What is the difference between carbon neutral versus net zero?
As climate change continues to be a pressing issue, more and more individuals and businesses are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint. Two terms that are often used in this context are “carbon neutrality” and “net zero.” But what do these terms mean? And how can VNV Advisory help you meet either or both of these targets?
Carbon neutrality means that the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere is equal to the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere. In other words, there is no net increase in atmospheric CO2. Net zero, on the other hand, means that the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere is equal to the amount removed. Greenhouse gases include not just CO2 but also methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases. Both carbon neutrality and net zero are tough targets to achieve, but in the long run, they will be necessary if we are to avert catastrophic climate change.
In order to achieve net zero carbon emissions, a company would have to completely eliminate their emissions. Carbon neutrality, on the other hand, is when a company offsets their emissions by investing in projects that reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. These can be things like planting trees or investing in cookstove projects.
Achieving net zero is a more ambitious goal than carbon neutrality, but it’s one that VNV Advisory can help you reach.
We specialize in helping companies that want to combine carbon neutrality or net zero status with clear impacts on the ground, by connecting our customers with certified community-based carbon mitigation projects which are active within their own business domain. So we connect farmers in Germany to rice farmers in Nepal that work on methane reductions, a paper producer in the EU to an Agroforestry project in India, and companies from the clothing industry in France to a cotton project in Bangladesh. This way, the funds for offsetting will not largely disappear in a global trading system, but (minus a small certification fee) make it directly to the project partners on the ground, allowing them to monitor, maintain, extend or upscale their activities.