The era of net zero consequences

A few years ago nobody had heard the term ‘net zero’, even in climate change circles. It wasn’t part of the lexicon. Then, for better or worse, it became the framing of choice for national climate targets. Since 2019 there has been a steady run of countries, regions and companies setting themselves net zero targets.

The last time I wrote about it, it was to point out the snowball effect that can take hold with an idea. The more net zero targets there are, the easier it becomes for politician...