Climate-Neutral Urbogeosystems: Theoretical Bases of Research

Background. Eurointegration processes require Ukraine to join the EU initiatives, one of which is the European Green Deal, which aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Climate neutrality and related concepts are currently being actively discussed in the global scientific community. Ukrainian academic literature also contains studies on this topic, but there is a noticeable lack of comprehensive works. The article explores the theoretical bases for studying climate neutrality in general and in relation to urbogeosystems in particular. Methods. The main method used is bibliometric analysis of publications retrieved from Web of Science Core Collection database. The bibliometric data were processed using the network analysis method with the help of VOSviewer software, on the basis of which the main research areas were determined. Results. It was revealed that more publications are devoted to carbon neutrality than to climate neutrality, while net-zero carbon emissions are not studied as often as net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. In contrast, Ukrainian scientists more commonly use the concept of climate neutrality. The calculations made showed that climate neutrality seems to be more relevant for regional-scaled and national-scaled assessments, while the concept of carbon neutrality can be used for studying systems in which the energy sector is the main source of greenhouse gases emissions. Conclusions.In this article, the main concepts are defined and their usage in the scientific literature is analysed. The countries where such research is most actively conducted are identified, and the achievements of Ukrainian scientists are analysed. The difference between climate neutrality, net zero emissions, carbon neutrality and net zero carbon emissions is described. Based on the analysis of the component composition of emissions, the expediency of using these concepts depending on the specifics of the study is substantiated. The main problems that arise when choosing the object and subject of research are outlined, and ways to solve them are presented. The main approaches to determining the coverage of sources of greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration in the study of urbogeosystems are analyzed. The application of these approaches in the recommendations for greenhouse gas inventories is investigated. The article substantiates the prospects of studying climate neutrality for both large industrial centers and small urbanized systems, which are easier to achieve climate neutrality.