COMPARISON OF ADOPTED NET ZERO TARGETS

This fact sheet from the World Resources Institute provides a comparative analysis of net-zero targets adopted by 19 countries and the European Union as of July 2020, evaluating their design robustness, target years, sectoral coverage, and legal status.

• As of July 2020, 19 countries and the European Union had adopted net-zero targets, while more than 100 other countries were considering them.
• Target years for achieving net-zero emissions vary significantly across the analyzed entities, ranging from 2030 in Norway to the second half of the 21st century in Japan and Singapore.
• The legal status of these targets differs by jurisdiction, with some established in law (such as Denmark, France, Hungary, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) and others existing as policy documents or government pledges.
• While most targets cover all greenhouse gases (GHGs), New Zealand's target specifically excludes biogenic methane.
• The use of international GHG mitigation varies; for example, Norway, New Zealand, and Switzerland include it, while France and Portugal explicitly do not.

APA

World Resources Institute (2020). COMPARISON OF ADOPTED NET ZERO TARGETS. https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/comparison-adopted-net-zero-targets_0.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. COMPARISON OF ADOPTED NET ZERO TARGETS. 2020. https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/comparison-adopted-net-zero-targets_0.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=COMPARISON OF ADOPTED NET ZERO TARGETS |date=July 2020 |url=https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/comparison-adopted-net-zero-targets_0.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2020comparison, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{COMPARISON OF ADOPTED NET ZERO TARGETS}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2020}, month = jul, url = {https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/comparison-adopted-net-zero-targets_0.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }