Do you know the difference between carbon-neutral, net-zero and climate positive?

In practice, a company that is carbon neutral is ensuring that any CO2 they are putting into the atmosphere; through production, manufacturing, freight etc, is balanced by an equal amount being removed from the atmosphere – essentially eliminating their own carbon emissions.

It is very difficult for a company, or individual for that matter, to emit no carbon emissions. Therefore, it is important for these companies to start thinking about how they can minimise the amount of carbon they are adding to the atmosphere and how they can offset what they do emit. Carbon offsetting is usually done by investing in carbon sinks, such as forests, soils and oceans which absorb more carbon than they emit. Investing in projects and non-for-profits which create and maintain carbon sinks are how companies usually offset their carbon emissions.

Other buzzwords you may be familiar with and are in the same vein here include carbon-negative and carbon-positive. Confusingly, both of these terms essentially mean the same thing and it is just the result of marketing semantics.

To be carbon-negative or positive means you are actively removing more carbon than you create, leaving the atmosphere even better off than when you started.