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The word “neutrality” does not refer to the absence of greenhouse gases, but to a balance between the amount of CO2 emitted and the amount absorbed by natural carbon sinks. Image: Shutterstock / Kletr.
One of the main goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. A necessary condition if we want to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, carbon neutrality designates a balance between emissions anthropogenic greenhouse gases and the amount of carbon dioxide naturally absorbed by carbon sinks such as the soil, oceans and forests.
A study by the non-governmental organization Oxfam and the Stockholm Environment Institute, presented on September 21, found that the richest 1% of the world’s population (about 63 million people) is responsible for 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions.
At the 2015 United Nations Conference on Climate Change or COP21, which concluded with the Paris Agreement on climate change, 195 countries, including the European Union, committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
But what exactly do we mean by carbon neutrality?
The word “neutrality” does not refer to the absence of greenhouse gases but rather to a balance between the amount of CO2 emitted and the amount absorbed by ecosystems that act as natural carbon sinks for the planet, such as forests, grasslands, soils and oceans. .
Together, these carbon sinks can remove 9.5 to 11 gigatons of CO2 per year. However, global greenhouse gas emissions are equal to four times this figure, which was around 43.1 gigatons in 2019, including 36.8 billion tons of CO2 caused by the use of coal, oil and gas. .
To date, the most popular option in the bid to achieve carbon neutrality has been to resort to carbon offsetting, which aims to offset emissions from one sector with reductions in others. This is, in particular, the strategy that a large number of companies have adopted.
Offsetting may in particular involve developing the capacity of carbon sinks, for example by planting more trees. However, this type of initiative also has its limits, especially since global warming has increased the risk of forest fires, which release large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere.
It follows that the most effective solutions to achieve carbon neutrality combine the preservation of carbon-absorbing ecosystems with drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. At the global level, this will require a major review of the most polluting industrial sectors, which are energy, textiles, transport, agriculture and construction. DC
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