Only a relative few companies have set net-zero targets, and even fewer expect to fully stop emitting greenhouse gases. For the majority, the plan is to eliminate their carbon footprint by 2050 through offsets—a reduction or removal of emissions elsewhere to compensate. Offsets, however, are controversial, in part because they’re difficult to get right.
Tech options, like carbon capture, are of nowhere near the scale needed, leaving nature-based solutions, like growing new forests, as the current best choice. But nature is able to absorb only so much carbon from the atmosphere each year, and as more companies set climate goals, the more likely it is that there won’t be enough land to meet corporate demand. Here’s a look at the math behind the pledges.
- Meet TIME’s Newest Class of Next Generation Leaders
- After Visiting Both Ends of the Earth, I Realized How Much Trouble We’re In
- Google Is Making It Easier to Remove Personal Info From Search
- Oil Companies Posted Huge Profits. Here’s Where The Cash Will Go (Hint: Not Climate)
- Column: We Asked Hundreds of Americans About Abortion. Their Feelings Were Complicated
- A Short History of the Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of the Marcos Family
- Long-Lasting Birth Control Is Already Hard to Get. Advocates Worry It May Only Get Worse
- Who Should Be on the 2022 TIME100? Vote Now
