Glossary Terms:
» Afforestation
» Allocation
» Ancillary Benefits
» Annex A
» Annex I Parties
» Anthropogenic Emissions
» Assigned Amount
» Base Year
» Baselines
» Basket of Gases
» Biodiversity
» Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
» Carbon Sinks
» Carbon Taxes
» Certified Emissions Reduction (CER)
» Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
» Climate
» Climate change
» Climate Sensitivity
» Climate Variability
» Ecosystem
» Emissions
» Emissions Cap
» Emissions Trading
» Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
» Evapotranspiration
» Global Warming
» Greenhouse Effect
» Greenhouse Gas (GHG)
» Kyoto Protocol
» Negative Feedback
» Non-Market Benefits
» Non-Party
» Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
» Positive Feedback
» ppm or ppb
» Ratification
» Reforestation
» Regional Groups
» Renewable Energy
» Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
» Sequestration
» Sinks
» Source
» Stratosphere
» Substitution
» Targets and Timetables
» Technological Change
» United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
» Water Vapor (H2O)
» Weather
Afforestation
Planting of new forests on lands that have not been recently forested.
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Allocation
Under an emissions trading scheme, permits to emit can initially either be given away for free, usually under a "grandfathering" approach based on past emissions in a base year or an "updating" approach based on the more recent emissions. The alternative is to auction permits in an initial market offering.
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Ancillary Benefits
Complementary benefits of a climate policy including improvements in local air quality and reduced reliance of imported fossil fuels.
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Annex A
A list in the Kyoto Protocol of the six greenhouse gases and the sources of emissions covered under the Kyoto Protocol. See also "Basket of Gases."
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Annex I Parties
The 40 countries plus the European Economic Community listed in Annex I of the UNFCCC that agreed to try to limit their GHG emissions: Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, European Economic Community, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United States.
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Anthropogenic Emissions
Emissions of greenhouse gasses resulting from human activities.
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Assigned Amount
In the Kyoto Protocol, the permitted emissions, in CO2 equivalents, during a commitment period. It is calculated using the Quantified Emission Limitation and Reduction Commitment (QELRC), together with rules specifying how and what emissions are to be counted.
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Base Year
Targets for reducing GHG emissions are often defined in relation to a base year. In the Kyoto Protocol, 1990 is the base year for most countries for the major GHGs; 1995 can be used as the base year for some of the minor GHGs.
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Baselines
The baseline estimates of population, GDP, energy use and hence resultant greenhouse gas emissions without climate policies, determine how big a reduction is required, and also what the impacts of climate change without policy will be.
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Basket of Gases
This refers to the group six of greenhouse gases regulated under the Kyoto Protocol. They are listed in Annex A of the Kyoto Protocol and include: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).
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Biodiversity
The variety of organisms found within a specified geographic region.
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Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
CO2 is a colorless, odorless, non-poisonous gas that is a normal part of the ambient air. Of the six greenhouse gases normally targeted, CO2 contributes the most to human-induced global warming. Human activities such as fossil fuel combustion and deforestation have increased atmospheric concentrations of CO2 by approximately 30 percent since the industrial revolution. CO2 is the standard used to determine the "global warming potentials" (GWPs) of other gases. CO2 has been assigned a 100-year GWP of 1 (i.e., the warming effects over a 100-year time frame relative to other gases).
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Carbon Sinks
Processes that remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than they release. Both the terrestrial biosphere and oceans can act as carbon sinks.
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Carbon Taxes
A surcharge on the carbon content of oil, coal, and gas that discourages the use of fossil fuels and aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
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Certified Emissions Reduction (CER)
Reductions of greenhouse gases achieved by a Certified Development Mechanism (CDM) project. A CER can be sold or counted toward Annex I countries' emissions commitments. Reductions must be additional to any that would otherwise occur.
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Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
One of the three market mechanisms established by the Kyoto Protocol. The CDM is designed to promote sustainable development in developing countries and assist Annex I Parties in meeting their greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments. It enables industrialized countries to invest in emission reduction projects in developing countries and to receive credits for reductions achieved.
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Climate
The long-term average weather of a region including typical weather patterns, the frequency and intensity of storms, cold spells, and heat waves. Climate is not the same as weather.
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Climate change
Refers to changes in longe-term trends in the average climate, such as changes in average temperatures. In IPCC usage, climate change refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity. In UNFCCC usage, climate change refers to a change in climate that is attributable directly or indirectly to human activity that alters atmospheric composition.
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Climate Sensitivity
The average global air surface temperature change resulting from a doubling of pre-industrial atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The IPCC estimates climate sensitivity at 1.5-4.5oC (2.7-8.1oF).
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Climate Variability
Refers to changes in patterns, such as precipitation patterns, in the weather and climate.
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Ecosystem
A community of organisms and its physical environment.
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Emissions
The release of substances (e.g., greenhouse gases) into the atmosphere.
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Emissions Cap
A mandated restraint in a scheduled timeframe that puts a "ceiling" on the total amount of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions that can be released into the atmosphere. This can be measured as gross emissions or as net emissions (emissions minus gases that are sequestered).
