Glossary definitions

A way to place emissions of various radiative forcing agents on a common footing by accounting for their effect on climate. It describes, for a given mixture and amount of greenhouse gases, the amount of CO2 that would have the same global warming ability, when measured over a specified time period. For the purpose of this report, greenhouse gas emissions (unless otherwise specified) are the sum of the basket of greenhouse gases listed in Annex A to the Kyoto Protocol, expressed as CO2e assuming a 100-year global warming potential.

A measure of the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions, including carbon dioxide equivalents, that is directly and indirectly caused by an activity or is accumulated over the life stages of a product.

A compensation for carbon dioxide emissions resulting from industrial or other human activity; a quantifiable amount of such compensation as a tradable commodity.

The long-term storage of carbon in plants, soils, geologic formations, and the ocean. Carbon sequestration occurs both naturally and as a result of anthropogenic activities and typically refers to the storage of carbon that has the immediate potential to become carbon dioxide gas.

A method of reducing greenhouse gases by injecting carbon dioxide produced in other kinds of industrial processes into deep underground wells or beds of underground materials so that it does not enter the atmosphere. Transfer of atmospheric CO2 into long-lived pools and storing it securely so it is not immediately reemitted.

Any process, activity or mechanism that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The biological process by which carbon in the form carbon dioxide is taken up from the atmosphere and incorporated through photosynthesis into different compartments of ecosystems, such as biomass, wood, or soil organic carbon. Also, the technological process of capturing waste carbon dioxide from industry or power generation, and storing it so that it will not enter the atmosphere.

The technological process of capturing waste carbon dioxide from industry or power generation, and storing it so that it will not enter the atmosphere.

A compulsory contribution to state revenue, levied by the governments on business profits, or added to the cost of goods, services, and transactions in proportion to the consequential amounts of carbon released into the atmosphere.

See 'Carbon sequestration'.

Refers to the tendency for certain carbon-intensive technological systems to persist over time, ‘locking out' lower-carbon alternatives, and owing to a combination of linked technical, economic, and institutional factors.

In ecology, the carrying capacity of a species in an environment is the maximum population size of the species that the environment can sustain indefinitely. The term is also used more generally to refer to the upper limit of habitats, ecosystems, landscapes, waterscapes or seascapes to provide tangible and intangible goods and services (including aesthetic and spiritual services) in a sustainable way.

The upper limit of habitats, ecosystems, landscapes, waterscapes or seascapes or any other appropriate geographic unit to provide tangible and intangible goods and services (including aesthetics and spiritual services) in a sustained way without altering its bio-geo-chemical characteristics, ecosystem functions and endangering its own resilience to climate change, natural and anthropogenic perturbations.

species that do not have self-sustaining populations and which rely on repeated introductions for their persistence i.e., not yet an established species

The IPBES catalogue of policy support tools and methodologies is an evolving online resource with two main goals. The first goal is to enable decision-makers to gain easy access to information on policy support tools and methodologies to better inform and assist the different phases of policy-making and implementation. The second goal is to allow a range of users to provide input to the catalogue and assess the usability of tools and methodologies in their specific contexts, including resources required and types of outputs that can be obtained, thus helping to identify and bridge gaps with respect to available tools and methodologies.

When the cause produces its effects in a remote and indirect manner, an explanation has to rely on causal chains, i.e. a continuous chain of causal mechanisms, where each step links a cause or combination of causes with its direct outcome, the latter being a direct cause of the subsequent outcome.

A causal effect can be defined in many ways, but essentially it amounts to the change in an outcome Y brought about by the change in a factor X. If X is a cause of Y then knowing something about X should help to predict something about Y that cannot be provided by another variable.

One hundred years.

Ceremonial uses are defined as uses of wild species in spiritual observances and practices valued for their role in maintaining cultural identity and social reproduction.

In this document the authors and reviewers have assigned categories of certainty to the information that is included. These are: Well established (q.v.); Established but incomplete (q.v.); Unresolved (q.v.); and, Inconclusive (q.v.).

In the context of IPBES, the summary terms to describe the state of knowledge are the following: Well established (Certainty term (q.v.)): comprehensive meta-analysis or other synthesis or multiple independent studies that agree.; Established but incomplete (Certainty term (q.v.)): general agreement although only a limited number of studies exist but no comprehensive synthesis and, or the studies that exist imprecisely address the question.; Unresolved (Certainty term (q.v.)): multiple independent studies exist but conclusions do not agree.; Inconclusive (Certainty term (q.v.)): limited evidence, recognising major knowledge gaps.

In the context of IPBES, the summary terms to describe the state of knowledge are the following: Well established (certainty term): comprehensive meta-analysis or other synthesis or multiple independent studies that agree.; Established but incomplete (certainty term): general agreement although only a limited number of studies exist but no comprehensive synthesis and, or the studies that exist imprecisely address the question.; Unresolved (certainty term): multiple independent studies exist but conclusions do not agree.; Inconclusive (certainty term): limited evidence, recognising major knowledge gaps.

