If you haven’t kicked off your sustainability work for the fall already, here comes some inspiration for getting started. Whether you’re new to the sustainability-scene or it’s an old pal of yours, we have the glossary of your dreams equipped with the vital acronyms, abbreviations and expressions in one handy go-to guide to get you up to speed with your sustainability-lingo.
Continuing our series on the most essential buzzwords in sustainability, we have cherry-picked some of the most used terms to get acquainted with below.
Read our seven top tips or download and share the full 2020 edition of our buzzword-guide here.
Get sustainability-savvy with these 7 essentials
Climate neutral now
Achieving net zero carbon emissions by balancing carbon emitted with an equivalent amount sequestered or offset, or buying enough carbon credits to make up the difference. Further reading: UNFCCC
EU taxonomy
The EU taxonomy was established in 2018 by the European Commission to help facilitate Europe’s move to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, as well as combat climate change in the long-term. In March 2020, the initiative was updated, aiming to help companies access green financing to improve environmental performance. The EU taxonomy aims “to help investors, companies, issuers and project promoters navigate the transition to a low carbon, resilient and resource-efficient economy.” Further reading: Summary of the EU taxonomy 2020
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
GRI is an independent international organization that has pioneered sustainability reporting since 1997. GRI helps businesses and governments worldwide understand and communicate their impact on critical sustainability issues such as climate change, human rights, governance and social well-being. Further reading: Global Reporting Initiative
Natural capital
The world’s stock of natural assets, including geology, soil, air, water and all living things.
Rematerialization
Repurposing what was once considered a waste material into a new resource for a product, service or process. Rematerialization is part of a thesis that a ‘de-linking’ occurs between materials use and economic growth during economic development (the so-called ‘dematerialization hypothesis’). Dematerialization is not a persistent trend in industrialized economies, but occurs during periods of rapid structural and technological change. Evidence suggests that periods of ‘rematerialization’, when materials use is re-linked with economic growth, follow periods of dematerialization. Further reading: Dematerialization and rematerialization
Science-based targets
Science-based targets is a joint initiative of CDP, the UN Global Compact (UNGC), the World Resources Institute (WRI) and WWF. Our goal is to enable leading companies setting ambitious and meaningful corporate GHG reduction targets. Targets adopted by companies to reduce GHG emissions are considered “science-based” if they are in line with the level of decarbonization required to keep global temperature increase below 2°C compared to preindustrial temperatures, as described in the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Further reading: Science Based Targets
Upcycling
Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming byproducts, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value. Upcycling is the opposite of downcycling, which is the other face of the recycling process.
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