"'Net zero' has become a powerful but contested frame of reference to define and judge climate ambition. The concept emerged from a series of scientific breakthroughs that highlighted the determining impact of cumulative emissions of CO2 on global warming, and has shifted the focus of climate policy towards placing a cap on the total anthropogenic emissions cumulatively released into the atmosphere (Allen et al 2022). This understanding of climate dynamics found political expression in Article 4.1 of the Paris Agreement, which stated the need to 'reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible' and achieve 'a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century' (UNFCCC 2015). Since then, these objectives have been translated into myriad pledges by state and non-state actors to reach net zero emissions by mid-century. As of February 2023, countries with net zero targets accounted for 92% of global gross domestic product and 88% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Lang et al 2022)..."

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