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ScienceJuly 17, 2023

Explainer: The difference between carbon neutral, zero emissions and net zero

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No, they don’t all basically mean the same thing.

The climate crisis is here, and it can certainly feel overwhelming. Whether it’s the damage it causes to our landscapes, relentless rainfall or the tsunami of jargon we’re seeing, it seems to be unavoidable. A missing component of sustainability and climate action is ensuring people understand the technical terms being used. There are many technical terms which seem similar, are used interchangeably, or just make us think “huh?”. Let’s change that, otherwise the rising seas of lingo and jargon will keep crucial knowledge for sustainability and climate action in an exclusive club. 

What on the warming earth is the problem?

Under the Paris Agreement, we need to limit global warming to well below 2°C with efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. Significant emissions reductions from governments and businesses are needed, in combination with many system changes, to achieve this goal. This can make the best environmental choices easier and more accessible. 

OK, we need to make some better choices. But I find all the terminology confusing, don’t you?

It certainly can be. The world of climate and sustainability is no stranger to jargon and technical terms. After some time reading these, furrowed brows and squinting becomes second nature. In fact, it can give one permanent crow’s feet. The increase in greenwashing – where one makes misleading, inaccurate, or false claims about their sustainability efforts – is becoming problematic. When buying everyday items, we see vague labels such as “eco-friendly” and “more sustainable”. People deserve to know what they are really buying. The more we understand the terms being used, the easier it is to make more informed choices for spending our hard-earned dollars.

Vagueness is out, then. Let’s start with carbon neutral. What does this mean?

Firstly, we need to know about carbon sinks and carbon sources. A carbon source generates emissions (e.g. a petrol powered car) and a sink will absorb emissions, soaking up carbon like a sponge soaks up water (such as a forest or wetlands). Carbon neutral is when we balance or offset emissions from a carbon source by absorbing the same amount of emissions with carbon sinks. So, 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted and 10 tonnes absorbed would be a carbon neutral situation. The key word here is ‘neutral’ – we are compensating for our emissions. 

milk bottle + shipping container + tree = question mark
Carbon counting makes a precise number out of best guesses (Image: Archi Banal)

What does “offset” mean?

It’s where you remove greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere; you could offset some, all, or more than all of your emissions. Offsetting can be achieved by buying carbon credits. Credits are generated by creating a climate solution that absorbs, avoids, or reduces carbon emissions. These climate solutions remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere (e.g. a plantation forest). After that credit is used, then it is cancelled on the relevant registry and can’t be used again. Think of offsetting as cleaning up the mess you made. Be a tidy kiwi and all that. 

OK, and what about zero emissions?

This means no greenhouse gas emissions have occurred. This should not be being used when any emissions are made at all, even if they are later offset. Any vehicle claiming to be zero emissions is too good to be true. Even if it was an electric vehicle powered by 100 per cent renewable electricity, the car parts and labour involved in building the car would have created carbon emissions. 

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Good to know. And net-zero emissions? 

This is an ambition or long-term goal. It requires quite a few things:

  • Mid and long-term emissions reduction targets (e.g. 2030 and 2050)
  • The targets must be scienced-based
  • ALL greenhouse gas emissions (carbon, methane, nitrous oxide etc) covering Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions must be reduced to as close to zero as possible
  • The small amount of emissions created are completely neutralised

It is very unlikely any product or organisation is net-zero right now (but that’s a whole other article).

How does one prove their claims are accurate?

They will need to have their claims verified by an independent third-party. In Aotearoa, more and more businesses are using the likes of Ekos and Toitū Envirocare who certify a seal of approval for emissions reductions efforts. These claims are verified against standardised definitions and requirements to ensure consistency and credibility. 

So what should businesses be doing about their greenhouse gas emissions?

The best way to go about things is by avoiding emissions first and foremost, then reducing emissions. Once that is done, then one can buy quality carbon credits to offset what’s left. Avoid the mess, make less mess, and use good cleaning products. This is a game of continuous improvement. 

Can you summarise this all for me?

We need to be tackling climate change by avoiding, reducing, and (finally) offsetting our greenhouse gas emissions. From there, the terms used to market our efforts must be accurate and stand up to scrutiny. Otherwise, it’s greenwash. 

Congratulations! You now have a new array of technical terms in your climate and sustainability vocabulary.  You can now feel more confident knowing what organisations are saying when they use these terms. As long as they themselves are using them accurately, too. 

Image: Archi Banal
Image: Archi Banal

ScienceJuly 17, 2023

What does the government’s new women’s health strategy actually offer?

Image: Archi Banal
Image: Archi Banal

New Zealand now has its first-ever women’s health strategy. What is it, why do we need it and will it make any difference? Zahra Shahtahmasebi explains.

The government took a big step forward last week when it announced six new health strategies that aim to improve health outcomes across the country.

Among them is the country’s first-ever women’s health strategy, which is being welcomed as an exciting milestone by women’s health experts and advocacy groups like Project Gender, who are now waiting to see what tangible differences the strategy makes.

The priorities

1) The overarching theme of building a health system that works for women, by eliminating gender and cultural biases as well as racism, and creating a space where all women can access healthcare and are represented both in leadership positions and in the health workforce.

2) Improving healthcare for issues specific to women and people assigned female at birth, including access to contraception, conditions like endometriosis and cancers like breast and ovarian. 

3) Staying true to the message “healthy wāhine are needed for healthy whānau” by ensuring women and their whānau feel supported, especially during pregnancy and the early childhood years.

4) Living well and ageing well is the strategy’s fourth priority, which will address women living with illness, disability and long-term health conditions.

