Our guest blog this month comes from our very own Product Director, Josh Cleall, as he talks us through all things net zero looking to the year ahead.
At Jump we’re excited to see what is in store for net zero in 2021, both here in the UK and around the world.
What is Net Zero?
Net zero, most simply, means emitting no more carbon than you’re taking out of the atmosphere. It is driven by the pressing need to balance carbon emissions in our atmosphere. The goal of achieving ‘net zero’ is to tackle the climate emergency and ecological crisis. Its focus is crucially to avoid catastrophic climate change. In signing the Paris Climate Agreement, countries agreed to limit warming to around 1.5°C. In order to reach this target we need to achieve carbon dioxide net zero by 2050.
What Happened in 2020?
Despite a turbulent 2020 momentum was built for the net zero agenda:
- China, South Korea, Japan and other major carbon emitting economies made a commitment to net zero
- The UN launched its ‘Race to Net Zero’ campaign
- The election of a new US President led to optimism that an increasingly climate aware US will return to the Paris Climate Agreement
- A landmark report from the UK Government’s Climate Change Committee reinforced that the cost of inaction outweighs the cost of action when it comes to climate change. Alongside this, it set out the finances required to meet net zero – and it doesn’t cost as much as you would think!
Looking ahead to 2021
Global shifts in 2020 have created a platform for net zero and are fuelling our optimism for 2021.
Net zero is going to become more and more important for businesses and industry. In less than a year, the number of organisations signed up to the Race to Net Zero doubled. Companies with a combined revenue of $11.4 trillion (around half of the US’s gross domestic product) are now pursuing net zero goals.
Your Business and Net Zero
We expect to see some businesses go even further than net zero and aim for more proactive and ambitious targets. For instance, organisations are already announcing ‘carbon neutral’ (where no carbon is being produced) and ‘carbon negative’ targets (where more carbon is taken out of the atmosphere than is being produced). Many organisations are aiming to achieve net zero by 2025, 2030 or 2040 to beat the global 2050 target. This ambition is highly commendable where it can be done.
We’ve already seen emissions in the UK drop by 41% since 1990. Glasgow is set to host COP26 in November – the biggest summit the UK has ever hosted – and we expect to see unprecedented publicity and awareness over this highly anticipated event. Look out for the Jump COP26 insights and analysis as we report from the summit each day.
Behaviour Change and Net Zero
When thinking about governmental, industry and business pledges to achieve net zero, we have to remember that each pledge has to be backed up by action.
While many organisations can make steps to decarbonise their supply chain and energy sources, we know it can be a struggle to engage and bring their workforce with them on the journey.
Here at Jump we’re working hard to put net zero behaviour change at the heart of what we do. We are launching a new net zero tool this year to help organisations meet their goals and ultimately help save the planet.
Jump is already helping organisations across sectors to achieve their sustainability and wellbeing targets in the transition to net zero. Find out more about Jump here. Or get in touch with a member of the team for a 15-minute demo to see our programmes in action.
