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Josh Owens

Josh Owens

Josh Owens is the Content Director at Oilprice.com. An International Relations and Politics graduate from the University of Edinburgh, Josh specialized in Middle East and…

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The Net Zero Emissions Lie

emissions

Cutting carbon emissions has become a central focus of countries and companies alike in the past decade. The oil majors are racing to ‘go green, Microsoft has pledged to go ‘carbon negative’, and over 20 nations have either committed to or achieved net-zero carbon targets. For public companies, the incentives to go green are clear, with a recent boom in ESG investing, the continued threat of activist divestment, and a growing body of government regulation. Meanwhile, for governments, the environment is becoming an increasingly important electoral issue and political parties are eager to be seen as being proactive on the issue. But just as the ESG investment boom has led to an increase in the phenomenon of ‘greenwashing’, countries who are eager to make grand statements about being carbon zero within a decade or two may be overselling exactly what it is that they are doing.

Climate change is, by its very nature, a global problem. With that in mind, it is possible for one country to reduce its carbon emissions to zero without any reduction in the level of carbon emitted worldwide. As long as that same country continues to trade and consume, the carbon-reliant products it needs will simply be imported from a nation without any limits on carbon emissions. To claim ‘real’ net-zero emissions, countries would have to go significantly further.

Related: BP And Shell Take A Stand Against Gas Flaring In Texas

That isn’t to say that the net-zero initiatives are entirely without merit. Increasing renewable energy usage, building more energy-efficient homes, and electrifying transportation would all have a tangible effect on decreasing global carbon emissions. But, as economist Dieter Helm points out in his recent book, if an individual state wants to truly become a net-zero carbon emitter, then it would need to have a carbon tax at its border as well as reducing its production of carbon domestically. That would be a tax to offset the carbon footprint of the country’s imports. For example, the UK (the first major economy to pass a net zero emissions law) would have to levy a tax against Chinese products made using carbon-intensive energy sources. The geopolitical and economic risk of such a move would be enormous however, which is why most of the nations that are acting to counter carbon emissions have opted for the less effective but politically popular policy of a net zero emissions target.

As the social, economic, and political power of environmental change grows, observers must remain vigilant when it comes to hyperbolic claims about carbon. Just as energy production is driven by energy consumption, it is consumption that drives our production of carbon. The idea that a country can significantly reduce carbon production without a reduction in its consumption simply does not stand up to scrutiny. To create a truly net-zero carbon emissions future, consumption will have to drop and the cost of living will have to increase or technology will have to advance rapidly.

By Josh Owens for Oilprice.com

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  • Mamdouh Salameh on September 13 2020 said:
    Net zero emission isn’t only a lie but it is also an illusion. The reason is that to achieve a zero emission, the world has to stop using hydrocarbons (oil, gas and coal) completely. While renewables and natural gas will eventually replace coal completely in electricity generation, oil and gas will never ever be replaced because there is virtually nothing to replace them particularly in the global transport system and the global petrochemical industry.

    The global energy scene is being governed by the realities that there will neither be a post-oil era nor a peak oil demand throughout the 21st century and probably far beyond. Furthermore, the notions of imminent global energy transition from oil and gas to renewables and also a zero emission are illusions. Oil and gas will continue to be the fulcrum of the global economy and the core business of the global oil industry well into the future.

    Companies and organizations who claim otherwise are merely burnishing their environmental credentials or are coming under intense pressure and blackmail by divestment campaigners and militant environmental activists. They should have the strength of character and the business acumen to know where their bread and butter come from.

    Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
    International Oil Economist
    Visiting Professor of Energy Economics at ESCP Europe Business School, London

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