The UN High-Level Expert Group on the Net Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities (Expert Group) consulted non-state actors including financial institutions to understand how to bring integrity, transparency and accountability to net zero commitments and action.

The Expert Group provides a roadmap to prevent “greenwash” and false claims around net zero commitments. They propose a universal definition of net zero based on five principles and ten recommendations.

Five key principles

• Ambition – Significant emissions reductions toward global net zero by 2050.
• Integrity – Aligning commitments with actions and investments.
• Transparency – Sharing non-competitive, comparable data on plans and progress.
• Credibility – Creating science-based plans with third-party accountability.
• Equity and Justice – Demonstrating commitment to fairness in all actions.

Ten recommendations

• Announcing a Net Zero Pledge: published publicly and aligned with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) or International Energy Agency (IEA) net zero greenhouse gas emissions modelled pathways that limit warming to 1.5°C and should contain interim targets for 2025, 2030 and 2035.
• Setting Net Zero Targets: – Establish short-, medium-, and long-term absolute emission reduction goals and align with the latest IPCC pathways.
•  Using Voluntary Credits: Prioritise urgent and deep reduction of emissions across their value chain, while using high integrity carbon credits beyond the value chain, without counting them towards interim emissions reductions required by their net zero pathway.
• Creating a Transition Plan: Share detailed net zero transition strategies These plans should synchronise governance, incentives, finances, research, skill development, and advocacy, while also promoting fairness in the transition.
• Phasing out of Fossil Fuels and Scaling Up Renewable Energy: – Net zero commitments should encompass explicit goals to eliminate the use of fossil fuels following IPCC and IEA pathways, guaranteeing fairness for affected communities and workers, and accompanied by substantial funding for transitioning towards renewable energy.
• Aligning Lobbying and Advocacy: – S synchronise  external policies and engagement strategies, including involvement in trade associations. This entails advocating for proactive climate measures rather than opposing them.
•  People and Nature in the Just Transition: – Entities with significant land-use emissions should ensure their operations and supply chains prevent natural ecosystem conversion, halting deforestation, and peatland loss by 2025, and other ecosystem conversion by 2030. Financial institutions should likewise commit to not funding businesses tied to deforestation and eliminate deforestation from their portfolios.
• Increasing Transparency and Accountability: Disclose greenhouse gas data, net zero targets, plans, and progress transparently, using standardised formats via public platforms feeding into the UNFCCC Global Climate Action Portal. Independent third-party verification of emissions reductions is required.
• Investing in Just Transitions: – For a just global net zero and sustainable development, a fresh deal is needed. Organisations should take more risks and boost clean energy investments in developing countries.
• Accelerating the Road to Regulation: – Regulators should create standards for net zero pledges, transition plans, and disclosure, starting with major emitters including private, state-owned entities, and financial institutions, and to address regulatory fragmentation, establish a Task Force on net zero Regulation composed of international regulators and experts.