The Road to Net Zero

According to the website Climate Watch, 100 nations have pledged to reach carbon neutrality by a certain year - that is almost exactly half of the world's countries. The climate conference COP29 that kicks off today in Baku, Azerbaijan, might now give countries the opportunity to publish new goals or update existing ones. Besides sharing and updating climate goals, the conference will also be about climate finance. A major objective is to increase contributions to climate change mitigation, typically paid by richer countries to poorer ones.

Leading the road to net zero among bigger nations is Finland, which aims to become carbon neutral by 2035. In Europe, Iceland is also looking to reach net zero early, by 2040, while Germany and Sweden are pushing the date for carbon neutrality to 2045. Outside of Europe, those pledging early carbon neutrality include Mauritania (2030) and Nepal (2045).

Many of the countries with climate pledges have put down 2050 as their goal. However, many in Asia are aiming for 2060, for example China, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Russia. India, responsible for seven percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, is even further behind, having set 2070 as its target. These later dates might prove detrimental to the fight against climate change as China, India and Russia are among the five top emitters of CO₂ in the world together with the United States and the European Union.

The tracker identifies six countries that have already achieved net zero and have officially pledged to remain carbon neutral. Among them are many smaller states and island nations, with their successes partially attributable to the relatively undeveloped nature of some of those places as well as in some cases dense forest cover, which makes up large parts of Guyana, for example.

While the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is a key part of the net zero concept and combating climate change, it's not its only relevant indicator. Artificial or natural carbon sinks like rainforests are also an important factor in reaching this goal. Therefore, carbon neutrality must be understood as a holistic concept, including developing technology to draw greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, furthering conservationist measures concerning important natural habitats and reducing the overall output of CO₂ emissions.