We think it is a problem waiting to happen”
(Former UN Secretary General)
What are the causes for Climate Change?
The Earth’s Climatic condition has always been changing, sometimes slowly over many hundreds of thousands of years or even millions of years, and sometimes very abruptly owing to volcanic or other geological activity.
During these natural cycles of Climate Change, there have been many Ice Ages, and even times in the Earth’s History when the entire planet has been covered with ice for millions of years. We sometimes refer those periods of intense glaciation as ‘Snowball Earth’. Human Beings could not have survived during such a period of the Earth’s history. We need a temperate and stable climate.
There is now overwhelming evidence which shows that our planet has been getting warmer because of Anthropogenic changes due to man-made Climate Change. The warmest 20 years on record have been in the last 22 years according to the World Meteorological Organization. The warmest four years were between 2015 to 2018. Global average temperatures are now 1℃ higher than they were in the pre-industrial era. Global Warming is here, and now.
Net Zero & Targets
Net Zero refers to a state in which the further Greenhouse Gases going into the atmosphere have been reduced by changes in human activity to much lower levels, and those that cannot be eliminated would be balanced by removal out of the atmosphere into what are called ‘Carbon Sinks’
The Paris Agreement , which has been accepted by over 190 Nation States, underlines the absolute need for Net Zero, requiring states to ‘achieve carbon neutrality between Anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century’, in other words by the year 2050.
In order to bring impetus and acceleration to our efforts to meet the Global Target to reach Net Zero by 2050, individual Nation States have defined their own Net Zero Targets, in order to meet their commitments under the Paris Agreement. In many countries, such Targets have even become legally binding.
The Net Zero Matrix is being built to provide a single repository for such Targets and Progress, and to ensure a fair and level playing field for all. Thereby, contributing towards the Sustainable development goals set by UN.
Voluntary targets are validated by organizations such as SBTi. In some cases companies will also disclose their data to organizations such as the CDP., or others.
The Net Zero Matrix Ecosystem enables direct access by companies to the New Energy Matrix database servers, where Net Zero Targets can be stored. As subsequent Carbon footprint information is uploaded by the companies, the Progress against the Target can be monitored online and also derive useful KPI analysis.