Why Net Zero (and what is it?)
‘There is no way we are going to be able to ban the entire world from using fossil fuels in time to meet our climate goals,’ warns Professor Myles Allen, the Oxford expert credited with first demonstrating, 15 years ago, the need for ‘Net-Zero’ carbon dioxide emissions to stop global warming.
A physicist, Professor Allen is Professor of Geosystem Science in the Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute and Director of the Oxford Net-Zero initiative, informing effective and ambitious climate action among those setting net-zero targets in institutions, corporations and governments across the globe.
He says investment is urgently needed into safer, permanent CO2 disposal, to reduce the burden of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and limit warming. While planting trees and restoring ecosystems has a vital role to play, he warns, ‘We can’t keep turning rocks into trees forever.’
COP26 ask: ‘That the leadership stand up...and say ‘we get it. We have to stop fossil fuels from causing global warming – before the world stops using fossil fuels’.’
Oxford is leading a £30 million UK-wide research project to develop carbon capture, whereby greenhouse gases will be drawn out of the atmosphere and permanently stored. https://netzeroclimate.org/greenhouse-gas-removal/
In later videos, leading Oxford researchers say that, with investment in new technologies and commitment to promises, climate change can be mitigated – if policymakers set the agenda.
If you would like to download the video to use on your channels, a subtitled version is available here: https://vimeo.com/605839665/2c56ca6cdc
If you’ve missed any of the previous videos in our series, they’re all available to link to here: https://bit.ly/Countdown-COP26
Please credit the University of Oxford where this video is used. One new video will be released each week in the lead-up to COP26 and two each week during the conference.
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Our researchers are working with partners in industry, government, the third sector and at other universities to address these challenges and to propose innovative approaches and solutions. Find out more about our True Planet campaign http://bit.ly/trueplanet
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