Environmental Glossary
From "Alternative Energy" to "ZERO Emission Vehicle" - basic environmental vocabulary and abbreveations used.
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| Agenda 21 | Centrepiece of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio 1992. An action programme in 40 chapters which contains detailed recommendations on how to build and secure an environment worth living in for the present and future generations. Action plans are to be developed on the national level as well as Local Agenda 21 on the communal level. Both contribute to the implementation of Agenda 21. 178 nations, including Germany, have adopted the Guidelines for Sustainable Development. |
| Alternative Energy | Energy that does not come from fossil fuels. |
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| Biological Control | In pest control, the use of animals and organisms that eat or otherwise kill or out-compete pests. |
| Biodiversity | Refers to the variety and variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes in which they occur. Diversity can be defined as the number of different items and their relative frequencies. For biological diversity, these items are organized at many levels, ranging from complete ecosystems to the biochemical structures that are the molecular basis of heredity. Thus, the term encompasses different ecosystems, species, and genes. |
| Bioindicator | plant species which are sensitive to certain types of pollution at relatively low levels. If pollution levels become too high, the species die out. Their absence in surroundings which would otherwise be their normal habitat provides valuable information on the quality of the area under review. |
| Biosphere | the portion of Earth and its atmosphere that can support life. |
| Biotop | Well-defined geographical area, characterised by specific ecological conditions (soil, climate, etc.), which physically supports the organisms that live there (biocoenosis). |
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| CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) | Convention adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The objectives of this convention are the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over those resources and to technologies, and by appropriate funding. |
| CIPRA (Commission internationale pour la Protection des Alps) | The International Commission for the Protection of the Alps, was founded in 1952. CIPRA-International is a
non-governmental umbrella organization headquartered in Schaan, Liechtenstein. There are seven national CIPRA branches in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, France, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and Italy as well as the South Tyrol regional branch, all of which represent over 100 member organizations. It also supports the preservation of Alpine natural and cultural heritage, the maintenance of regional diversity, and problem-solving in the Alpine region across national borders. In this way, CIPRA follows an integrated approach that brings together all of these aspects. In the information age, it is vital to manage the flood of information professionally without losing an overview. For this reason, CIPRA is currently developing a multilingual flow of information across borders in the entire Alpine region. |
| CITES | Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora An international treaty to restrict and monitor trade in endangered species, agreed by 123 parties, with a Secretariat in Switzerland. |
| Climate Change | Carbon dioxide + methane emissions from fossil fuel supply chains are recognised as contributors to global changes in climate. |
| COP - Conference of the Parties (Vertragsstaatenkonferenz) | The Conference of the Parties is the governing body of a Convention, and advances implementation of the Convention through the decisions it takes at its periodic meetings. |
| CSD - Commission on Sustainable Development | The CSD was called for in Chapter 38 of Agenda 21 and was created in 1992 to ensure effective follow-up to UNCED; to enhance international co-operation and rationalise intergovernmental decision making; and to examine progress in the implementation of Agenda 21 at all levels. |
| CSR | Corporate Social Responsibility: covers economic, ecological and social aspects of corporate activities and their impact on society. |
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| Ecology | The study of the relationships between all living organisms and the environment, especially the totality or pattern of interactions; a view that includes all plant and animal species and their unique contributions to a particular habitat. |
| ECO-Audit | The eco-audit is a formal method of inspection used to assess a company's impact on the environment and its environment, health and safety management system. The European Union's environmental management and auditing scheme (EMAS) of 1993 regulates the voluntary participation of commercial organizations in a common system for environmental management and environmental audits. The environmental management system is designed to assess the environmental performance of a company. After an eco-audit by certified assessors, the company usually receives a quality certificate. |
| ECO-System | the interacting system of a biological community and its nonliving surroundings. |
| Earth Summit or Rio de Janeiro Conference | The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (U.N.C.E.D.) was held from 3 to 14 June 1992 and focussed on the compatibility between development, the tool with which to combat poverty, and environmental protection. It was this conference that led to the concepts of sustainable development, Agenda 21 and biodiversity becoming widely known. |
| Eco-efficiency analysis | The eco-efficiency analysis looks at the entire lifecycle of a product - from the cradle to the grave - starting from extraction of the raw materials to recycling or disposal after use. Such an analysis allows us to consider both economic and ecological aspects when developing and optimizing products and processes, and helps us choose the most ecoefficient of the various alternatives. The aim is to offer the best possible costeffective products with good environmental performance. |
| ECO-Label | A seal or logo indicating that a product has met a set of environmental or social standards |
