Achieving net-zero emissions and reaching carbon neutrality are two sides of the same coin, with the goal of mitigating climate change. The Paris Climate Agreement stipulates that global warming must be limited to well below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels to achieve a climate-neutral—or temperature-stable—planet by the middle of the century. While achieving net-zero emissions is an admirable, if not necessary, goal, Kibbey stressed that brands “can’t offset their way to a better future or buy their way out of a crisis.” Maintaining the status quo operationally while purchasing credits toward reforestation projects and clean energy won’t ultimately undo the damage they continue to inflict upon the world’s ecology, he argued. “In fashion, offsets are not a substitute for value chain emissions reductions, and we encourage companies to prioritize targeting and eliminating their direct and indirect emissions.” Companies must broaden their influence beyond their own operations if they hope to achieve net-zero status. Stakeholders throughout a company’s value chain must be pulled into the conversation if a brand hopes to have a true impact. “Any fashion company that isn’t measuring and reducing their Scope 3 emissions, regardless of offsetting measures, isn’t doing enough,” he said. The Environmental Protection Agency defines Scope 3 emissions as outputs from contracted factory operations, transport of goods, business travel, fuel and energy for production and end-of-life treatment of goods. Higg’s stance is that brands shouldn’t stop at promising to zero out their emissions but aim to set “climate positive” goals that “renew and replenish earth’s resources” rather than relying on offsets. Objectives might include transitioning to renewable energy, revamping manufacturing operations for maximum energy efficiency, recycling water and limiting water waste, and recycling waste rather than sending it to landfill. “This would lower the risk that net zero commitments are seen as a marketing ploy and contribute to the well-being of communities around the world,” Kibbey said. “There are so many of these terms out there right now—there’s zero carbon, carbon neutral, climate positive, and net zero emissions,” said Cindy J. Lin, Hey Social Good founder and CEO. According to Lin, a former EPA ecologist who launched her platform to help verify brands’ sustainability and ethics claims, the idea behind reaching net zero emissions is essentially to balance global carbon output with the greenhouse gases that are removed organically—and through human intervention—from the atmosphere. “We’ve been spilling so much more carbon into our ecosystem than it can naturally remove,” she said.
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