Climate change is all over the news lately, but sometimes it seems like you need a whole new vocabulary just to keep up with the subject.  If you can't keep your CDM straight from your RET, or can't quite get the hang of carbon sequestration, just refer to The Climate Institute's Climate Change Dictionary.  Some of the most common climate words are listed below, and if you see something that is missing contact us through our website and we will add it in. 

2°C: The largest increase in global temperature above pre-industrial levels, as generally agreed by scientists, that will not lead to catastroptic climate change.

AAU (Assigned Amount Unit): Emission units as defined for countries with binding commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.  Each country with commitments is given an “assigned amount” of emissions, which are then divided up into AAU’s.

Adaptation: Measures taken to cope with the effects of climate change. Adaptation will involve changing lifestyles, infrastructure, and businesses operations to deal with climate change. According to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), however, “adaptation alone is not expected to cope with all the projected effects of climate change.”

Adaptation Fund: A fund established under the Kyoto Protocol to provide money for adaptation projects to the developing countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Annex 1 Countries: A group of countries that are either industrialized or have economies in transition under the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change). These countries were given binding emissions targets under the Kyoto Protocol.

AOSIS: The Alliance of Small Island States, a group of 43 low-lying and small island countries. The group represents the voice of these small island nations that will be deeply affected by climate change due to rising sea levels and increased storm activity.

Anthropogenic climate impacts: Climate change impacts caused by humans and our activities, including industry and agriculture, rather than by nature.

Base Year: The year used to define a level of emissions used in an emissions reduction target.  For example, the Australian government has announced that they will reduce emissions by 5-25% below 2000 (the base year) levels, by 2020.

Binding Emissions Targets: Specific and compulsory levels of emissions reductions, measured in percentage reduction from a certain base year, assigned to countries by an international treaty such as the Kyoto Protocol.

Biochar: A form of charcoal which comes from heating biomass (organic materials such as waste or manure). The process of creating biochar can serve as a form of carbon capture and storage by locking carbon into the charcoal formed, and then ultimately putting it back into the soil. Once in the ground, the structure of biochar makes it difficult to break down, meaning that the captured gases can remain in the ground for a long period of time.

Biofuel: A fuel produced from recently living beings or their waste products.  To be considered a biofuel, the fuel must contain more than 80 percent renewable materials.

Brown Coal:  One of several grades of coal. Coal is made from the decomposition of organic matter over time. Brown coal is relatively young, and when burnt, emits more carbon dioxide than other grades of coal.

Cap and trade: A program to limit the amount of pollution being released in the atmosphere by placing limits on how many emissions each large polluting company is allowed to release. The government issues each company with “credits” or licences to pollute a certain amount.  This overall pollution limit is the “cap.” If a company doesn’t use all of its credits, then it has extra credits that it can sell. If a company goes past its limit, it will need to buy, or trade for, extra credits from other companies who have not reached their limits. The cap is tightened by the government over time to ultimately reach an acceptable emissions level for the nation as a whole.

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): The process of capturing carbon emissions at their source, such as at a large power plant, transporting the emissions, and storing them deep underground, most commonly into geological formations.

Carbon dioxide (CO2): One of the main greenhouse gases that affects climate change. Carbon dioxide is released when fossil fuels such as coal, oil, natural gas and vegetable matter such as wood are burned. CO2 is usually measured in tonnes. See also, Greenhouse Gases

Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e): The unit used to measure the global warming potential of various greenhouse gases. The warming potential of carbon dioxide serves as the reference measurement for other greenhouse gases.  

Carbon footprint: A measure of how much carbon pollution a person, business or organisation produces on a day to day basis. Carbon footprints are usually calculated in tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted per year. The calculations will take into account things like travel, burning of fossil fuels (eg: to heat buildings, petrol use, cooking) and use of non-renewable electricity.
 
Carbon intensity: The amount of carbon dioxide produced for each dollar of economic output.

Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS): The Australian Government’s proposed emissions trading scheme, which is a cap and trade plan designed to establish a carbon trading market. The CPRS covers power stations, transport and coal mining, and plans introduce agriculture in 2015. The CPRS has not yet passed Australian Parliament.