| ECO-System | a complex, interacting biological system formed by a community of organisms living in a given physical environment and the natural cycles and elements which affect them. This fragment of the biosphere, the structure and functioning of which can be analysed, constitutes a relatively autonomous entity in relation to connecting ecosystems. |
| EMAS | eco-management and auditing scheme - A Community scheme allowing voluntary participation by companies performing industrial activities, established for the evaluation and improvement of the environmental performance of industrial activities and the provision of the relevant information to the public. The objective of the scheme is to promote continuous improvements in the environmental performance of industrial activities by:(a) the establishment and implementation of environmental policies, programmes and management systems by companies, in relation to their sites;(b) the systematic, objective and periodic evaluation of the performance of such elements;(c) the provision of information of environmental performance to the public. |
| Emission | Pollution discharged into the atmosphere from smokestacks, other vents, and surface areas of commercial or industrial facilities; from residential chimneys; and from motor vehicle, locomotive, or aircraft exhausts. |
| Emission trading | The Kyoto Protocol allows Parties listed in Annex B to participate in trading of their assigned amounts for the purposes of fulfilling their emissions commitments. Parties buying parts of assigned amounts can add these to their assigned amounts under the Protocol, while Parties selling must deduct them. Such trading must be supplemental to domestic actions. The Conference of the Parties is to define the rules and modalities for trading. |
| Environmental Audit | The environmental audit employs defined criteria to define the environmental soundness of production facilities and service companies; the environmental audit is an essential precursor to »certification or validation as a company run along sound environmental lines |
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| GEF (Global Environmental Facility) | GEF was launched in 1991. Its Implementing Agencies are the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). It operates as the Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Biodiversity (UNCBD) Conventions' financial mechanism. It is also the financial mechanism for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The GEF was created to provide grants and concessional funds to developing countries to finance incremental costs for programmes, projects, and activities to protect the world's environment. The focal areas of the GEF are climate change, biodiversity, ozone depletion and international waters. New focal areas will be land degradation (desertification and deforestation) and the phasing-out of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). These focal areas may be eligible for funding. |
| Global change | n.a still more inclusive concept that sees broad changes in climate, vegetation cover and other geographical phenomena as inter-linked |
| Global Warming | Changes in the surface-air temperature, referred to as the global temperature, brought about by the greenhouse effect which is induced by emission of greenhouse gases into the air. |
| Greenhouse Effect | A popular term used to describe the roles of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other trace gases in keeping the Earth's surface warmer than it would be otherwise. These "radiatively active" gases are relatively transparent to incoming short-wave radiation from the sun, but are relatively opaque to the long-wave (infrared) radiation emitted by the earth surface. The latter radiation, which would otherwise escape to space, is trapped by these gases within the lower levels of the atmosphere. The subsequent reradiation of some of the energy back to the surface maintains surface temperatures higher than they would be if the gases were absent. There is concern that increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases may enhance the greenhouse effect and cause global warming. |
| GTZ | The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH is a government-owned corporation for international cooperation with worldwide operations. In more than 130 partner countries, GTZ is supporting c. 2,700 development projects and programmes, chiefly under commissions from the German Federal Government. GTZ's aim is to improve the living conditions and perspectives of people in developing and transition countries. |
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| Immission | ambient pollution from a remote source. |
| IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change | Widely regarded as the most authoritative international voice on the science and impacts of climate change. Established by governments under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organisation and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1988, the IPCC produces five-yearly reports assessing the state of knowledge on climate change which represent the international consensus among the more than 2 000 experts involved. It has also published reports on specific issues, such as sinks. |
| ISO 14000ff | International standard for auditing the organization, processes and methods of certain organizational units in a company and the effective implementation of environmental policy and corporate objectives. |
| IUCN | Founded on 5 October 1948 as the International Union for the Protection of Nature (IUPN), following on an international conference in Fontainebleau, France. The organization changed its name into International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) in 1956. In 1990 it was shortened to IUCN -The World Conservation Union. A priority of the IUCN Programme (2001–2004) is to build recognition of the many ways that the livelihoods of the poor depend on the sustainable management of natural resources. |
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| Kyoto-Protokoll | The Kyoto Protocol was adopted at the Third Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan. It contains legally binding commitments, in addition to those included in the UNFCCC. Countries included in Annex B of the Protocol (most OECD countries and EITs) agreed to reduce their anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, and SF6) by at least 5 % below 1990 levels in the commitment period 2008 to 2012. |
