Carbon Neutrality Capability–Resilience Framework for Socio-Technical Systems

Carbon neutrality must persist under changing and disruptive conditions, not only during normal operation. Existing research explains net-zero transition capabilities, resilience, and socio-technical change, but offers limited explanation of how decarbonisation and functional continuity remain aligned when systems are disturbed. This article develops the Carbon Neutrality Capability–Resilience (CNCR) framework through an integrative synthesis of these literatures. CNCR distinguishes distributed capability configurations from the mechanisms that convert them into system-level outcomes and separates two coupled trajectories: functional performance and carbon performance. Five capability domains—governance, operational transformation, innovation and reconfiguration, ecosystem coordination, and adaptive learning—are connected through four integration mechanisms: joint decision integration, cross-system consequence assessment, carbon–resilience trade-off management, and adaptive resource reconfiguration. The framework proposes that resilient carbon neutrality depends not on capability possession alone, but on the ability to coordinate these capabilities so that functional recovery does not undermine the carbon pathway. Seven propositions specify the relationships among capabilities, integration mechanisms, disturbance response, trajectory alignment, and recursive learning. CNCR contributes a dynamic explanation of how socio-technical systems can sustain decarbonisation through disruption and provides a basis for empirical testing across infrastructure-intensive settings.