Tackling Obstacles to Net Zero

The CTNTE hosted this invitation-only workshop, Tackling Obstacles to Net Zero, on Wednesday 15^th May 2024 at Trinity Hall. It was an open discussion about the implementation barriers to achieving net zero in light of the current economic, social, and political pressures and what is needed to overcome these barriers.

The workshop revolved around two main topics: knowledge and policy barriers, and practical obstacles. Issues discussed included:

• the allusion from economic modelling that things are possible when, in reality, they are not;
• the disentanglement of skills needs for transition;
• a lack of interdisciplinary communication;
• the need for IPCC climate scenarios to address national policy-relevant questions;
• articulation of the benefits of decarbonisation;
• the difficulties of pushing ambitious targets in developed and developing countries.

Overall, the main conclusions from the workshop were:

(1) Building trust among all stakeholders involved in the transition to low-carbon societies, including listening to those “stuck” in the process, is essential to achieve climate goals;

(2) Transforming the current negative narrative surrounding climate change into a positive narrative to rebut counterarguments to climate action will be critical to achieve a successful transformation; and

(3) Explaining and sharing the benefits of climate mitigation, such as a reduction in air pollution, can be a highly successful strategy to engage those indifferent or opposed to climate action.

View the PDF.