Transport Insights

Highways magazine has a story about council directors’ body ADEPT advising members to avoid using “Net Zero” in communications, which I find interesting as have never liked the phrase.

It reports:

A new 10-point guide from council chiefs to help the public sector communicate more effectively about climate change suggests officers should avoid using common phrases like ‘net zero’ – despite the fact that the Government department involved in tackling the issue is itself called the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

An Introduction to Talking Climate was produced by council directors’ body ADEPT and Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission and is based on ‘quantitative and qualitative research, surveying over 7,000 people and using focus groups to draw out strategic implications for policy and communication’.

The document is based on what are perceived to be the best ways to communicate with people and the struggle ‘to frame messages in ways that resonate with people’s everyday lives’.

Included in this list is net zero. The guide states: ‘Don’t use it in isolation or as shorthand; it’s a technical term and isn’t well understood.’

Personally, I have huge concerns about the phrase, mainly about the way it promises a shiny city on a hill in decades’ time, as well as the implied use of offsetting.

Similarly National Highways and ministers are already claiming the Lower Thames Crossing

will be the first major British infrastructure project to be carbon neutral in construction

But here’s the rub:

We’ve set ourselves an ambitious target to cut our footprint by 70%, and will responsibly offset what we can’t eliminate

Net zero and carbon neutral really mean carry on emitting.