‘Race to Zero’ campaign updates criteria to raise the bar on net zero delivery

Race to Zero has published refined criteria that all campaign members must meet. The implementation of this criteria will be managed by the Partner initiatives who join the campaign through a rigorous application process, reviewed by an independent Expert Peer Review Group.

Nigel Topping and Mahmoud Mohieldin, High-level Climate Champions for COP26 & COP27, said: “The clarity these criteria provide, together with strengthened data transparency, will help us identify the progress made and gaps remaining. They will clearly show those actors who are truly moving ahead versus those who are trying to find loopholes.”

The Race to Zero criteria are split into in two categories:

‘Starting line’ criteria lay-out minimal procedural requirements for all members in the campaign,
‘Leadership Practices’ which map high-ambition pathways for leading entities to accelerate the transition to a net zero economy.

The main updates to the ‘Starting Line’ criteria include:

• More explicit requirements for setting Scope 3 emissions targets, notably ensuring financial institutions address all financed/portfolio/facilitated emissions in their planning;
• Naming the implicit requirement to phase down and out unabated fossil fuels as part of a global just transition;
• Introducing a new criterion (“Persuade”) to align member policy lobbying and advocacy activities with their net zero operations;
• Requiring all members to publicly disclose a Transition Plan (or equivalent for relevant actor types).

The main themes highlighted in the ‘Leadership Practices’ are:

• Embedding nature at the heart of leadership practices, including protecting biodiversity and halting deforestation.
• Encouraging entities to go beyond their own decarbonization pathways to contribute beyond their own value chain / territory to a global net zero state.
• Empowering communities and relevant stakeholders to help accelerate their own mitigation actions in the spirit of radical collaboration and equity.

The criteria also serve as a basis for deeper work into sectoral pathways for specific actor types, such as financial institutions. Their publication arrives as the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) today launches a report for consultation that proposes a common global framework for Net-Zero Transition Plans for financial institutions.

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