Peer-reviewed articles, pre-prints, books, and reports from the Net Zero Lab.
Investigates how absorptive capacity — the interaction between tertiary education and R&D investment — amplifies the impact of innovation on carbon emissions. Finds that R&D alone reduces emissions, but its effect is significantly stronger in countries with higher levels of education.
Reviews how forests regulate climate at global and local scales, from carbon uptake and temperature buffering to rainfall and flood risk. Finds the greatest climate benefits occur where forests are native, underscoring their role in both mitigation and adaptation.
An annual synthesis highlighting and explaining recent advances across climate change research. The 2025 edition covers ten key topics including the record warmth of 2023/2024, acceleration of ocean warming, northern land carbon sinks under strain, biodiversity-climate feedbacks, groundwater depletion, global dengue incidence, economic losses, strategic CDR scaling, integrity challenges in carbon credit markets, and effective policy mixes. Written by over 70 climate scientists from 21 countries.
This comment piece critically evaluates how carbon offsets are being used within compliance markets, arguing that low-quality offsets artificially suppress carbon prices and undermine the effectiveness of carbon-pricing mechanisms designed to drive genuine emission reductions.
Analysis of 89 multinational companies finds no meaningful correlation between purchasing carbon credits and improving climate performance. Despite these firms retiring approximately one-fourth of all carbon credits in 2022, their offsetting spending represented merely 1% of capital expenditures.
Examines the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism applied to the chemical industry, covering 4,470 global chemical production facilities. Finds the current CBAM framework accounts for only 50–60% of actual production emissions for key chemicals.
Proposes policy improvements to expand CBAM coverage to fossil feedstocks, which would increase emission coverage to 93% for ethylene and 94% for polyethylene, and recommends strengthening fallback values at the highest-emitting facilities.
A comprehensive mapping of the carbon dioxide removal literature reveals that the body of scientific evidence on CDR is substantially larger than previously documented, with implications for research synthesis and policy guidance.
Critically examines the scientific theories, concepts, and evidence regarding REDD+ projects in the voluntary carbon market. Independent studies consistently point to shortcomings in the rigour and credibility of crediting methodologies, which market players have been slow to address.
Establishes three core principles for responsible engagement with international carbon trading under the Paris Agreement: ensuring mitigation outcomes align with Paris commitments, ensuring climate integrity while upholding social and environmental protections, and establishing robust accounting and transparent Article 6 engagement.
Examines how organisational type influences carbon credit outcomes, finding that non-profits are more than twice as likely as for-profits to deliver carbon credits that represent real emission reductions.
This book addresses climate change as both an environmental and business risk, offering business leaders a practical roadmap for complementing conventional mitigation strategies with carbon removal. Covers cutting-edge carbon removal technologies, strategic frameworks, and practical implementation steps.
ISBN: 3593461420 · Updated English edition
Uses large language models to analyse the structure and evolution of innovation networks in climate technologies, extending prior work on LLM-based monitoring to map collaborative dynamics across inventors, firms, and research institutions.
Systematic assessment synthesising evidence covering nearly 1 billion tons of CO₂e finds that less than 16% of carbon credits from evaluated projects represented actual emission reductions. Provides the most comprehensive evidence to date on the effectiveness of carbon crediting across different project types and standards.
Examines the development challenges and energy transition pathways available to fossil fuel-producing countries in the Global South, analysing how these nations can navigate the shift away from fossil fuels while maintaining economic development.
Investigates the causal effect of air pollution on team-level cognitive performance, finding that elevated pollution levels significantly reduce collaborative problem-solving and team productivity.
German edition exploring how companies can lead the transition to climate neutrality, combining scientific evidence with practical business strategies for carbon removal and emission reduction.
ISBN: 3593518694 · German edition
Second edition of the comprehensive assessment of the current state and future potential of carbon dioxide removal methods, providing a data-driven overview of CDR technologies, policies, and deployment trends worldwide.
Demonstrates how large language models and machine learning techniques can systematically categorise and track thousands of climate-relevant technologies across venture capital, patents, and corporate reports at unprecedented scale.
Evaluates how open access mandates affect the production and diffusion of scientific knowledge and downstream technological development in the United States.
Uses empirical evidence from Swiss building retrofits to evaluate whether public subsidies effectively drive energy savings in the built environment, examining the causal impact of retrofit programmes on actual energy consumption.
Argues that Africa's clean energy transition requires evidence generated from African contexts rather than extrapolated from developed-country experiences, highlighting the need for locally relevant research and data.
Investigates how local content requirements in renewable energy policy affect the development of domestic manufacturing capabilities and export competitiveness in solar and wind technology sectors.
Analyses global patterns in the invention and international diffusion of climate change mitigation technologies using patent data, revealing where innovation originates and how it spreads across countries.
Examines the role of private sector investment in expanding renewable energy generation capacity in Uganda, evaluating how policy frameworks and investment conditions shape clean energy deployment in developing countries.
Estimates the short-term cost impact of local content requirements on solar energy prices using evidence from Indian solar auctions, quantifying the trade-off between domestic manufacturing promotion and renewable energy costs.
Evaluates the environmental impact of a large-scale land titling programme in the Brazilian Amazon, assessing whether formalising land rights reduces deforestation rates in one of the world's most critical ecosystems.
World Bank policy research examining strategies for attracting private investment into Sub-Saharan Africa's power sector, analysing barriers and opportunities for expanding electricity access through private sector participation.
Synthesises findings from academic literature and KfW Development Bank’s experience in crowding-in private capital into grid-connected renewable energy projects in developing and emerging economies. Examines country readiness across policy, power sector, and country risk dimensions, and evaluates financial instruments including credit lines, structured finance, and risk mitigation tools.
