We need to fundamentally rethink “net-zero” climate plans. Here are six ways to do it.

Fund research and development

There are all kinds of areas where the world has yet to figure out how to reduce emissions efficiently, affordably and quickly, including aviation, shipping, fertilizers, livestock, steel and cement.

Therefore, companies that want to accelerate the path to zero emissions and maximize their impact on climate change should fund early-stage research, development and improvement efforts through their own R&D departments, external research grants or investments in startups. .

Some companies are doing this in different ways. In the year In 2020, for example, Amazon established a $2 billion climate pledge fund to develop technologies and services that will help it and other companies achieve climate goals. Investments have been made in companies such as Infinium developing renewable electrofuels to clean aviation. Beta Technologies, maker of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft; And CMC Machinery, which manufactures customized boxes for specific products, reduces waste and the need for plastic airbags.

Each of these investments could help Amazon reduce its materials and emissions as it moves large volumes of products around the world.

Microsoft runs a similar venture effort with its $1 billion Climate Innovation Fund.

Go beyond renewable-energy credits

One of the biggest sources of emissions for most companies is electricity. But businesses generally don’t clean up their energy consumption by directly importing carbon-free electricity, because most have limited access to the data mix on their local grid.

As a solution, many simply buy renewable-energy credits that provide additional income for wind, solar, geothermal or other clean energy projects. The basic idea is that the added support helps projects to be built so that carbon-free electricity is generated that would not otherwise be the case. Therefore, the credits can be counted against the share of the company’s total energy consumption if it is not clean.

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But while these credits can be useful in a number of ways, especially as they signal to utilities that demand for clean electricity is increasing, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to say that a company that doesn’t draw electricity from the grid is effectively cleaning up its energy consumption. The plants in question. Such projects often do not operate on the same grid or cannot produce electricity during the hours that the companies use them.