The timeline

Associate health minister Willow-Jean Prime says the strategy released last week is “high-level”, meaning it doesn’t delve into the specific changes needed, or every single women’s health issue. Instead, the 53-page strategy has an overarching vision to create a health system that works for women by focusing on four key priority areas.

Over the next six to eight months, the government will develop an action plan to describe the tangible changes needed to tackle these priority areas. 

The context

The strategy was presented by minister of health Ayesha Verrall, one of six that make up the government’s health system reforms, also known as the Pae Ora Healthy Futures Bill.

The other strategies are the New Zealand Health Strategy, Pae Tū: Hauora Māori Strategy, Te Mana Ola: the Pacific Health Strategy, the Health of Disabled People Strategy and the Rural Health Strategy.

Image: Tina Tiller

The history

The call to have a national strategy to address women’s health issues is not a new one. In 2014, Women’s Health Action presented to the government a proposal for a strategy. However, looking back on it in 2022, the group’s general manager Isis McKay told the Herald it was unsuccessful due to “lack of political appetite”.

In 2020, the Gender Justice Collective led the YouChoose2020 survey, which asked over 3,500 women, wāhine, trans, non-binary and intersex people what they needed in order to thrive.

“We wanted to know what the barriers are, what do you need to live your best life?” says the collective’s co-founder, Erin Jackson. Better access to healthcare was at the top of the list and women’s health issues – periods, menopause, endometriosis, maternity – came up time and time again.

The collective reignited the conversation around the need for a women’s health strategy and Jackson, along with co-founders Angela Meyer and Tania Domett, went on to establish social change agency Project Gender which continued to drive this mahi.

And as these women found out through the results of their survey, “everyone has a story”, says Jackson.

New cabinet minister Willow-Jean Prime speaks to media
Associate health minister Willow-Jean Prime (Photo: Getty Images)

The survey

The 3,508 people who answered shared their experiences of the healthcare system, of receiving incorrect diagnoses, of finally being diagnosed with endometriosis after eight years, of a lack of support for menopausal symptoms, and generally not feeling heard.

Jackson says at that time, Australia, the UK and Canada had all implemented their own strategies focused on improving care for maternity, endometriosis, gynaecological cancers and other conditions that affect women differently to men. 

In April 2021, Project Gender submitted a petition signed by 2,873 medical specialists, academics and women asking the government to apply a gender lens to healthcare. In February 2022, the government heard oral submissions on why New Zealand needs a women’s health strategy and two months later, Verrall had committed to establishing it. 

Willow-Jean Prime says the newly released strategy is exciting for New Zealand as it holds the voices of our wāhine at its centre. “What we were hearing was that women’s experiences of the health system are different from others, that they feel their voices are not being heard. But this strategy has captured this kōrero and will use it to guide decision-making for the next 10 years.”

Using the stories gathered from the thousands of New Zealanders who sent in submissions, the strategy paints a picture of the barriers women face in the health system.

Quotes from participants interspersed throughout the document talk of pain being dismissed and health needs ignored by clinicians, as well as a lack of trust in the health system: “I want to feel heard, not rushed. Take the time to read the notes about me and my history, come to an appointment with understanding and empathy. I am not a robot, and neither are you,” read one submission.

The evidence

Jackson says as Project Gender pursued the idea of a national women’s health strategy, the group came across people who refused to acknowledge New Zealand has a gender bias issue. 

But the statistics show that compared to men, women experience higher rates of poverty, lower pay, and higher rates of domestic violence, all of which impact on their health. The global exclusion of women from medical research and clinical trials has also created gaps of professional knowledge, including how women might be affected by certain treatments and drugs.

Women reported that stigma and a lack of information were major barriers to them seeking help for these issues, or even just having a conversation about them. 

Dr Bev Lawton holds up a test tube in front of some rolling green hills of rural Otago
Dr Bev Lawton with a cervical screening test

The response

For Project Gender, seeing the strategy come to fruition is satisfying, the result of three years of hard work representing the needs of New Zealand women, wāhine, trans, non-binary and intersex people. But the work isn’t over yet, says Jackson.

She says it’s imperative that the strategy remains inclusive of the rainbow community, and with the general election three months away, it is important the strategy doesn’t become a political football, or end up being tossed aside.

“This government has picked up the mantle, so successive governments need to continue this work – there is so much riding on this. We want to ensure that every woman has access to healthcare and that when they go to an appointment they feel heard,” says Jackson.

She adds there’s a real opportunity to continue the grassroots-led approach and let communities work together with the health workforce to design the solutions and services that they need, something that is supported by Prime.

The questions

Auckland specialist GP Orna McGinn, who is also chair of the New Zealand Women in Medicine Group, was invited to the launch of the strategy and says while it does a good job of acknowledging what the issues are, there is no indication of its next steps.

Specific changes needed will be delivered in next year’s action plan, but McGinn already knows what will make a tangible difference for patients. First on her list is access to free contraception, particularly long-acting contraceptives like Mirena or the copper intrauterine device (IUD), something she has been campaigning for the last few years: “It’s one of the fastest, cheapest and easiest things we could do.”

Fellow specialist GP and academic Bev Lawton agrees, saying the strategy could have easily dealt with the “low-hanging fruit”, like making cervical screening free for all New Zealanders.

“This strategy seems more like guidelines, and we need to know that this is not going to just sit in the cupboard.”

She would rather have seen something similar to Scotland’s plan, with 66 actions to reduce health inequities. “I’m happy to write it – give me some money and we can make it happen. It is going to cost a lot of money but that money is an investment in women and their lives.” 

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