What the Race to Zero Built and Where It Goes Next

Over the past five years, the Race to Zero campaign has helped establish a common definition of credible net zero action while mobilising thousands of organizations to act. The next phase is about enabling those organizations to deliver and scale climate solutions faster.

To that end, the campaign – which quickly became the world's largest coalition of companies, cities, investors and other non-state actors committed to net zero – is being integrated into the new structure of the Global Climate Action Agenda designed to accelerate implementation and deliver on the five year plan for 2025-2030.

The transition is unfolding in a more complex landscape than the one that existed when the campaign launched in 2020. Climate action has become more embedded in business strategy and public policy, even as political conditions have shifted and progress has varied across sectors and regions. At the same time, voluntary efforts have matured into a more structured system, reinforced by international standards, disclosure frameworks and clearer expectations for what credible action requires.

That maturing landscape is what makes the next phase both necessary and possible.

What net zero looked like in 2020

Net zero is the point at which the majority of greenhouse gas emissions are mitigated, and only 10% of the “residual” emissions that cannot be are balanced by an equivalent amount removed. It is also a long-term goal anchored in the Paris Agreement, which scientists say requires reaching net zero by 2050 to keep 1.5°C within reach.

When the Race to Zero was launched, "net zero" was an aspirational long term goal anchored in the Paris Agreement. The campaign’s aim was to rally non-state actors behind a single objective – achieving net zero by 2050 – and, crucially, to have them meet a common set of minimum criteria to join. Partner initiatives applied, were assessed by an independent Expert Peer Review Group, and took responsibility for holding their own members to science-aligned criteria.

How the Race to Zero campaign performed

Over five years, the campaign mobilised more than 17,000 members across 150 countries – a powerhouse group representing 60 percent of the FTSE 100 (the UK’s largest listed companies), 40 percent of global financial assets, and over 12 percent of the world’s population. More importantly, these members delivered tangible decarbonisation. Sixty-four percent of members reporting through CDP reported a decrease in their Scope 1 emissions compared to their baseline years. On top of that, 56 percent of large companies reported a decrease in their Scope 3 emissions – typically the hardest category to cut – and 33 percent of large companies reported a decrease in their Scope 2 emissions.

Perhaps most importantly, the Race to Zero campaign succeeded in embedding its best practice criteria within formal standards: voluntary action was normalised, codified, and is increasingly reinforced by independently verifiable, international standards, disclosure frameworks, policy signals and regulation.

"When we launched Race to Zero in 2020, the challenge was to mobilise campaign members around a shared, credible definition of net zero at scale – and they did, in the tens of thousands." said Nigel Topping, who helped launch the campaign as COP26 Climate High-Level Champion. Five years on, he adds, "net zero is mainstream, the standards landscape has matured, and businesses no longer need convincing that the transition is happening."

The Race to Zero in the wider world

The campaign's later years unfolded against a more turbulent political backdrop, and some coalitions and commitments came under strain. Yet despite those headwinds, the broader direction of travel held.

Since the launch of the Race to Zero, target-setting has continued to rise, with the fastest growth to be found in emerging economies. The Net Zero Tracker found that targets amongst the world’s largest publicly-listed companies continued to grow, reaching at least 1,935 of the 4,083 it tracks by September 2025, up 250 percent from December 2020.

At the same time, many of the principles Race to Zero championed have become embedded in widely used international standards. In 2026, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) – the leading organization that assesses and validates corporate emissions reduction targets – updated its Corporate Net-Zero Standard with a stronger focus on implementation and delivery. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is also developing the world's first international standard for organizational net zero transition planning, ISO 14060, through a consensus process involving standards bodies from more than 170 countries. Meanwhile, the UNFCCC has begun piloting its Net-zero Recognition Framework to strengthen consistency across voluntary initiatives, inviting former Race to Zero partner initiatives to take part, with findings due at COP31.

In other words, practices that were promoted through the Race to Zero campaign – such as science-based targets, transition plans and transparent reporting – are increasingly becoming part of the global infrastructure for credible climate action.

From Campaign to Solutions Delivery in the Action Agenda

At the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), the wider system for coordinating non-state climate action was restructured. The Global Climate Action Agenda is now organized around six thematic axes – covering energy and transport, forests and biodiversity, agriculture and food systems, cities and water, human and social development, and the finance, technology and capacity-building that enable the rest. Under them, nearly 500 existing initiatives are grouped into Activation Groups aligned to the outcomes of the first Global Stocktake – the UN's assessment of collective climate progress. Their task is defined in delivery terms: to coordinate solutions, measure and track impact, demonstrate what works, and accelerate implementation.

The Race to Zero's work is being carried into this structure through a new Net Zero Activation Group. Its partners, criteria, and convening role are being folded into a larger, global framework built around time-bound delivery plans, rather than sitting alongside it as a standalone campaign.

Gonzalo Muñoz, who served as COP25 Climate High-Level Champion and co-founded the campaign, sees this as a continuation of Race to Zero's founding logic. The new group, he says, "will continue the legacy of the Race to Zero and demonstrate that progress is accelerating," reinforcing the "Ambition Loop" in which stronger business action gives governments the confidence to raise ambition, encouraging further action across the economy.

Moving forward, Race to Zero members are encouraged and expected to adopt net zero standards such as SBTi for target-setting and ISO for transition planning. Race to Zero partner initiatives and accelerators will continue to work with their members, shifting the enabling environment and accelerating action towards net zero by 2050.

The Race to Zero is transitioning its work to a structure built to carry it further – and its partners are what will drive it. The initiatives and accelerators that mobilised members, upheld the criteria and turned targets into transition plans are the core of the new Net Zero Activation Group, now equipped to help members deliver faster and demonstrate results.