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| MAB (Man and Biosphere Programme) | UNESCO's programme on man and the biosphere (MAB) develops the basis, within the natural and the social sciences, for the sustainable use and conservation of biological diversity, and for the improvement of the relationship between people and their environment globally. The MAB programme encourages interdisciplinary research, demonstration and training in natural resource management. |
| Multi-Stakeholder-Dialog | Meeting of Non-governmental Organisations, the civil society, the private sector and government members to exchange opinions and positions on a certain topic which affects or is of interest to all participants. |
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| Natura 2000 | European Union network of sites designated by Member States under the birds directive and under the habitats directive. |
| NGO | Non-governmental organisation. |
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| Pesticide | any substance used to control pests ranging from rats, weeds, and insects to algae and fungi. Pesticides can accumulate in the food chain and can contaminate the environment if misused. |
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| Recycling | (1) A resource recovery method involving the collection and treatment of a waste product for use as raw material in the manufacture of the same or a similar product. (2) the EU waste strategy distinguishes between: reuse meant as a material reuse without any structural changes in materials; recycling meant as a material recycling, only, and with a reference to structural changes in products; and recovery meant as an energy recovery only. |
| Red List | A publication listing the conservation status of different taxa in a given geographic area (e.g. region, country, world). |
| RIO Agreements | multi-lateral agreements reached at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 known individually as the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, Convention on Biological Diversity and Framework Convention on Climate Change. |
| RIO-Declaration | An agreement adopted during UNCED 1992 containing 27 principles which determine the behaviour among nations and the behaviour of governments towards their citizens where the environment and development is concerned. The principles include the right to development, the importance of poverty reduction, appropriate population policies and the precautionary principle. |
| Risk Management | Process of evaluating alternative regulatory and non-regulatory responses to risk and selecting among them. The selection process necessarily requires the consideration of legal, economic and social factors. |
| Renewable Energies | inexhaustible sources of natural energy, such as solar radiation, wind, water and carbon cycles in the biosphere, the Earth's inner heat flux and tides. |
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| Shareholder Value | Management for shareholder value has the objective of achieving benefits for shareholders. Ideally, the shareholder will enjoy a high dividend and rising share prices. Shareholder value may also be expressed as the market value of corporate equity. |
| Solar Energy | power collected from sunlight, used most often for heating purposes but occasionally to generate electricity. |
| Stakeholder Value | Management for stakeholder value endeavours to take account of the interests of the relevant social interest groups (stakeholders). Stakeholder value is the value created by meeting stakeholder demands. |
| Sustainable Development | According to the WCED (World Commission on Environment and Development), this is "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Sustainable development implies economic growth together with the protection of environmental quality, each reinforcing the other. The essence of this form of development is a stable relationship between human activities and the natural world, which does not diminish the prospects for future generations to enjoy a quality of life at least as good as our own. Many observers believe that participatory democracy, undominated by vested interests, is a prerequisite for achieving sustainable development. |
| Sustainable Tourism | Sustainable tourism in its purest sense, is an industry which attempts to make a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate income, employment, and the conservation of local ecosystems. It is responsible tourism which is both ecologically and culturally sensitive. |
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| UMS | Environmental management system - a UMS is introduced with the objective of integrating environmental protection in all areas and activities of a company. |
| UNEP | United Nations Environmental Programme: headed by the former German environment minister Klaus Töpfer since 1998. |
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| WGBU (Wissenschaftlicher Beirat der Bundesregierung Globale Umweltveränderungen) | The German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) was set up by the Federal Government in 1992 as an independent advisory body. Every two years the Council submits a report to the Federal Government containing recommendations for research and further action to combat global problems in the field of environment and development. The main task of the interdisciplinary Council is to review research findings on all aspects of global change and to derive policy recommendations for achieving sustainable development in the world. |
| Wind Energy | Energy extracted from wind, traditionally in a windmill, but increasingly by more complicated designs including turbines, usually to produce electricity but also for water pumping. The power available from wind is proportional to the area swept by the rotating place and the cube of the wind velocity, but less than half the available power can be recovered. |
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| ZERO Emission Vehicle | Zero Emission Vehicles are defined as cars, trucks and buses that produce no tailpipe or evaporative emissions. Today, the only vehicles that qualify are battery-powered vehicles. In the future, fuel cell vehicles (currently under development) may also qualify. Vehicles with the potential to earn partial-ZEV include Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) - today's HEVs combine an internal combustion engine with an electric motor and rechargeable batteries. |