{
  "slug": "net-zero-gap",
  "title": "Net-Zero Reduction Gap Calculator",
  "heading": "Net-Zero Emissions Reduction Gap Calculator",
  "category": "other",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/net-zero-gap",
  "summary": "How much you need to cut each year to hit a net-zero target date.",
  "description": "Setting a net-zero target year is easy; figuring out the annual reduction rate required to actually get there is the part most companies skip. This calculator takes your current baseline emissions, target year, and desired end-state (near-zero, typically 90%+ reduction under SBTi's Net-Zero Standard) and computes the required compound annual reduction rate along with a year-by-year glide path. It compares that required rate against your historical reduction rate if you provide one, flagging the gap between what you're actually achieving and what the target demands. Most companies discover the required rate is steeper than their current trajectory, especially in the early years of a commitment when reduction projects haven't yet scaled — this tool exists to surface that gap early, before a public commitment becomes a credibility problem down the line.",
  "formula": "Required annual reduction rate r solves: baseline × (1−r)^years = target emissions. r = 1 − (target/baseline)^(1/years).",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=net-zero-gap",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "baseline",
      "label": "Current annual emissions",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 50000,
      "unit": "tCO2e",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "baseYear",
      "label": "Baseline year",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 2024,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 2000,
      "max": 2050
    },
    {
      "id": "targetYear",
      "label": "Net-zero target year",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 2050,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 2025,
      "max": 2100
    },
    {
      "id": "residualPct",
      "label": "Residual emissions at target (% of baseline)",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 10,
      "unit": "%",
      "min": 0,
      "max": 50
    },
    {
      "id": "historicalRate",
      "label": "Your current annual reduction rate",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 2,
      "unit": "%",
      "min": -20,
      "max": 30
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "requiredRate",
      "label": "Required annual reduction rate",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "gap",
      "label": "Gap vs. your current trajectory",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "target",
      "label": "Target residual emissions",
      "format": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "projectedAtTarget",
      "label": "Where current rate lands you at target year",
      "format": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "years",
      "label": "Years to target",
      "format": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Current annual emissions: 50000 tCO2e",
      "Baseline year: 2024",
      "Net-zero target year: 2050",
      "Residual emissions at target (% of baseline): 10 %",
      "Your current annual reduction rate: 2 %"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Required annual reduction rate: 8.48%",
      "Gap vs. your current trajectory: 6.48%",
      "Target residual emissions: 5,000",
      "Where current rate lands you at target year: 29,570",
      "Years to target: 26"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter current annual emissions (tCO2e).",
      "Enter baseline year.",
      "Enter net-zero target year.",
      "Enter residual emissions at target (% of baseline) (%).",
      "Enter your current annual reduction rate (%).",
      "Read your required annual reduction rate on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "baseline": 30000,
        "baseYear": 2000,
        "targetYear": 2025,
        "residualPct": 6,
        "historicalRate": 1.2
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "baseline": 50000,
        "baseYear": 2024,
        "targetYear": 2050,
        "residualPct": 10,
        "historicalRate": 2
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "baseline": 80000,
        "baseYear": 2050,
        "targetYear": 2100,
        "residualPct": 16,
        "historicalRate": 3.2
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Estimates assume standard, average conditions — local rules, pricing, and materials vary.",
    "Results are rounded for readability; add a buffer before ordering, booking, or committing.",
    "Double-check anything with a real cost attached against a local quote."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "Why residual emissions instead of exactly zero?",
      "a": "SBTi's Net-Zero Standard and most credible frameworks recognize that some emissions (certain industrial processes, aviation, agriculture) are technically or economically infeasible to eliminate by mid-century with current technology. They require 90-95% absolute reduction from baseline, with the small remainder addressed through durable carbon removal rather than avoidance offsets."
    },
    {
      "q": "What if the required rate looks unrealistically steep?",
      "a": "That's common, and it usually means either the target year needs revisiting, the baseline year should be moved earlier to capture more runway, or the company needs a step-change project (like a major electrification or renewable procurement initiative) rather than incremental annual efficiency gains to close the gap."
    },
    {
      "q": "Does this account for revenue growth diluting the absolute target?",
      "a": "No — this calculator works in absolute tons, which is what SBTi's most rigorous absolute contraction approach requires regardless of growth. If your target is intensity-based instead, use the carbon-intensity-per-revenue calculator alongside this one, since intensity targets and absolute targets require different math and different glide paths."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/esg-carbon-intensity-revenue",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/scope1-2-emissions",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/carbon-price-exposure"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Net-Zero Reduction Gap Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/net-zero-gap)"
}