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On its face, this is similar to an alternative benchmark that has gained popularity in recent years: "real zero," which involves the rapid elimination of all fossil fuel production and greenhouse gas emissions without the use of offsets.

At least two major companies, the utilities NextEra and National Grid, have eschewed their own net-zero goals in favor of real zero.

They see real zero as a whole new lens with which to view equitable climate action, one that rejects a single-minded, technocratic focus on greenhouse gas emissions.

"The real zero framing puts at the center not just the urgency" of climate mitigation, "but also fairness," said Jackson, the policy director at Corporate Accountability.

She and others say real zero is an opportunity to reorient the international climate agenda around new priorities, like funneling climate finance to the developing world and protecting Indigenous land rights.