Net zero, carbon neutral, climate positive: what the words mean

Net zero means cutting your emissions by around 90% or more and neutralising only the small remainder with permanent carbon removals; carbon neutral means your remaining footprint for a period has been counterbalanced, usually with credits, after reductions, under ISO 14068:2026. Climate positive and carbon negative have no agreed standard. Since April 2025 the CMA can fine businesses directly for misleading green claims, so use any of these words with care.

Updated 19 October 2026 by the Carbon Recycling team. Figures use the official UK government conversion factors and are checked against the current gov.uk guidance.

The words side by side

Term	What it means	Main standard	Role of credits
Net zero	Emissions cut as far as possible, usually 90% or more, across Scope 1, 2 and 3, with the residual neutralised	SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard; ISO 14060 in draft	Only permanent removals, and only for the residual
Carbon neutral	The footprint left after reductions, for a set period, counterbalanced	ISO 14068:2026 (PAS 2060 withdrawn)	Credits counterbalance what remains; reductions must come first
Climate positive, carbon negative	Usually a claim to remove or compensate for more than you emit	None agreed	Usually relies heavily on credits
Committed to net zero by a stated year	A target, backed by a plan	PPN 006 asks for net zero by 2050 at the latest	None needed to make the commitment

The UK as a country has a legal target of net zero by 2050 under the Climate Change Act 2008. That target applies to the country, not to individual small businesses, but it is why public sector buyers ask suppliers for a matching commitment.

Net zero: a destination, not a purchase

Net zero is about the physical emissions going down. You can't buy your way there with today's credits, because the standards only accept removals, and only once you have cut almost everything you can. For most firms that is a target for 2040 or 2050, with interim targets along the way. Our net zero guide for small businesses sets out the steps.

Carbon neutral: one period, counterbalanced

A carbon neutral claim is about a defined period or product: "our 2026 operations", "this event". Under ISO 14068 you measure the footprint, reduce it, and counterbalance what remains with credits. The standard puts reductions first, which is the big change from the old habit of buying credits to cover a whole footprint. BSI's PAS 2060 used to be the UK benchmark; it has been withdrawn, as our post on PAS 2060 and ISO 14068 explains.

The difference in numbers

Take an illustrative firm with an office using 30,000 kWh of electricity and 60,000 kWh of gas a year, and diesel vans covering 25,000 miles. At the 2026 government factors its Scope 1 and 2 come to 25.21 tonnes CO2e.

A carbon neutral claim for 2026 would mean counterbalancing whatever is left of those 25.21 tonnes after the year's reductions, with credits, and substantiating every one of them. Scope 3 would need to be in the footprint too, depending on the boundary claimed.
Reaching net zero would mean cutting the footprint to about 2.52 tonnes or less, by moving the vans to electric, the heating to a heat pump and so on, then neutralising that residual with permanent removals.

The first can be bought this year. The second has to be built over years. That is why regulators and buyers treat them so differently. Our post on offsets versus removals explains why only removals count at net zero.

Climate positive and carbon negative

These go a step further and claim a net benefit. No standard defines them. The Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints about a "carbon negative" claim and a "100% carbon neutral" claim because the ads didn't explain their basis. Its 2022 research found people tended to read carbon neutral claims as meaning emissions had actually gone down, and some felt misled when they learned offsetting was involved.

What the regulators expect

Explain the basis next to the claim. The ASA says ads should make clear whether, and how far, a claim relies on cutting emissions or on offsetting, close enough to the claim for people to see it.
Back future goals with a plan. Claims about reaching net zero or carbon neutrality in future should be based on a verifiable strategy.
Give the offsetting details. The CMA's Green Claims Code says a business relying on offsetting should give information about the scheme.
Take it seriously. Since April 2025 the CMA can decide for itself that consumer law has been broken and fine a business up to 10% of its global turnover.

The Green Claims Code covers claims to consumers; business-to-business marketing has its own rules, but the safe approach is the same. Our posts on net zero target wording and the Green Claims Code for small businesses go into the detail.

What a small firm can safely say

"Our Scope 1 and 2 emissions for 2026 were X tonnes CO2e, down Y% on our 2024 baseline."
"We are committed to reaching net zero by 2050, and our Carbon Reduction Plan sets out how."
"We have also funded Z tonnes of verified woodland carbon units, reported separately from our emissions."

Each one is specific, has a number and a date, and doesn't need the reader to guess what a label means. If you are thinking about UK woodland or peatland units for the last line, see our post on the Woodland Carbon Code and Peatland Code.

How Carbon Recycling helps

Carbon Recycling gives you the figures those statements need: your Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions with the government factors, your change against your baseline, and a Carbon Reduction Plan with a net zero commitment and an interim target. It doesn't net off credits or certify claims, and we don't sell offsets, so the numbers you quote are your real emissions.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between net zero and carbon neutral?

Net zero means cutting emissions by around 90% or more and balancing only what is left with permanent removals. Carbon neutral means your remaining footprint for a period has been counterbalanced, usually with credits, after reductions. Net zero is the stricter idea and is usually a long-term target; carbon neutral is often claimed for a single year.

Is there a standard for carbon neutral claims?

Yes. ISO 14068:2026 is the international standard for carbon neutrality, replacing ISO 14068-1:2023. BSI's PAS 2060 has been withdrawn. ISO 14068 expects you to reduce emissions first and counterbalance only what remains.

Is there a standard for net zero?

The SBTi's Corporate Net-Zero Standard is the most widely used for companies. ISO is also writing ISO 14060, a net zero standard for organisations; its draft went out for consultation in June 2026 and it isn't final yet.

What does climate positive or carbon negative mean?

There's no agreed standard. The terms usually mean a business claims to remove or compensate for more than it emits. The Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint against a 'carbon negative' claim because the ad didn't explain the basis for it. If you use the phrase, you need to substantiate it and explain it right next to the claim.

Can a small business say it is net zero?

Very few can say it truthfully today, because net zero requires deep cuts across Scope 1, 2 and 3. What you can say is that you are committed to net zero by a stated year, with a published plan. A PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plan asks for exactly that commitment.

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