Many nations have committed to midcentury net zero carbon emissions targets in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement. These require systemic transition in how people live and do business in different local areas and regions within nations. Indeed, in recognition of the climate challenge, many regional and city authorities have set their own net zero targets. What is missing is a grounded principles framework to support what will inevitably be a range of broader public policy actions, which must in turn consider pathways that are not only technically, but economically, socially and politically feasible. Here, we attempt to stimulate discussion on this issue. We do so by making an initial proposition around a set of generic questions that should challenge any decarbonisation action, using the example of carbon capture and storage to illustrate the importance and complexity of ensuring feasibility of actions in a political economy arena. We argue that this gives rise to five fundamental ‘Net Zero Principles’ around understanding of who really pays and gains, identifying pathways that deliver growing and equitable prosperity, some of which can deliver near-term economic returns, while avoiding outcomes that simply involve ‘off-shoring’ of emissions, jobs and gross domestic product.

许多国家已承诺根据2015年《巴黎协定》实现本世纪中叶的净零碳排放目标。这些要求在国家内部不同地区和地区的人们的生活和经商方式上进行系统的转变。的确，认识到气候挑战，许多地区和城市当局都设定了自己的净零目标。缺少的是有根有据的原则框架，以支持不可避免的一系列广泛的公共政策行动，而这些行动又必须考虑不仅在技术上而且在经济，社会和政治上可行的途径。在这里，我们试图激发对此问题的讨论。为此，我们针对一系列通用问题提出了初步的建议，这些挑战应该挑战任何脱碳行动，以碳捕集与封存为例，说明确保在政治经济领域采取行动的可行性的重要性和复杂性。我们认为，这产生了五个基本的“净零原则”，即了解谁真正付出和获得收益，确定实现增长和公平繁荣的途径，其中一些可以带来近期的经济回报，同时避免仅仅涉及“排放，工作和国内生产总值的外包。