The buzzwords, slogans and jargon attached to the climate and biodiversity crises are no exception – indeed they are notoriously slippery and prone to malleability. As scientific research on climate change is discussed, debated, and shared along new avenues, its language can easily be stripped of its original intent, and, often, its meaning. A prime example of this is a term we hear every day in relation to climate action: net zero.

What is net zero?

The focal point of climate policy in recent years, net zero has featured strongly in headlines in 2020 and 2021 as climate ambitions became formalised and its narrative was adopted by more countries and organisations than ever.

Essentially, net zero means that what goes out must come back in. In a net zero world, if a tonne of carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere from human-generated sources like fossil fuels and land-use change, a tonne of carbon dioxide must be deliberately removed from the atmosphere. The flow of carbon from human-generated sources, like fossil fuels and land use change, must balance on aggregate with carbon being drawn down into carbon sinks.

But what’s a carbon sink? These are natural carbon sponges that absorb more carbon than they release, typically carbon reservoirs like forests, soil and oceans. The carbon they store becomes part of the nutrient cycle within these ecosystems. They can still emit carbon, but they take up much more.

Current flows of carbon from human sources far exceed its removal into the planet’s carbon sinks.

Some confusion over the idea of net zero comes from the similar term absolute zero. In a net zero world, emissions are still being generated, but they’re balanced out by offsets or mechanisms that settle the carbon budget. Absolute zero refers to no emissions being generated at all. Currently, this is unrealistic – any activity that produces emissions would have to be scrapped, which simply isn’t feasible in this day and age. In some modern processes, emissions are unavoidable, so offsets will continue to have a key role to play as we transition to reducing emissions across different sectors.

Reaching net zero

To limit a rise in global average temperatures, a defined budget of CO₂ and other greenhouse gas emissions that can be allowed into the atmosphere must be set; meeting the Paris Agreement goal of only a 1.5°C rise by 2100 limits the world to an emissions budget of 400 – 800 GtCO₂. To avoid overspending this budget, greenhouse gas emissions must rapidly reach a maximum peak before 2030, and then drop to net zero by around 2050.

The lifetime and legacy of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases means the balance of removals and emissions for net zero must continue over many decades. Emitting now and removing later is not an acceptable solution; all the time greenhouse gases are in the atmosphere, they are contributing to rising global temperatures, pushing our climates to a tipping point that could cause irreversible damage.

A recent paper from the journal Nature outlined seven attributes essential to achieving credible net-zero:

• Front-loaded emission reductions
• Comprehensive emission reductions
• Cautious use of carbon dioxide removal
• Effective regulation of carbon offsets
• Equitable transition to net zero
• Socio-ecological sustainability
• New economic opportunities

For net zero to be realised on a global scale, there needs to be better governance, accountability and reporting mechanisms. After all, pledges can easily appear empty if they lack detailed plans and long-term social integrity. There are broad shifts needed across industries, technologies, and the way we live that frequently dip into the muddy waters of economics, politics, and social dynamics. We will be covering some of these strategies and transitions in upcoming featured pieces.

Net zero verifications and certifications

The concept of net zero, however, is susceptible to alternative interpretations and blurred definitions from different sources.

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for organisations defines its version of net zero only as emission reductions that align with a 1.5°C trajectory – even though net zero as a concept isn’t tied to a specific temperature target. As 1.5°C will likely slip from reach (based on the weakness of current global commitments), net zero will still be applied as a concept to a 2.0°C or 2.5°C target.

SBTi also sets out that net zero claims must cover all Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, and that eligible offsets must be carbon removals, as opposed to carbon avoidance (a definition of net zero based on The British Standards Institution’s PAS 2060 verification).

Australia, meanwhile, has its own verification for net zero – Climate Active’s Carbon Neutral Standard. This is achieved in three steps that link to each other, and can apply to organisations, products, services, events, buildings, or precincts:

1. Calculating a carbon footprint by measuring the amount of greenhouse gas emissions currently being produced.
2. Reducing emissions where possible.
3. Remaining emissions that can’t be avoided are offset by purchasing carbon credits.

Find out more about measuring your carbon footprint here.

What about carbon neutral and climate neutral?

Net zero, when applied to an entity or organisation, is not the same thing as carbon neutrality.

To be carbon neutral, an organisation or entity must prevent any increases in emissions and use offsets to balance current emissions. To be net zero, an organisation must first reduce its emissions as much as possible, then use offsets to balance out any remaining emissions.

Because people like to simplify things, we have grown to see carbon as the major factor in climate change; this use of carbon as a single, easy-to-measure unit of impact on global warming in turn leads to an inference that carbon neutrality only refers to carbon dioxide, and that climate neutrality refers to all greenhouse gases. But in reality, this is not the case. Offset credits are measured in CO₂-equivalent (CO₂-e) units, but can still account for other greenhouse gases other than just CO₂. These other greenhouse gases, such as nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons, have different levels of impact of climate. In general, these are shorter-lived than CO₂, and so global warming resulting from their levels is better determined by present-day emission rate (plus a small correction) rather than cumulative emissions.

