The Aspirational Politics of Global Net Zero
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19225480 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ian Higham (0000-0003-1427-6940, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-16 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-05 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Perspectives on Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1537-5927 • E-ISSN: 1541-0986 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1537592726104733 |
| OpenAlex | W7130835141 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 77 |
“Global net zero” refers to a scientifically informed target of balancing greenhouse gas emissions globally to limit the adverse impacts of climate change, as well as to a politically determined international goal with a 2050 deadline. Amid a proliferation of state and nonstate commitments to the goal, research on the politics of net zero remains limited. Numerous scholars have conceptualized this goal as an international norm. This article challenges this conceptualization, arguing that net zero is more appropriately understood as an aspiration. I show how this conceptualization elucidates important climate governance challenges and helps to set more accurate expectations about the effectiveness of standards and enforcement mechanisms for achieving the goal. I argue that the case of net zero undermines conjectures in current theorizing on aspiration in international politics, especially the expectation that actors will not face social consequences for failing to achieve international aspirational goals provided they make at least some progress. This expectation relies on assumptions about aggregate welfare improvement without giving full consideration to how goal setting facilitates potentially cost-inducing blame shifting
Climate change · Conceptualization · Extant taxon · International relations · Politics · Climate Change and Geoengineering · Climate Change Policy and Economics · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance
Sustainability Science
The Politics of Sustainability and Development
The Drivers of Greenwashing
Anti-fossil fuel norms
Past and prospective energy transitions
Global Warming of 1.5°C
The meaning of net zero and how to get it right
The carbon dioxide removal gap
Turning a groundswell of climate action into ground rules for net zero
Reframing the climate debate
‘Wolf Warriors’ in the UN Security Council? Investigating power shifts through blaming
Governing for a safe and just future with science-based targets
Climate Change 2022 - Mitigation of Climate Change
Mobilizing for Human Rights
Net zero targets in science and policy
Conceptualizing just transition litigation
Research strategies to assess the effectiveness of international environmental regimes
Scientific evidence on the political impact of the Sustainable Development Goals
Aiming for zero
Fossil fuel companies' climate communication strategies
Energy transitions or additions
Global governance by goal-setting
Towards net zero CO2 emissions without relying on massive carbon dioxide removal
Rules to goals
Rights-based litigation in the climate emergency
The Paris Agreement and the inherent inconsistency of climate policymaking
The sustainable development goals
What Drives Norm Success? Evidence from Anti–Fossil Fuel Campaigns
Catalytic Cooperation
Making Representations
All Hands on Deck”
Long-Term Environmental Policy
Keeping Promises? Democracies’ Ability to Harmonize Their International and National Climate Commitments
What Isn't a Norm? Redefining the Conceptual Boundaries of “Norms” in the Human Rights Literature
Paper tiger or useful governance tool? Understanding long-term climate strategies as a climate governance instrument
Blame Games and Climate Change
Governing-by-aspiration? Assessing the nature and implications of including negative emission technologies (NETs) in country long-term climate strategies
Why are policy innovations rare and so often negative? Blame avoidance and problem denial in climate change policy-making
Benchmarking and blame games
Contested net-zero target setting in a transitioning country
Blame shifting and blame obfuscation
No place to hide
How long will it take? Conceptualizing the temporal dynamics of energy transitions
Pan-African gender governance
Bluewashing” the Firm? Voluntary Regulations, Program Design, and Member Compliance with the United Nations Global Compact
The Paris Agreement on Climate Change—Made in USA
The Politics of Attributing Blame for Cyberattacks and the Costs of Uncertainty
Climate Change and the Politics of Responsibility
The Politics of Blame Avoidance
The Politics of Aspiration
International Norm Dynamics and Political Change
Institutions, Climate Change, and the Foundations of Long-Term Policymaking
Norm emergence as agenda diffusion
Ideational change and the emergence of the international norm of truth and reconciliation commissions
Norm structure, diffusion, and evolution
Governing by targets
The Paris Agreement and the new logic of international climate politics
Global Goals as a Policy Tool
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |