Why experts worry ‘net zero’ needs a rebrand to save the idea from populists

Has the term “net zero” become an obstacle to climate action? Just as the climate crisis is gathering pace, the vested interests that want to delay cutting greenhouse gases are coalescing in opposition to the term. Climate experts I speak to fear the words themselves are in danger of becoming a culture war issue in Europe and the UK, as it is already in the US.

Chris Stark, the chief executive of the UK’s climate watchdog, told the Guardian this week that he would even be “intensely relaxed” about ditching the term if necessary, in order to achieve the goals behind it.

But is that a good idea? More, after this week’s most important reads.

“Net zero has definitely become a slogan that I feel occasionally is now unhelpful, because it’s so associated with the campaigns against it,” Chris Stark told me in an exit interview before he leaves his post at the Committee on Climate Change, the statutory adviser on the climate to the UK government. “That wasn’t something I expected.”

“It’s the culture warriors who have really taken against it,” said Stark (pictured above), who will continue to be involved in climate action in his new role leading the Carbon Trust, an organisation set up by the UK government to help businesses reduce their emissions. “A small group of politicians or political voices has moved in to say that net zero is something that you can’t afford, net zero is something that you should be afraid of … But we’ve still got to reduce emissions. In the end, that’s all that matters.”

Among those opposed to net zero, and the strong and urgent action on the climate that scientists say is sorely needed, the fossil fuel industry is the greatest culprit. However, they have been joined by another set of influential figures, perhaps more well-meaning but also posing a significant obstacle to action.

They are people who present themselves as weighty thinkers, the “grownups” who argue that cutting emissions too fast is not possible or not desirable, and present a slower pace of cuts as “sensible”.

Todd Stern, former US climate envoy to Barack Obama, and a lead negotiator on the 2015 Paris climate agreement, told me in an interview in London that he was deeply concerned that these voices were gaining traction.

“They say that we need to slow down, that what is being proposed [in cuts to greenhouse gas emissions] is unrealistic,” he said, for a story in the Observer. “You see it a lot in the business world too. It’s really hard [to push for more urgency] because those ‘grownups’ have a lot of influence.”

Stern gave a lecture at the London School of Economics, in memory of the UK and EU climate negotiator Pete Betts, who died last year, in which he highlighted the problem. “We are slowed down by those who think of themselves as grownups and believe decarbonisation at the speed the climate community calls for is unrealistic,” he said

Though Stern diplomatically refused to name any of the self-described grownups, it’s notable that the UK prime minister Rishi Sunak and his energy secretary, Claire Coutinho, have both called for a slower pace of climate action, presenting such a course as “pragmatic” and “protecting family finances”.

For the real grownups – that is, those who truly understand the scientific advice that only grows ever more stark – the key questions now are how to counter those who press for delay, and how to win over people who have been confused by or become hostile to the framing of “net zero”.

In a year in which half of the world, including the US, the UK and the EU, is facing key elections, those questions need urgent answers.

Read more on net zero:

The good news

The bad news

Profiling an inspiring individual, suggested by Down to Earth readers

This week, a UK judge dismissed an attempt by the government lawyers to prosecute climate protester Trudi Warner under contempt of court laws for holding a placard on jury rights outside a trial of climate activists.

For a year, Warner, a 69-year-old retired social worker, fought back. “What I was doing was drawing attention to the terrible repression of conscientious protectors, and in particular climate protesters, by the state,” said Warner of her case.

“If what I did will empower other defendants to use the power to acquit by juries, this will have been the fight of my life.”

To hear more of Warner’s story in her own words, read her interview with the Guardian’s Sandra Laville here.

If you’d like to nominate a climate hero, email downtoearth@theguardian.com

Demystifying a climate concept you’ve heard in the headlines

Advanced meteorological communication programmes that can alert vulnerable populations to the onset of natural disasters such as floods, fires, hurricanes, and volcanoes (such as Mayon volcano in the Philippines, above). This adaptation technology can be utilised via TV, texts, emails or phone calls to save lives and protect property.

For more Guardian coverage of early warning systems, click here

One image that sums up the week in environmental news

Credit: courtesy of Corie Mattie

From tattoos of an escaped New York zoo owl to murals mourning P-22, Los Angeles’s beloved mountain lion, Matthew Cantor reports on the Americans finding connection in the stories of local celebrity animals – including a woman who quit her job after being inspired by the free-spirited Flaco.

For more of the week’s best environmental pictures, catch up on The Week in Wildlife here