References

The meaning of net zero and how to get it right, Nature, 2021.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01245-w

Towards net zero: Practical policies to offset carbon emissions, Grattan Institute, 2021.
https://grattan.edu.au/report/towards-net-zero-practical-policies-to-offset-carbon-emissions/

Carbon neutral certification, Carbon Trust, 2021.
https://www.carbontrust.com/what-we-do/assurance-and-certification/carbon-neutral-certification

Additional icons sourced from Flaticon.

We are well underway into a sixth major extinction event, with global populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians dropping by 68% between 1970 and 2016.

In April of this year 13000 scientists from 153 countries agreed it has become time to replace ‘climate change’ with ‘climate emergency’ in their writing, discussions, and media outreach. When there’s a change in the weather, maybe we’ll try to remember to take our umbrella with us. When it’s an emergency, it’s time for bigger actions and tough decisions to be made. 

The problems are glaringly obvious in our own backyard. In September 2020, Australia was singled out by the United Nations for all the wrong reasons; we are the global leader in mammal extinctions.

It’s not rocket science

Carbon emissions must be drastically reduced if we are to keep the planet from warming more than 1.5 degrees C by 2050, a key threshold recognised by governing bodies across the globe and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 

However, current trends suggest we’re well on our way to surpassing 1.5°C, with emissions spiralling and reductions lagging far behind. We need to find a way to capture carbon already in the atmosphere whilst also shrinking future emissions. 

Capturing carbon has been a hot topic of climate discussions for a long time. It seems like every week a new idea for capturing greenhouse gas emissions appears. Often the wild, planetary-scale technologies such as injecting millions of tons of sulphuric acid into the stratosphere to reflect the sun’s radiation, seem reminiscent of The Jetsons or a high school science fair. 

We may need these far-flung ideas one day if we surpass 1.5°C, but if we do the consequences will be devastating. By then, millions of people living on low-lying nations, farmers reliant on stable weather, and children unexposed to new diseases will be facing enormous risks. 

It becomes crystal clear then that the time for change isn’t in the future, it’s right now.

Luckily, one of the largest carbon drawdown mechanisms on the planet is available to us right now, and they’ve already had hundreds of millions of years of practice – trees.

Trees absorb carbon from the atmosphere using a special chemical called chlorophyll in plant cells.

Captured carbon dioxide is used by the plant to grow, and this releases oxygen into the air for organisms to breathe.

Carbon that has become leaves, stems, bark, and branches fall from the tree, ending up in the soil.

Carbon can remain in the plant and soils for millennia, forming food and habitat.

Capturing carbon, but so much more

Since 2008, Carbon Neutral’s reforestation projects have planted more than 30 million trees and shrubs across 14000 hectares. This is Australia’s largest carbon sink, and the first to achieve Gold Standard biodiverse offset certification.

One million tonnes of carbon will be stored by the trees and shrubs that have been planted already, and this will only grow as the project continues to expand each year as more businesses take action on their environmental impact.

But there’s even more to the magic. Whilst taking up huge amounts of carbon from the atmosphere as they grow, trees form the vital component of land ecosystems that allows life to flourish.

“It’s amazing, the capacity that nature has to heal itself.”

– Paul Leadley, Professor and Director at Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

By planting a mix of more than 60 native tree and shrub species, sourced from localised seed banks, the re-planted woodland becomes a thriving habitat. The image of row upon row of a single tree species planted in monoculture is nowhere to be seen. 

Underground, amidst the tangle of roots and microorganisms, these restored ecosystems recycle nutrients and reduce salinity. One of the biggest problems the Wheatbelt faces is rising water tables and erosion of soil. The re-planted vegetation combats both these issues; more water can infiltrate the enhanced soil structure, and once its there can be retained far longer to grow the plants above the surface.

A biodiverse home to thousands

Australia’s southwest is recognised as a Global Biodiversity Hotspot – one of only two in Australia. For hundreds of millions of years these ecosystems have been home to thousands of plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. And now, the Corridor is helping bring many back from the brink of extinction.

Why a corridor? It’s like having the grocery store on your doorstep, rather than a two hour road trip away. The re-planted pockets are connected to remnant bush and conservation reserves, preventing the isolation that can lead to species decline. This lets animals move between a larger area to access food and water, disperse pollen, and provides a buffer to external threats which can also be more easily managed. 

As the ecosystem grows over time, carbon emissions from the atmosphere become stems, bark, and leaves, building up shelter and food sources for wildlife. The endangered Western Spiny-tailed Skink or Meelyu relies on this biomass year-round in the form of log ‘castles’ to nest in hollows and fallen branches. 

Monitoring projects undertaken at Hill View and Terra Grata (two properties in the Corridor where revegetation has been underway since 2010) have been tracking the restoration of these ecosystems. Birds and plants of local conservation significance like the Malleefowl are continually being recorded, with biodiversity rising and rising.

Our responsibility

Ecological devastation continues to wreak havoc, but one of the steps we have the power to take today is using the natural carbon cycle of trees to make a difference right now.

