Bringing our emissions to net zero is essential if we are to slow the pace of climate change, but healing the damage already done to our planet will require moving beyond net zero – we must begin to remove additional carbon from our atmosphere.
This aspirational stage in the sustainability journey is often referred to as carbon positive or carbon negative. The two terms are interchangeable – net negative carbon emissions will produce a net positive climate impact.
This is an ambitious goal that still lies many years in the future for most businesses, and the parameters of what carbon positive/negative really entails are still being defined – hence the lack of consensus on terminology.
It is possible to work towards this goal today by investing in afforestation and reforestation, but in truth, significant progress in reversing the damage done to our climate cannot be made until reliable new carbon capture and removal technologies are developed. In the absence of a breakthrough, our commitment to carbon neutral and net zero strategies – slowing the rate of climate change as much as we can – takes on even greater importance.
After you’ve achieved your goal of becoming a net zero business, you can continue to demonstrate your environmental commitment by compensating for historical emissions while maintaining your net zero emissions strategy. Eventually, you will be able to take the significant step of compensating for the emissions produced over your entire organisational history. This can be done through either avoidance or regenerative offsets.
As with all stages of the sustainability journey, increasing your positive impact on the planet can be easily achieved thanks to the REDD+ outcomes from our Carbon Balanced projects. Whichever project you choose, you can ensure your investment is contributing to Science-Based Targets, Nature-Based Solutions and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
