Achieving Zero Publications

Introduction A net zero emission economy will be essential to maintain a stable global climate. The private sector has a critical role in delivering this and there is a growing body of evidence to demonstrate that it makes good business sense to act. Business action on climate change can inform...

May 2021 – A new report from University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership analyses the progress the UK has made towards reducing emissions and meeting its 2030 targets, and looks at the role that policy and clear, sector-specific ambitions have played in supporting the transition.

17 November 2020 – This thought-starter paper has been prepared with a view to sharing some initial ideas on the a concept of ‘competitive sustainability’, which lies at the heart of the European Green Deal (EGD) and the EU’s growth strategy. Upcoming investment and policy decisions, such as those on the Covid-19 Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs) and the new EU Industrial Strategy need to focus on this new approach to competitiveness to ensure the EU stands to secure advantage and benefit from the economic opportunities, jobs and emissions reductions from the transition to climate neutrality.

12 September 2018 – The Paris Agreement is a historic landmark for both international diplomacy and action on climate change. The Agreement sets out an ambition, and a framework, to limit climate change and global temperature rise to well below 2°C, with efforts to limit this to 1.5 °C. To be Paris compliant, and to have any hope of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 °C, it is clear from the latest science that global emissions must now fall to net-zero as early as possible in the second half of this century. For developed economies such as the EU’s, whose leadership is essential in this, the achievement of net zero emissions must therefore be by 2050 at the latest.