Carbon Neutral’s Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor also tackles a second problem by creating biodiverse and sustainable native habitat for WA’s endemic species, many of which are under threat.

So far, hundreds of Australian and international businesses have contributed to the recovery of the endangered Malleefowl, Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo, and Western Spiny Tailed Skink by offsetting their emissions in the Corridor project whilst restoring native ecosystems at the same time.

“To care about climate change, we don’t have to be a certain type of person or live in a certain place or vote a certain way: all we have to be is a human living on this planet, and we’re all that.”

– Katharine Hayhoe, Co-Director of Climate Centre and professor of political science at Texas Tech University

The problem of the climate emergency can seem daunting, downright scary, and a threat already too big to be stopped. But projects like this represent an exciting opportunity to claim responsibility over our environment and everything we share it with. 

The solutions are within our reach, and acting now through contributing to the growth of Corridor might just let us stand a chance.

Sources

Fischetti, M 2021. ‘We Are Living in a Climate Emergency, and We’re Going to Say So’, Scientific American, viewed May 17 2021, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/we-are-living-in-a-climate-emergency-and-were-going-to-say-so/

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2019, IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, viewed May 17 2021, https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/chapter/chapter-4-sea-level-rise-and-implications-for-low-lying-islands-coasts-and-communities/

Shark Bay World Heritage. ‘Spiny-tailed Skinks’, viewed June 8 2021, https://www.sharkbay.org/publications/fact-sheets-guides/spiny-tailed-skinks/

United Nations Secretary-General. ‘Remarks to the One Planet Summit’, United Nations, viewed May 21 2021, https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2021-01-11/remarks-one-planet-summit

Architects Declare Australia is an initiative formed by Australian architects declaring a “climate and biodiverse emergency” and encouraging their industry peers to work towards net-zero emissions.

The initiative calls for the construction industry to strengthen their work practices, understand and account for the carbon emitted throughout the entire building process as well as the operational carbon of the building on its completion.

Carbon neutral by 2020

Recognising that the building and construction industry impacts on our ecosystems, the 900+ signatories are leading the way for more sustainable architecture and urban design.

Architectural practices on the signatory have committed to a 3-step process towards becoming carbon neutral by the end of 2020:

1. Switch to certified green power by 30 January
2. Conduct an audit to measure their carbon footprint by 30 June
3. Purchase carbon offsets by the end of 2020

Measuring your carbon footprint

A carbon audit to determine your carbon footprint is a straightforward process and involves answering a series of questions to determine the scope of your business.

The following are some of the questions you will be asked to provide details on:

1. The number of full-time equivalent staff that you employ.
2. How many permanent office locations do you have in Australia?
3. Do you have any serviced locations or remote workers?
4. How many flights for business purposes do you take in a month/year? Do you use a corporate travel agent?
5. Does the company have fleet vehicles? Do you use fuel cards?
6. How many taxi or rideshare trips do you take for business purposes in a month/year?
7. When would you like to start the process? After 30 June?

Please note the answers to the questions may differ slightly currently due to the COVID-19 environment.

Reduce and offset

The cost of a carbon audit will vary depending on the size and number of locations of the business. At the time of writing an audit will cost approximately AU$1600 for an architecture firm of 12-20 people based in one location.

After measuring you can implement changes in your business to reduce your carbon footprint and offset your unavoidable emissions through purchasing carbon credits.

Contact us to discuss measuring your carbon footprint and view our projects with available credits to offset your emissions.

Concrete. The main ingredient is cement, and is a huge source of carbon emissions globally. How do you overcome this as a skatepark builder when it’s the primary material you use? 

Brad Kasch, Director of Drover Projects, is finding ways to reverse some of the effects concrete has on the climate and hopes to lead the way for others in the construction and building industry.

Based in central Victoria, Drover Projects specialise in skatepark construction and bespoke energy-efficient housing with projects across Australia. Cement and concrete comprise a large percentage of their construction materials.

Measuring footprints

This presents a quandary for Brad who builds skateparks which require a much stronger concrete and therefore create more CO2 emissions. Conscious of the impact his business and construction projects has on the environment and determined to make a difference he investigated the embodied energy of concrete.

To offset for each project, Brad measures the larger emissions such as the embodied energy of concrete, fuels from fleet and equipment. He then adds a significant amount of tonnes to the total measured in the project to ensure that he accounts for all other (scope 3) emissions.

For each project that is completed by Drover Projects, Brad offsets his greenhouse gas emissions through the purchase of carbon credits. In the last year Drover Projects has offset 2,000 tonnes.

This is an enormous commitment and dedication to addressing the climate crisis by Brad, and we are proud to have Drover Projects as a Gold Partner.

Advantages for business

Addressing climate change as part of your business plan is a smart move and can be advantageous when applying for tenders. More and more, we see climate mitigation measures included in the success criteria for local government and private business tenders.

Thanks to Brad’s forward-thinking, he and his company can proudly promote their environmental awareness. Knowing that when they pour the concrete for a new skatepark, they are not only creating a public space for everyone to enjoy but have mitigated the carbon emitted during its construction.