A procedure by which a third party gives written assurance that a product, process or service is in conformity with certain environmental standards.

A list of principles that certification schemes need to satisfy in order to be effective and credible.

Any species that has popular appeal and is used to focus attention on conservation campaigns.

Species that has a privileged value for a group (academic or not academic) and is used to focus attention on conservation campaigns (in the case of NGOs and environmentalists) or considered as a heritage (3 characters: inherited from ancestor, supposed to be transmitted to the next generation, sustainably managed) and in which the group identifies him-self.

Synthesis of organic compounds (as in living cells) by energy derived from inorganic chemical reactions.

Ecosystems including hot vents, cold seeps, mud volcanoes and sulphidic brine pools are highly fractured and diverse deep-water habitats shaped by dynamic, small- and large-scale geological processes, which vary substantially in time and space.

A regenerative system in which resource input and waste, emission, and energy leakage are minimized by slowing, closing, and narrowing material and energy loops. This can be achieved through long-lasting design, maintenance, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishing, and recycling.

model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. In this way, the life cycle of products is extended

Citizen science refers to research collaborations in which volunteers and scientists partner to answer real-world questions, typically through a connected interface. A major setback of citizen science projects is that they require some level of computer l.

diverse range of approaches in which scientific research is conducted, in whole or in part, by volunteers with varying levels of expertise (also known as community science, participatory monitoring, community-based environmental monitoring, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, or volunteer monitoring). Citizen science often contributes to surveillance of invasive alien species

Actors living in the area / context of interest that are directly or indirectly impacted by decisions / recommendations and hold their own (subjective) interest.

Civil society, according to Gramsci, is broader than the institutionally recognized organizations, unions, associations and other pressure groups. It considers citizens as historical subjects capable of both understanding and changing the world around them, instead of being passive recipients of a readymade ideology. The Internet and other new information and communication technologies facilitate the rise of self-organized, leaderless movements, allowing a rapid and efficient mobilization of citizens.

A group of organisms believed to comprise all the evolutionary descendants of a common ancestor.

the intentional introduction of an alien species, usually co-evolved, as a biological control agent for permanent establishment and long-term control

Defined in Article 12 of the Protocol, allows a country with an emission-reduction or emission-limitation commitment under the Kyoto Protocol (Annex B Party) to implement an emission-reduction project in developing countries. Such projects can earn saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tone of CO2, which can be counted towards meeting Kyoto targets.

Climate is the average weather, or more rigorously, its statistical description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant quantities over a period of time ranging from months to thousands or millions of years. The classical period for averaging these variables is 30 years, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization. The relevant quantities are most often surface variables such as temperature, precipitation and wind. Climate in a wider sense is the state, including a statistical description, of the climate system. In the ocean, climate change is manifested as altered hydrologic conditions including temperature, oxygen, sea level, the carbonate system, and related changes in productivity, mixing and circulation.

As defined in Article 1 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.

Adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities.

A set of actions to limit the magnitude or rate of long-term climate change. Climate change mitigation generally involves reductions in human (anthropogenic) emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Mitigation may also be achieved by increasing the capacity of carbon sinks, e.g. through reforestation. Mitigation policies can substantially reduce the risks associated with human-induced global warming.

Climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns when that change lasts for an extended period of time (i.e. decades to millions of years). Climate change may refer to a change in average weather conditions, or in the time variation of weather within the context of longer- term average conditions. Climate change is caused by factors such as biotic processes, variations in solar radiation received by Earth, plate tectonics, and volcanic eruptions. Certain human activities have been identified as primary causes of ongoing climate change, often referred to as global warming.

Refers to a change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and that is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.

As defined in Article 1 of the UNFCCC, a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.

A change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g. by using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. Climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external forcings such as modulations of the solar cycles, volcanic eruptions and persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use. Note that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in its Article 1, defines climate change as: ‘a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods’. The UNFCCC thus makes a distinction between climate change attributable to human activities altering the atmospheric composition and climate variability attributable to natural causes.

A subset of the more general family of species distribution models that correlate species occurrence or abundance with climate variables to make spatially-explicit predictions of potential distribution.

The influence of land cover and biological mediated processes that regulate atmospheric processes and weather patterns which in turn create the microclimate in which different plants and animals (including humans) live and function.

Aims to tackle three main objectives: sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes; adapting and building resilience to climate change; and reducing and/or removing greenhouse gas emissions, where possible.

Agriculture that sustainably increases productivity, resilience (adaptation), reduces/ removes GHGs (mitigation), and enhances achievement of national food security and development goals.

Is defined as variations in the mean state and other statistics of the climate on all temporal and spatial scale, beyond individual weather events.