• Focus Area Climate Change Policies and Governance Climate Change Policies and Governance
  • Type Report
  • Date 16 August 2023
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Abstract

Carbon neutrality can be defined as a state of net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions achieved by balancing CO2 emissions with removals. ‘Net-zero’ has become a shorthand phrase to describe how governments, companies, and others should respond to climate change challenges and to the implementation of the Paris Agreement. However, there is no standard definition of what exactly net-zero entails, and certainly no commonly agreed roadmap for how to get there. The motivation for this study is to provide a broad perspective on net-zero scenarios with a focus on scenarios that are in line with the International Energy Agency (IEA) Net-Zero by 2050 scenario (IEA 2021) and scenarios that embrace the circular carbon economy (CCE) concept.

Authors

Eric Williams

Eric Williams

Former Research Fellow Eric has over 20 years of experience as an energy and environmental economist focusing on energy and climate change policy,…

Eric has over 20 years of experience as an energy and environmental economist focusing on energy and climate change policy, energy systems analysis, and climate change mitigation and adaptation options. Eric was managing the writing and publication of a series of reports on Circular Carbon Economy to be delivered to the G20 this year. The reports are written by International Organizations, including the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), and the Global CCS Institute (GCCSI). Eric was previously acting Program Director for the Climate Change and Environment program at KAPSARC. Before joining KAPSARC, Eric worked as an economist with the North Carolina Utilities Commission and was a consultant at the OECD. Eric has previously worked in the United Nations, academic research institutes, think tanks, and government.

Adam Sieminski

Adam Sieminski

Senior Advisor to the Board of Trustees Adam Sieminski was appointed Senior Advisor to the KAPSARC Board of Trustees in August 2021. Prior to this, he was…

Adam Sieminski was appointed Senior Advisor to the KAPSARC Board of Trustees in August 2021. Prior to this, he was the president of KAPSARC for three years. Before joining KAPSARC, Mr. Sieminski held the James R. Schlesinger Chair for Energy and Geopolitics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Prior to that, he was a non-resident senior advisor to the CSIS Energy and National Security Program. He also served as the administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) from 2012 to 2017 and was the senior director for energy and environment on the staff of the United States National Security Council.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Sieminski was Deutsche Bank’s chief energy economist and the senior energy analyst for NatWest Securities. In 2006, he was appointed to the National Petroleum Council (NPC), where he helped co-author NPC’s global oil and gas study.

Mr. Sieminski’s membership of leading policy and research organizations includes the roles of senior fellow and former president of the U.S. Association for Energy Economics, and president of the U.S. National Association of Petroleum Investment Analysts.

He formerly served as an advisory board member of the Global Energy and Environment Initiative at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, as chairman of the Supply-Demand Committee of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, and as a member of the Strategic Energy Task Force of the Council on Foreign Relations.

He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and holds both an undergraduate degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in public administration from Cornell University.

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