THE global emphasis on addressing climate change and the efforts of multilateral bodies in this regard are worthy of attention. The world is transforming, with countries striving to fulfil their commitments under the Paris Agreement. The area of concern encompasses more than just the environment and seasonal variations in climate. It holds immense importance for our well-being, highlighting the impact of our daily activities on the environment.

As a research fellow, my work involves developing a roadmap for Pakistan towards ‘Net Zero’. The idea can be explained through the use of a simple analogy. Let’s say you go to the market to buy apples. You ask the fruit seller to give you one kilogramme of apples. He takes out the apples, puts them on one side, and puts the weight on the other. He balances the weight of the apples with the weight he has placed. He is satisfied once he achieves ‘net zero’ — ie, equilibrium between the scales. The concept of net zero emissions is similar.

Take an entity — for example, an industry contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, etc. Targets are provided to that industry to balance emissions and maintain carbon neutrality. Now, the question is, how does one quantify and balance these emissions? Why is it only called carbon neutrality? All the emissions produced are monitored and quantified by the amounts they dispel in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide has been chosen to be the standard. All other GHG emissions are quantified on the impact they produce compared to carbon dioxide on the atmosphere. For instance, one kg of nitrous oxide produced means producing 298kg of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Now, industries are tasked with balancing their emissions. They can do this by developing projects that balance the number of emissions they produce. For instance, they do so by foregoing fossil power and deploying solar farms to meet their energy needs. In other words, they are trying to balance out the carbon they are emitting by cutting down on their use of fossil fuels. Once they have completely balanced their emissions, that industry can be termed net zero-compliant.

We must take steps to curb emissions.

Why is net zero important? What can we gain if we help achieve these targets? Isn’t this something that should be handled by the government? These are some of the questions posed by different sectors once they are introduced to the idea of net zero. Pakistan is on the list of countries most vulnerable to climate change; therefore, we must take steps to curb emissions so that we can avert the catastrophes associated with them. The government plays a crucial role in incentivising and promoting sustainable development so that the transition can be made much easier. Prioritising development projects on sustainable development and innovative technologies, like carbon capture systems and green hydrogen, and essential focus on the Air Quality Index and Environmental Quality Standards in policymaking are crucial.

However, it is important to understand that net zero is a collective activity and requires national involvement. The point that is to be made more common is that not all disasters are acts of God, but many are driven by human activity. For this, it is essential that climate change and the role of society are thoroughly highlighted and communicated.

As for the gap in understanding, it is common for people to confuse efforts to attain net zero with the work of the meteorological department. Planning for and mitigating the impact of natural disasters is, obviously, rather different than simply tracking or forecasting the weather. The meteorological department’s responsibilities encompass data collection, monitoring, processing, analysis and forecasting. On the other hand, climate studies delve into the causes behind sudden weather changes and climatic disasters, their impact, and strategies to maintain climate stability, resilience and environmental conservation.

This observation highlights the crucial need for spreading climate change awareness in society at the grassroots level. Such awareness will enable individuals to comprehend that their actions directly contribute to the state of the environment. Whether it involves littering streets, adopting inefficient practices, wasting clean water, neglecting clean energy sources, disregarding energy efficiency or participating in deforestation, individuals bear the responsibility to embrace sustainable practices, not solely rely on the government to ‘fix’ the climate disaster. Once this collective responsibility becomes ingrained in society, a successful transition to net zero can be assured.

The writer is a research analyst at Renewables First, a Pakistan-based energy think tank.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2023