Net Zero and COP26 Briefing note

The briefing note critiques the 'net zero' agenda promoted by the UK presidency at COP26, arguing that the concept allows governments and corporations to maintain fossil fuel pathways through deceptive accounting and unproven technologies. It contends that net zero ignores historical responsibility, is inequitable to the global South, and relies on the physical impossibility of natural sinks absorbing all combusted fossil carbon. The author warns that the confusion between carbon removals and offsets is being exploited to create a carbon market potentially worth US$50-100 billion by 2030, which diverts investment from systemic transformation. Friends of the Earth International demands a focus on 'real zero', absolute emissions reductions by 2030, the exclusion of corporate polluters from COP26, and the fulfillment of climate finance obligations by Northern countries.

• The 'net zero' concept is used by governments and corporations as an 'escape hatch' to avoid discussing absolute zero emissions, allowing them to maintain fossil fuel pathways while claiming climate leadership.
• Net zero frameworks are fundamentally inequitable because they ignore the historical responsibility of developed countries, which have emitted 2,390 billion tons of carbon dioxide over the last 150 years.
• The reliance on natural sinks to achieve net zero is physically impossible, as ecosystems cannot absorb the volume of carbon generated by burning fossil fuels, and such removals are often temporary.
• Net zero plans often act as a 'Trojan horse' for geoengineering and unproven 'negative emissions technologies' like direct air capture and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage to justify delaying current emissions reductions.
• There is a deliberate conflation of carbon removals and offsets to facilitate a profitable carbon market, predicted to reach US$50 billion to US$100 billion by 2030, which legitimizes continued pollution.
• Friends of the Earth International demands that COP26 focus on 'real zero', requiring absolute emissions reductions by 2030, the exclusion of corporate polluters from the conference, and the mobilization of finance for systemic transformation.

APA

Stabinsky, D. (2021). Net Zero and COP26 Briefing note. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Net-Zero-COP26.pdf

Chicago

Stabinsky, Doreen. Net Zero and COP26 Briefing note. Friends of the Earth International, 2021. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Net-Zero-COP26.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stabinsky |first1=Doreen |title=Net Zero and COP26 Briefing note |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=October 2021 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Net-Zero-COP26.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stabinsky2021net, author = {Stabinsky, Doreen}, title = {{Net Zero and COP26 Briefing note}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Net-Zero-COP26.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }