A race against time and against ourselves. Against the dangerous idea that we can’t do this, that there is no way.
Unlike most races, it won’t have one winner. In this race we all win, or we all lose. Winning it requires a radical, unprecedented level of collaboration, from all corners of our world. From our cities, businesses, regions and investors. From people everywhere.
Together we’re racing for a better world. A zero carbon and resilient world. A healthier, safer, fairer world. A world of wellbeing, abundance and joy, where the air is fresher, our jobs are well-paid and dignified, and our future is clear.
To get there we need to run fast, and get faster. We need more and more people to join the race, and right now. This is not about 2050, it’s about today.
Together, we can do this. And we’re already on our way.
The Climate Champions and the Expert Peer Review Group have now confirmed the individuals who will be contributing to the 2022 Criteria Consultation through selected Working Groups.
These experts, scientists, academics and practitioners from around the world will come together to help continue driving upward convergence around best practice in climate action. We look forward to the rich discussions on each topic over the course of the next two months, and we will continue to publish updates on a regular basis on these discussions.
Net zero finance and disclosure of climate-related risks
Co-Chairs: Jes Andrews; Minyoung Shin
Working group members: Puninda Thind; Patrick McCully; Jane Thostrup Jagd; Roberta Pierfederici; Darius Nassiry; Eduardo Lopez; Josie Murdoch; Barbara Davidson; Dr. Nicole Röttmer; Peter Young; Yukari Takamura; Brendan Curran; Lisa Benjamin; Nate Aden; Sue Reid; Miguel Chavarria; Alex Michie
Supported by: Tessa Vincent
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Scope 3, boundaries & historical emissions
Co-Chairs: Pernilla Bergmark; Kaya Axelsson
Working group members: Andreas Hoepner; Lydia Elliott; Will Evison; Solitaire Townsend; Jonathan Wise; Dr. Gavin Hayman; Peter Boyd; Melanie Wilneder; Inder Poonaji; Emma Watson; Nasmir Jrondi; Luis Davila
Supported by: Eugenia Sanchez
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Nature, land use & deforestation
Co-Chairs: Precious Phiri; Marco Daldoss Pirri
Working group members: Jessica Smith; Luke Pritchard; Morgan Gillespy; Sagarika Chatterjee; Maria Jose Lopez Ortiz; Jillene Belopolsky; Samir Ibrahim; Musa Mussa Wawuyo; Nathalie Walker; Harriet Bulkeley; Cinthia Soto; Joseph Doyle; Karen Watts
Supported by: Jocelyn Perry
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Offsetting, Carbon removals and responsible communication of claims
Co-Chairs: Mark Kenber, Judy Ndichu
Working group members: Barbara Haya; Miguel Alejandro Naranjo Gonzalez; Guilherme J. S. Leal; Scarlett Benson; Catalina Cecchi; Paul DeNoon; Luke Pritchard; Simon Messenger; Sadie Frank; Gilles Dufrasne; Pedro Soares; Alexandra Deprez; Derik Broekhoff; Kelley Kizzier; Felix Kalaba; Albert Arhin; Karen Watts; Gabrielle Walker
Supportedby: Ria Aiyer
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Fair share, equity & justice
Co-Chairs: Nehmat Kaur; Joshua Amponsem
Working group members: Elizabeth Wangeci Chege; Kate Cullen; Lilian Motaroki; Sam Bickersteth; Sindra Sharma; Alice Anders; Clémence Billard Schachter; Nick Robins; Juliana Velez; Patricia Hudson
Supported by: Cynthia Mbuthia
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Transition plans & immediate action
Co-Chairs: Catharina Hillenbrand von der Neyen; Johan Falk
Working group members: Emma Jenkins; Timothy Carter; Victoria Matusevich; Jenny Ahlen; Beata Bienkowska; Ned Shell; Dan Dowling; Rahnuma Chowdhury; Romain Poivet; Emma Morton; Alice de Moraes Amorim Vogas; Bea Natzler; Sara Law; Livia Rossi; Winnie Khaemba
Supported by: Fernanda Pérez Villarreal
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Policy, advocacy & engagement
Co-Chairs: Manjyot Ahluwalia; Amir Sokolowski
Working group members: Hala S. Murad; Cathy Yitong Li; Kit Vaughan; Marine Pouget; Will Aitchison; Sylvie Wabbes; Candice Howarth; Jennifer M. Silvi; Dominic Gogol; Robert Hoglund; Sahana Kaur; Paul Smith; Xiye Bastida; Ned Shell
Supported by: Juhi Kore
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Fossil Fuel transition and non-CO2 Gases
Co-Chairs: Kavita Srinivasan; Madhura Joshi
Working group members: Molly Walton; Oyku Senlen Gundogan; Mark Campanale; Fabiola Schneider; Ronan Hodge; Natalie Orentlicher; Joachim Kattrup; Paasha Mahdavi; Martín Paladini; Marcelo Mena; Eleni Michalopouloul; Cesar Gamboa; Marcela Jaramillo
Supported by: Evan Guy
The Process
To help accelerate meaningful progress towards halving global emissions by 2030, and to ensure the integrity of the campaign, Race to Zero established a minimum floor for robust net zero commitments. This included introducing the Starting Line Criteria (known as the 4 P’s, requiring members to Pledge, Plan, Proceed and Publish, as well as conditions on scope, sinks and credits, and equity and empowerment), as well as publishing an interpretation guide and a lexicon. All members are managed by their relevant Partner initiative to meet these criteria.
