| 15 Oct 2026
MEECC’s ‘global’ net-zero claim relies on excluding countries without solutions
Abstract. Kanitkar et al. present the Model for Energy Equity and Climate Compatibility (MEECC) as a way to explore how sharing the remaining carbon budget affects national emissions pathways. Several published results cannot be reproduced from the released code and data. Countries for which the model finds no pathway are excluded from totals labelled World. In one 1.5 °C scenario, these countries account for 65 % of modelled 2020 emissions, yet the paper reports a 96 % global reduction by 2050. The stated peak-to-net-zero timing rules are not implemented as described, and published counts of countries without solutions and most national net-zero years cannot be reproduced. National pathways also fail for different reasons: some countries exhaust their allocated budgets, while others fail the timing screen. The reported World results therefore cover only countries receiving a solution, leaving an incomplete global emissions pathway.
Competing interests: Both authors are integrated assessment modelers, and serve pro bono on the Integrated Assessment Modeling Consortium’s Scientific Working Groups. The authors declare no financial competing interests
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