AUTHOR=Elliott Cynthia , Schumer Clea , Ross Katie , Gasper Rebecca , Singh Neelam 

TITLE=A logical framework for net-zero climate action

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Climate

VOLUME=Volume 5 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/climate/articles/10.3389/fclim.2023.1128498

DOI=10.3389/fclim.2023.1128498

ISSN=2624-9553

ABSTRACT=Momentum for national net-zero greenhouse gas commitments is growing quickly. Nonetheless, there are justifiable concerns over their credibility. And as no country has fully decarbonized yet, it is difficult to distinguish whether current efforts are simply incremental climate action, or more likely to trigger the scale of transformation required for achieving net zero. 
Yet it will be too late if we wait until mid-century to assess whether we have achieved net zero. As nations enhance near-term action to reach their net-zero ambitions, it is critically important that we develop a stronger understanding of how those actions are meant to drive change, so we are able to recognize and evaluate implementation aligned with net zero as it happens. We need a framework to examine national climate action that can help hold governments accountable to their net-zero targets in real time and provide confidence to the world that governments are making adequate efforts to radically reduce GHG emissions. This paper offers the authors’ perspective on what might be an initial approach for reviewing net-zero target implementation and provides initial recommendations for how to qualitatively assess or evaluate national governments’ net zero efforts along with suggestions for further research and study.