The aspirational politics of global net zero

Global Net Zero refers to a scientifically informed target of balancing greenhouse gas emissions globally to limit the adverse impacts of climate change, as well as to a politically determined international goal with a 2050 deadline. Amid a proliferation of state and non-state commitments, research on the politics of net zero remains limited. Numerous scholars have conceptualized this goal as international norm. This article challenges this conceptualization, arguing that net zero is more appropriately understood as an aspiration. The distinction matters for accurate theory generation and policy analysis. I argue that conceptualizing net zero as an aspiration enables clear sighted analysis of the risks of greenwashing and the futility of certain compliance strategies that are more suited to international norms. This conceptualization points to the urgent need to consolidate and promote uptake of more robust standards for net zero-aligned behavior. I also show that net zero meets the criteria of an aspiration while frustrating certain theorized expectations in the extant literature on aspirational politics, forcing a reconsideration of assumptions in a burgeoning area of international relations theory.