Why 'Net Zero' Simply Means 'Saving Lives'

Time to translate those misleading political messages

Apr 26, 2025

The term ‘net zero’ has been weaponised by the right in recent times as the latest thing to blame for everything being shit.

Yes, ‘net zero’ is the new ‘immigrants’ - just avert your eyes from the billionaires, warlords and psychopaths who are really making your life a misery.

Why is net zero the new culture wars victim? Quite simply, to achieve net zero, we have to stop using fossil fuels.

So political parties like the Republicans, in the US, and Reform, in the UK, who are heavily funded by fossil fuel interests, are going to tell you that net zero is ruining your life and costing you millions.

As a journalist, I’d hope that my profession would leap into action to expose the lies and hold these politicians to account. But of course, large sections of the media are not inhabited by journalists any more.

So I’ll play my part to put you in the picture, and translate what the politicians are actually saying.

Rewrite The Headlines

Let’s get one thing clear from the start - NET ZERO simply translates as SAVING LIVES.

Not in a literal sense, of course, but in reality.

So let me fix the messages from some of our fraudulent politicians:

So What Is Net Zero and How Is It Saving Lives?

Net zero simply means balancing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere with the amount removed, thus aiming for a net total of zero emissions.

Why is that a good thing? Because it helps us to avoid further global warming, and lower the chances of continued catastrophic climate impacts.

So if net zero means zero emissions, how does that save lives?

For that, we have to look at the fatal damage already being caused by rising emissions:

Extreme Heat

Between 2000 and 2019 studies show that about 489,000 people died from heat-related illnesses - 45% of these in Asia and 36% in Europe. That’s tens of thousands of deaths through extreme heat, every year - so much for this being a future problem.

Extreme Weather

Pretty much the whole world has been suffering increased instances of deadly floods, droughts and wildfires; destroying homes, crops and water supplies, leading to malnutrition, disease and a raft of disaster-related illnesses that claim hundreds of thousands of lives.

Air Pollution from Fossil Fuels

The World Health Organisation estimates that 7 million premature deaths each year are linked to air pollution, with fossil fuels being a major contributor.

Burning coal, oil and gas produces toxins that cause heart attacks, strokes, respiratory diseases and lung cancer, among other killers.

Displacement and Conflict

This is where we return to immigrants… Climate-induced disasters create climate refugees. And there will be many more millions of them each year as time marches on. Time to stop demonising these unfortunate people and have a grown-up conversation about helping them.

They have to flee because of crippling rising temperatures, devastating floods and droughts. Rising sea levels are submerging low-lying countries, such as the Maldives and regions of Bangladesh, so there is an increasing scarcity of food and resources.

People being people, this in turn fuels violence, wars and unrest, meaning millions of people are displaced - The World Bank estimates that more than 216 million people could be displaced due to climate change by 2050.

Displacement brings disease, poverty, exhaustion, famine…. so many causes for so many deaths.

Don’t Forget Wildlife Deaths

The WWF Living Planet Report revealed that global wildlife populations have declined by a devastating 69%, on average, since 1970, with climate change a growing reason for this.

Let’s not forget that we are existing in the age of the Sixth Mass Extinction - these stats are only going to get worse.

More than 16,000 species are currently on the ‘red list’ and directly threatened by climate change, due to habitat destruction, ocean warming, acidification and the collapse of food chains and migration routes.

The United Nations predicts that, without urgent, meaningful action - such as achieving net zero - a further one million species are at risk of extinction.

Bees, butterflies and other insects are also being annihilated by climate change and habitat loss - and these species are vital for our own survival, through their role in ecosystems, food production and biodiversity.

So Remind Me, Why Do We Need Net Zero?

Because it saves lives. Simple as that.

Achieving net zero would hopefully help to stabilise our climate. We can kiss goodbye to the rise of 1.5 degrees that countries committed themselves to - now the target is generally agreed to be 2 degrees, and warming beyond that is projected to triple the number of deaths each year from extreme heat alone.

A more stable climate would hopefully reduce the frequency of floods, droughts and wildfires, and food and water systems would be at less risk, reducing the likelihood of famines.

Transitioning to clean, renewable energy would also massively reduce air pollution.