Ch. 8

Question 1

What is the “Race to Zero” campaign?

Answer 1

the intention of mobilizing “real economy” actors, including regions, cities, businesses, and financial institutions, to commit to reducing their carbon emissions to net zero by 2050

Question 2

What is production-based accounting of emissions?

Answer 2

a country’s emissions are those which directly arise within its geographic boundaries

Question 3

What is consumption-based accounting of emissions?

Answer 3

the cumulative emissions that arise from the production of all goods and services consumed in that country, regardless of where this production took place

Question 4

What is the dominant standard for attributing emissions at the country level?

Answer 4

Production-based accounting

Question 5

What are two different greenhouse gas reporting standards for cities and regions?

Answer 5

BASIC and BASIC+

Question 5

What do the BASIC level emissions inventories cover?

Answer 5

scope 1 and 2 emissions from stationary energy and transport, as well as scope 1 and 3 emissions from waste

Question 5

What do the BASIC+ level emissions inventories cover?

Answer 5

all in BASIC, as well as sources such as scope 3 emissions from transboundary transport and scope 1 emissions from agriculture, forestry, and land use

Question 6

What are transition plans?

Answer 6

important tools with which private-sector actors can operationalize climate action and allow others to verify the credibility of their commitments

Question 7

What is carbon leakage?

Answer 7

displacing rather than avoiding emissions

Question 8

What is carbon permanence?

Answer 8

long-term storage of carbon

Question 9

What risks should be considered in a transition plan?

Answer 9

policy and legal, technology, market, and reputation risk

Question 10

What is the Credibility Gap?

Answer 10

many governments are currently failing to keep pace with their 2030 interim emissions targets. This undermines the credibility of governments and lessens our chance of staying within the 1.5° or 2°C pathways

Question 11

How are portfolio alignment tools used?

Answer 11

to assess whether a company is on a net zero path by 2050, or whether it is ahead or behind a benchmark schedule

Question 12

What is materiality?

Answer 12

a concept coming from financial disclosure, which encourages corporations to report on all activities, opportunities and risks which could be material to the company’s value, turn-over, income, or other key performance indicators

Question 13

What is double materiality?

Answer 13

materiality plus the notion that companies must also disclose activities which could be material to society and the environment.

Question 14

Which financing activity poses a great threat to stabilizing or preventing further emissions?

Answer 14

Sourcing raw materials from local suppliers

Question 15

What is needed to provide a meaningful framework to achieve net-zero targets?

Answer 15

Understanding economic opportunities that arise through the net-zero transition

Question 16

What approach is outlined by the Science-Based Targets initiative as science-based ways for financial institutions to develop a decarbonization target?

Answer 16

Defining targets to reduce the physical intensity of investments and loans in a set of emissions-intensive sectors