KEY MESSAGES
1. Global net-zero will be achieved when human caused GHG emissions have been reduced to the absolute minimum levels feasible, and any remaining “residual emissions” are balanced by an equivalent quantity of human-caused removals that are permanently stored so that emissions cannot be released into the atmosphere.
2. The scale and urgency of emission reductions needed by both countries and the private sector mean that we can no longer take action only where emissions reductions are low cost or in a piecemeal fashion. Instead, we must reduce all emissions comprehensively and as quickly and efficiently as possible.
3. Carbon pricing, including international cooperation through carbon markets, should be included in the arsenal of measures to enable the achievement to net-zero targets. Carbon prices must also be high enough to provide effective signals to society, which will drive the level of investment and technological changes necessary to reach net-zero, and be taken in conjunction with complementary policy actions to make carbon pricing relevant across company value chains. This can be achieved by expanding pricing mechanisms and coordination across countries to cover a higher proportion of global emissions.
4. International carbon markets must increase ambition and leverage investment, rather than being used solely to reduce costs.
5. As countries work towards net-zero and emissions are aggressively abated, the use of emission reduction credits must necessarily decrease. Only high-quality removal credits should be used to balance residual emissions at net-zero and beyond. However, high-quality emission reduction credits can provide an important flow of capital to accelerate action on the path to net-zero and progress towards emission reductions now.
6. Corporate achievement of net-zero occurs when value chain emissions have been abated to the maximum extent possible and the remaining residual emissions neutralized by an equivalent quantity of removals.
7. Net-zero criteria should be integrated into all investment decisions, including those by development finance institutions, to support rapid decarbonization across all economic sectors, taking into account the national circumstance of individual countries.