As concerns about climate change grow, the concept of 'carbon neutrality' has captured the corporate imagination, being embraced by organisations as diverse as airlines, ice-cream makers and reinsurance giants. But this apparently simple concept - that a company, or one of its products or services, can have no net impact on climate - is surrounded by controversy, and a wide range of assumptions and actions lie behind the claims that have been made.

The ambition to have zero net impact on climate is a powerful one, and a goal of neutrality has the potential to drive ongoing change within an organisation - while also promoting shared responsibility with suppliers and customers for emissions beyond the organisation's immediate control.

This report is intended to move us towards a consensus regarding any claim of neutrality. It explores a number of the claims that have been made so far and makes a series of recommendations about what should lie behind any declaration of neutrality.

Download now: Getting to zero: defining corporate carbon neutrality