Race to Zero has committed to annually strengthen, clarify and update these criteria documents (including the interpretation guide and lexicon (last updated April 2021) – a process supported by the Expert Peer Review Group – to continue driving upward convergence toward the continually evolving frontier of best practice around net zero targets.
Looking ahead
In outlining their plans for the future of the Race to Zero, the Champions committed to consolidating guidance and requirements around the existing 4 ‘P’s and considering introducing new guidance or requirements on a fifth ‘P’ of Persuade.
Over the course of Q1 2022, the Climate Champions and the Expert Peer Review Group, will therefore repeat this process of strengthening and clarifying the minimum criteria, interpretation guides and lexicon, with a particular focus on specific topics requiring further attention.
The consultation process will involve deep-dives on central topics, alongside general, written feedback. The Champions will strive to ensure diversity, transparency and widespread collaboration throughout the process.
Working Groups
Working groups with relevant and diverse expert representatives will be invited to discuss specific topics relating to the strengthening & review of the existing campaign criteria documents. Working groups will be composed of 5-15 individuals, based on these Terms of Reference.
These working groups will meet regularly over the period of 6-8 weeks in order to draft suggestions for strengthening or clarifying the criteria around their particular topic.
Each working group will conclude its work by submitting a template document to the Climate Champions and to the EPRG with suggested amendments to the criteria documents. These suggestions will be published on the Race to Zero website, but will be considered as draft documents rather than approved criteria. The final criteria documents will be published by the Climate Champions at the end of the process.
The working group topics have been identified as priority topics through discussions with the Expert Peer Review Group, Race to Zero Partners and other stakeholders, in large part highlighted through the Public Consultation on the Future of Race to Zero. These topics have been divided into three categories:
Category 1: Discussions on these topics are already underway in various forums. Race to Zero is committed to not duplicating existing or ongoing work, and will therefore engage in these existing conversations to harvest ideas for strengthening the criteria, interpretation guide and lexicon. The discussions of these working groups will therefore be geared towards integrating the content of these discussions into Race to Zero criteria, rather than launching separate, new discussions on these topics. Category 2: Working Groups in this category will initiate discussions on these topics, with the intention of (i) strengthening / enhancing the existing minimum starting line criteria; (ii) introducing a new criterion as a part of the existing minimum criteria; and / or (iii) deciding whether to establish “leadership” guidance around this topic. Category 3: Race to Zero will create space for deeper discussions to take place, with a view toward introducing relevant criteria amendments in the future. Working Groups may be engaged for a longer period of time to flesh out these conversations.
Net zero finance and disclosure of climate-related risks [Category 1]
Alongside this criteria consultation process, the Climate Champions have commissioned the establishment of an independent compliance mechanism which will aim to target support to Race to Zero members where needed, and help hold them accountable to the commitments based on these strengthened and enhanced criteria.
As part of the Youth Fellowship programme, the new fellows will help mobilise climate action amongst non-state actors to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, in close collaboration with the UNFCCC, the Marrakech Partnership and the COP Presidencies.
From bustling urban landscapes of the U.S., to vibrant communities in Mexico, Brazil, Germany, and beyond, discover the ambitious initiatives undertaken by cities in the Race to Zero campaign under Cities Race to Zero.
With five months until COP28, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion from the COP28 Presidency, H.E Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak has told stakeholders at an event in Dubai on Monday they must promote collective climate action.