net zero

English

Adjective

net zero (not comparable)

1. Alternative form of net-zero

Noun

net zero (uncountable)

1. (climate change) Ellipsis of net zero greenhouse gas emissions; carbon neutrality
   • 2022 August 22, Adrian Horton, “John Oliver on corporate ‘net zero’ proposals: ‘We cannot offset our way out of climate change’”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Carbon offsets are a popular route for reaching “net zero” – Oliver cited one study which found that two-thirds of companies in heavily polluting industries relied on offsets instead of emissions reductions to reach carbon neutrality.

   • 2022 September 6, “Jacob Rees-Mogg, who decried ‘climate alarmism’, to take on UK energy brief”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     It is understood he [Chris Skidmore] had no problem in working with Rees-Mogg but wanted to continue promoting net zero.

   • 2023 December 11, Fiona Harvey, Patrick Greenfield, Nina Lakhani, Adam Morton, Damian Carrington, “Cop28 draft climate deal criticised as ‘grossly insufficient’ and ‘incoherent’”, in The Guardian‎^[3], →ISSN:

     The Cop28 presidency released a draft text in the early evening on Monday, which called for “reducing both consumption and production of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, so as to achieve net zero by, before or around 2050, in keeping with the science”.

References

• “net zero”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.