Nearly half of the world’s GDP is now generated in places where authorities and regulators have set or are proposing to set a target for net-zero emissions in or before 2050.

Analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) shows that just over $39tr (49 per cent) of the world’s annual GDP, derives from nations, regions and cities with an actual or intended net-zero target, a figure that includes 121 nations.

ECIU director Richard Black said: “It's extraordinary that just 18 months on from the IPCC report that showed the scientific case for reaching global net-zero emissions by 2050, nations, regions and cities representing virtually half of global GDP have set compatible goals. The majority of these targets are just targets — but still, it shows how quickly policymakers are grasping the science, and — in the case of cities and regions — deciding to act themselves when their national governments will not."

Individual places with high annual GDP figures that have or intend to have a net-zero target include: Germany ($3.7tr), where Chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged to make the country carbon-neutral by 2050, California ($2.8tr), where Governor Jerry Brown in 2018 signed an executive order mandating carbon neutrality by 2045, the UK ($2.6tr), where Parliament passed legislation in June last year mandating net-zero by 2050 and Tokyo ($1.9tr), whose Metropolitan Government has declared it is targeting net-zero in pursuance of the Paris Agreement global warming target.

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