Net Zero Pledges: Simply the Green Wash?

This is how they can never be.

More than 90% of the world's economy is now covered by promises by world leaders to reach net zero. One-third of the world's largest publicly-traded companies also now have net zero goals while half of the major cities have pledged to be net zero.

Net-zero pledges are now omnipresent among corporations, financial institutions and cities. But it begs a life-threatening question Is this Green Wash?

This is not a question from 'doubting Tom'.After all, did not these very countries and businesses promise 25 years back to start reduction in emissions under the Kyoto protocol and later under Paris Climate Agreement? Instead, emissions have been steadily and shamefully rising. What is the surety that net-zero pledges that have become commonplace among governments corporations, financial institutions and cities, would be realised?

Last week a pathbreaking movement called 'Not Zero-Net Zero' was launched for universities by Smart Campus Cloud Network - SCCN (www.sccnhub.com) closely mentored by Erik Solheim Under-Secretary-General of United Nations and Hon Prakash Javadekar, Member of Parliament.

The movement aims to make the campus of the university carbon neutral through actionable behavioural change, enhancing energy efficiency, producing renewable energy and residual reduction by carbon sink-like tree plantation. Tracking the reduction in emission through digital technologies like IoT, Dashboards, Cloud Networking and Open Access Disclosure as promoted by UNESCO, a partner in SCCN.

A visionary direction delineated by Hon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India a week back has triggered the movement of Not Zero-Net Zero. He stated that "…..universities must focus on finding solutions to challenges such as climate change, embracing new technologies".

University campuses are places where minds are moulded, goals are galvanised, and talks are walked.

Such a skilled army of youth from universities will be climate-ready and future-ready. Such a green army from universities would be poised to transform the world free from fossil fuel.

It is now well recognised that such efforts provide important co-benefits like saving money, reducing pollution and more importantly reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Universities can be power banks to skill the students in research, and to advance technologies aimed at approaching Global Goals like SDGs and Climate Change.

Universities that are not already registered under SCCN can do so and kick off Carbon Neutrality. To go beyond greenwash, by following steps are suggested to proceed :

Register your university with Smart Campus Cloud Network (SCCN), if not already done, by visiting the website: www.sccn.com Though simple steps a road map for carbon neutrality could be developed for implementation by considering the efforts already being done towards energy efficiency and renewable energy. The campus of the university would be transformed into living laboratories for climate action. "Learning by Doing and accelerating by sharing" would be the strategy and seminal aim to achieve carbon neutrality in the campus.

Youth from the university would be the change agents, not by protesting, not by forming expert groups, not by pledging but by working to localise the climate neutrality in the Campus.

 Dr Rajendra Shende, 

Chairman - TERRE Policy Centre,

Former Director UNEP, IIT Alumni  

Coordinating lead author of IPCC.