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Emissions Trading
A market mechanism that allows emitters (countries, companies or facilities) to buy emissions from or sell emissions to other emitters. Emissions trading is expected to bring down the costs of meeting emission targets by allowing those who can achieve reductions less expensively to sell excess reductions (e.g. reductions in excess of those required under some regulation) to those for whom achieving reductions is more costly.
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Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
The increase in the natural greenhouse effect resulting from increases in atmospheric concentrations of GHGs due to emissions from human activities.
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Evapotranspiration
The process by which water re-enters the atmosphere through evaporation from the ground and transpiration by plants.
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Global Warming
The progressive gradual rise of the Earth's average surface temperature thought to be caused in part by increased concentrations of GHGs in the atmosphere.
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Greenhouse Effect
The insulating effect of atmospheric greenhouse gases (e.g., water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, etc.) that keeps the Earth's temperature about 60 degrees F warmer than it would be otherwise.
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Greenhouse Gas (GHG)
Any gas that contributes to the "greenhouse effect."
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Kyoto Protocol
An international agreement adopted in December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan. The Protocol sets binding emission targets for developed countries that would reduce their emissions on average 5.2 percent below 1990 levels.
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Negative Feedback
A process that results in a reduction in the response of a system to an external influence. For example, increased plant productivity in response to global warming would be a negative feedback on warming, because the additional growth would act as a sink for CO2, reducing the atmospheric CO2 concentration.
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Non-Market Benefits
Benefits of a climate policy that can be measured in terms of avoided non-market impacts such as human-health impacts (e.g., increased incidence of tropical diseases) and damages to ecosystems (e.g., loss of biodiversity).
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Non-Party
A state that has not ratified the UNFCCC. Non-parties may attend talks as observers.
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Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
PFCs are among the six types of greenhouse gases to be curbed under the Kyoto Protocol. PFCs are synthetic industrial gases generated as a by-product of aluminum smelting and uranium enrichment. They also are used as substitutes for CFCs in the manufacture of semiconductors. There are no natural sources of PFCs. PFCs have atmospheric lifetimes of thousands to tens of thousands of years and 100-year GWPs thousands of times that of CO2, depending on the gas.
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Positive Feedback
A process that results in an amplification of the response of a system to an external influence. For example, increased atmospheric water vapor in response to global warming would be a positive feedback on warming, because water vapor is a GHG.
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ppm or ppb
Abbreviations for "parts per million" and "parts per billion," respectively - the units in which concentrations of greenhouse gases are commonly presented. For example, since the pre-industrial era, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have increased from 270 ppm to 370 ppm.
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Ratification
After signing the UNFCCC or the Kyoto Protocol, a country must ratify it, often with the approval of its parliament or other legislature. In the case of the Kyoto Protocol, a Party must deposit its instrument of ratification with the UN Secretary General in New York.
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Reforestation
Replanting of forests on lands that have recently been harvested.
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Regional Groups
The five regional groups meet privately to discuss issues and nominate bureau members and other officials. They are Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC), and the Western Europe and Others Group (WEOG).
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Renewable Energy
Energy obtained from sources such as geothermal, wind, photovoltaic, solar, and biomass.
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Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
The United Nations staff assigned the responsibility of conducting the affairs of the UNFCCC. In 1996 the Secretariat moved from Geneva, Switzerland, to Bonn, Germany.
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Sequestration
Opportunities to remove atmospheric CO2, either through biological processes (e.g. plants and trees), or geological processes through storage of CO2 in underground reservoirs.
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Sinks
Any process, activity or mechanism that results in the net removal of greenhouse gases, aerosols, or precursors of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
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Source
Any process or activity that results in the net release of greenhouse gases, aerosols, or precursors of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
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Stratosphere
The region of the Earth's atmosphere 10-50 km above the surface of the planet.
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Substitution
The economic process of trading off inputs and consumption due to changes in prices arising from a constraint on greenhouse gas emissions. How the extremely flexible U.S. economy adapts to available substitutes and/or finds new methods of production under a greenhouse gas constraint will be critical in minimizing overall costs of reducing emissions.
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Targets and Timetables
Targets refer to the emission levels or emission rates set as goals for countries, sectors, companies, or facilities. When these goals are to be reached by specified years, the years at which goals are to be met are referred to as the timetables. In the Kyoto Protocol, a target is the percent reduction from the 1990 emissions baseline that the country has agreed to. On average, developed countries agreed to reduce emissions by 5.2% below 1990 emissions during the period 2008-2012, the first commitment period.
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Technological Change
How much technological change will be additionally induced by climate policies is a crucial, but not well quantified, factor in assessing the costs of long-term mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.
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United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
A treaty signed at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro that calls for the "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system." The treaty includes a non-binding call for developed countries to return their emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000. The treaty took effect in March 1994 upon ratification by more than 50 countries. The United States was the first industrialized nation to ratify the Convention.
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Water Vapor (H2O)
Water vapor is the primary gas responsible for the greenhouse effect. It is believed that increases in temperature caused by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases will increase the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, resulting in additional warming (see "positive feedback").
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Weather
Describes the short-term (i.e., hourly and daily) state of the atmosphere. Weather is not the same as climate.
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Source: Pew Center on Global Climate Change