Recently, many people have been talking about climate change and the importance of doing our part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, some may wonder what it all means, or if they can really make a difference by taking certain actions at home and at work. In this article, we will answer the question What is carbon neutrality? and explore how it impacts your daily life as well as your business operations.
Carbon neutrality (or net zero) essentially means you have a net-zero effect on greenhouse gas emissions. That’s accomplished by reducing your carbon footprint to as close to zero as possible, offsetting any emissions that remain, and reinvesting in climate change mitigation projects. It’s similar to carbon offsets, but in that case, companies or individuals pay an outside organization to plant trees or invest in other climate change-reducing initiatives.
Why is Carbon Neutrality important?
In short, it's important because carbon emissions are believed to be one of the major causes of climate change. For example as we continue to pump more and more carbon into our environment, our oceans are becoming more acidic (causing issues like coral bleaching) and glacial ice is melting around the world. When carbon dioxide dissolves in water, it becomes carbonic acid. That makes ocean water less able to support marine life than when its pH level was neutral. Ocean acidification might not sound as dire as other causes of climate change like rising sea levels and temperature extremes, but they all contribute.
What is climate change?
According to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, climate change is a significant and long-term shift in weather patterns. As greenhouse gases build up in Earth’s atmosphere, it traps solar heat and causes temperatures on our planet to rise. This phenomenon has been seen for decades, although experts disagree over how much humans have contributed to global warming. Whatever your view of climate change may be, reducing your carbon footprint can help preserve Earth’s ecosystems—and reduce your risk of being affected by natural disasters and other consequences of global warming.
What is causing climate change?
The main reason is greenhouse gases, which trap heat in our atmosphere, and pollution. The most common greenhouse gas by far is carbon dioxide. Unlike other greenhouse gases that occur naturally, humans are responsible for producing CO2 through burning fossil fuels. That's why we call it carbon. It comes from carbon atoms that have been locked away underground for millions of years. The more CO2 you add to your atmosphere, the hotter things get — and they're already too hot.
How can we stop climate change?
Given that we have no choice but to transition off fossil fuels if we want to curb global warming, we might as well aim for carbon neutrality. While it’s true that Earth can never be truly carbon neutral—that is, there will always be a small amount of natural emissions from things like volcanoes and animal digestion—we still need to strive for as close to zero net emissions as possible. Enter carbon neutrality.
Who is reaching net zero down to?
If you’re a major corporation, it might make sense to reach net zero down to your supplier level. But if you’re just a small business trying to reduce your footprint by, say, 10 percent or 20 percent—as recommended by Paul Hawken in Natural Capitalism and other green economists—it probably won’t make sense for you to go down that far. However if you're just the average human navigating the earth, reducing your carbon footprint would be one way to offset personal impact on climate change. Watch my interview with Heather McKay from the sustainability think tank, E3G, for ways to be sustainable and do your bit for the environment.
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