C.
• The link:
• Gases keep building up in the air while emissions are higher than removals.
• → Temperature keeps rising.

• → Warming can only level off once the world reaches net zero.

• Short-term and long-term goals:

• NDCs (Article 4) are short-term pledges, made every 5 years.
• Net-zero targets are the long-term end point those pledges should lead to.
• India's updated NDC includes a long-term roadmap to net zero by 2070 [2].

The steps on the way: India's case

• India's updated NDC (sent to the UNFCCC on 26 August 2022) [1][2]:
• cut the emissions intensity of GDP by 45% by 2030, from the 2005 level [1]. Emissions intensity means emissions for each unit of GDP.
• reach about 50% of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030 [1]

• create an extra carbon sink of 2.5–3 billion tonnes CO₂-equivalent [3]

• Progress:

• Emissions intensity fell by about 36% between 2005 and 2020.
• India passed 50% non-fossil installed capacity in 2025, five years early [4].

Where it occurs

• European Union: 2050. This target is set in the European Climate Law, so it is legally binding.
• China: 2060. This is an announced pledge, which China calls "carbon neutrality".
• India: 2070. It was announced at COP26, Glasgow (UK), 2021. It is part of India's updated NDC, approved by the Union Cabinet in 2022 [2].
• Global level: the first Global Stocktake (COP28, Dubai, UAE, 2023, the "UAE Consensus") pushed countries towards net zero. It called for:
• "transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems"
• tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030

• doubling the yearly rate of energy-efficiency improvement by 2030

• Forests as sinks: in India, more forest and tree cover is the main natural route to removals [3]. At COP30, Belém (Brazil), near the mouth of the Amazon, the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) was set up to pay tropical countries to keep their forests standing. About $5.5 billion was pledged, and 53 countries endorsed it [8].

Don't confuse with

• Zero emissions / fossil-fuel phase-out: zero emissions means no gases are released at all. Net zero still allows some emissions, as long as an equal amount is removed. Also, COP28 said "transitioning away from" fossil fuels, not "phase-out".
• Emissions intensity: this is emissions per unit of GDP. India's 45% cut by 2030 is in intensity, not in total emissions. Total emissions can still grow while intensity falls [1].
• NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution): a short-term national pledge, renewed every 5 years and stronger each time (the ratchet). Net zero is the long-term end goal, for example 2070 for India.
• Carbon sink: a sink is one tool that removes gas, such as a forest. Net zero is the end state, reached when sinks and capture fully balance emissions.

Prelims Hooks

• Net-zero order (earliest to latest): EU 2050 → China 2060 → India 2070.
• Legal basis: only the EU's target is in a binding law (European Climate Law). China's is an announced pledge.
• India's 2070 net-zero pledge was announced at COP26, Glasgow, 2021, not at COP21 Paris.
• India's updated NDC (2022): 45% cut in emissions intensity of GDP from the 2005 level by 2030 [1]; about 50% non-fossil installed capacity by 2030 [1], reached in 2025 [4]; 2.5–3 billion tonnes CO₂-equivalent extra carbon sink [3]; roadmap to net zero by 2070 [2].
• Trap: net zero ≠ zero emissions. Remaining emissions are balanced by removals through forests or carbon capture.
• Trap: the Paris Agreement aims for "well below 2 °C" and "pursue efforts" for 1.5 °C (Article 2). It sets no single net-zero year for all countries. Each country chooses its own.

Mains Points

• Different years reflect CBDR-RC:
• CBDR-RC (Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities) means rich countries polluted first and have more money, so they must do more.
• So the EU aims for 2050, while India, a developing country, has a later 2070 target.

• India links its path to climate justice: finance in grants and a just transition for coal regions (moving away from coal without leaving workers and communities behind) (GS-III environment; GS-II international relations).

• Finance decides how fast net zero comes:

• Developing countries need money for clean energy and carbon sinks.
• At COP29, Baku (2024), the NCQG (New Collective Quantified Goal, the new climate-finance target) set developed countries to lead in mobilising at least $300 billion a year by 2035 [5], within a wider call for $1.3 trillion [5].

• India called this "paltry" [6] and asked for $1.3 trillion, with $600 billion as grants [7].

• India over-delivers on the steps towards 2070:

• India crossed 50% non-fossil installed capacity in 2025, five years ahead of target [4].
• Its emissions intensity fell about 36% (2005–2020).
• This record, together with its forest-sink plan [3], adds weight to its 2070 target and to its voice for the Global South.

Related concepts

• Paris Agreement
• Nationally Determined Contributions
• Global Stocktake
• Loss and damage fund
• Green Climate Fund
• New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance
• COP30 Belem (2025)

Read more

• The Paris Agreement and the COPs since: NDCs, stocktake, loss and damage, finance