The two terms get used interchangeably, but they describe different commitments with different requirements. Knowing the distinction matters if you’re making a climate claim yourself, or evaluating one made by a company or product.
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Carbon Neutral
Carbon neutral means the CO₂e a person, product, or company produces is balanced out by an equivalent amount purchased through offsets — typically covering current-year emissions across any scope. It doesn’t require emissions to fall first; it requires the footprint to be measured and matched with retired credits. A flight, a year of home energy use, or a company’s annual footprint can all be made carbon neutral this way, and the claim is generally understood to apply to a specific, bounded activity or period.
Net Zero
Net zero is a broader, longer-term commitment, usually defined by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and similar frameworks. It requires an organization to cut its own emissions — typically by 90%+ against a baseline year — before using offsets to neutralize whatever residual emissions can’t be eliminated through direct reduction. Net zero targets are usually set for a future date (2030, 2040, 2050) and require interim reduction milestones, not just an offset purchase at the end.
Why the Difference Matters
The practical distinction is sequencing and scale. Carbon neutral can be achieved today, for a specific footprint, primarily through offsetting. Net zero is a multi-year reduction pathway where offsetting only covers what’s left after deep, verified cuts to actual emissions — which is why net zero claims carry more scrutiny and usually require third-party target validation.
A company can be carbon neutral this year without being on a net zero pathway at all — for example, by offsetting its full footprint without committing to reduce it. Conversely, a company pursuing net zero by 2040 might not claim carbon neutrality in any given year if it hasn’t yet offset its residual emissions for that period.
What This Means in Practice
For an individual or a small business, “carbon neutral” is usually the relevant and achievable claim: calculate a footprint for a defined period, purchase and retire matching credits. Net zero targets are typically the domain of larger organizations with the resources to run multi-year emissions-reduction programs alongside offsetting.
Either way, the starting point is the same: a credible footprint calculation. Coffset’s carbon footprint calculator uses DEFRA 2024 emission factors and IPCC AR6 GWP values to produce that number, whether you’re offsetting a single trip or an entire year, and credits can be purchased and retired directly through Coffset once you know the total.