Carbon offsetting: A situation where businesses or individuals pay money to make up for their carbon pollution. The money goes to projects like renewable energy, energy efficiency or reforestation that will reduce or absorb emissions elsewhere. See also Offset

Carbon sequestration: The long-term storage of carbon dioxide to prevent its release into the atmosphere. Carbon can be stored naturally via trees, plants and crops, but carbon sequestration usually refers to intentional carbon storage (see Carbon Capture and Storage).

Carbon sink: A natural or manmade system that absorbs and stores CO2.  

Carbon tax: A tax placed on the emission of carbon dioxide, designed to increase the competitiveness of renewable energies over fossil fuels. Serves as an alternative policy to a cap and trade emissions reduction scheme, and rather than providing certainty of emissions targets provides certainty of carbon prices.

CER (Certified Emission Reduction): a carbon credit issued for emissions reductions that come from Carbon Development Mechanism projects.  CERs can by countries toward their emissions targets.

Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM): The CDM allows Annex 1 countries that have targets under the Kyoto Protocol to invest in projects that make emission reductions overseas in developing countries rather than cutting emissions at home. The CDM is designed to help developing countries create sustainable practices, as well as to help developed countries meet their emissions targets.

Climate change: The radical and sustained change of global weather patterns directly resulting from the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

COP (Conference of the Parties): The United Nations Framework on Climate Change (see UNFCCC) meetings held each year.  The COP is made up of environment ministers who meet once a year to negotiate on climate change. The next COP will be COP16 held in Mexico City in 2010.

Coral bleaching: Caused primarily by high water temperature, coral bleaching occurs when algae living in the tissue of coral are expelled. This algae provides the coral with much of its energy, and when it is expelled the coral turns white.  Bleached coral takes years to recover, and if the abnormal conditions that caused the bleaching persist, the coral will ultimately die.

Deforestation: The cutting, clearing, burning or removal of trees and rainforests.

Emissions: The release of pollutants into the atmosphere.

Emissions trading scheme (ETS):  An overall term to describe a plan to reduce emissions by big polluters that requires companies to buy and sell the right to pollute.  See also cap and trade.

Emission Permit: A unit of emissions allotted to a polluter that can then be sold or purchased through an emissions trading scheme.

Energy Efficiency: The use of less energy to produce the same level of output or service.

Ethanol: Fuel created from products such as corn, sugar cane or potato. Ethanol produces far less emissions than traditional fuels, but questions have been raised about the practicality of this fuel option because of the amount of cropland required to produce ethanol.  

Fossil fuels: Composed of organisms that have been dead for millions of years, these fuels include coal, oil and natural gas. When fossil fuels are burnt to produce energy, they also produce carbon dioxide.  

Geothermal Energy: Heat from within the Earth, produced by the decay of radioactive particles, which can be recovered as steam or hot water and used to create low-emission energy.

Global Warming: Often used interchangeably with “climate change,” global warming refers to the rise of average global surface temperatures caused by the greenhouse effect.

Green Jobs: A job in any organization or sector that that contributes to increased sustainability or better environmental outcomes.  Also called clean energy jobs.

Greenhouse Gases: Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are gases in the atmosphere which keep the earth warm enough to sustain life by trapping heat from the sun. However, too many greenhouse gases will cause the earth to overheat by trapping too many gases, resulting in drastic changes to the Earth’s climate. Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas. Others include methane (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (N2O).

Greenhouse effect: A natural environmental system where gases in the atmosphere (greenhouse gases) trap the sun’s energy.  It is this process that makes the Earth warm enough for creatures to live.

Group of 77 (G77): A loose coalition of developing countries who band together in international climate change negotiations.  The coalition started with 77 countries but has now expanded to 130.

Hydropower:  Energy created from the power of moving water.  Hydropower is renewable and non-polluting, but can affect local habitats.

Ice Core: A sample from ice and snow that froze many years ago and provides clues to the climate at the time of the freezing. Ice core data gives scientists an idea of what the climate was like hundreds of thousands of years ago, and is being used to help predict the effects of anthropogenic climate change.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): The world’s leading body for the assessment of climate change, established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Environmental Programme. The group includes both scientists and government officials who work together to assess information relevant to the understanding of climate change. They are the international authority on climate change issues.

Keeling Curve: A foundation of climate change science, the Keeling curve shows rise in carbon dioxide levels from 1958 to the present, as measured at the top of Mauna Loa, the highest volcano in the world.

 
Kyoto Protocol: An international agreement, negotiated in 1997, that set binding targets for industrialised countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions before 2012. Australia did not ratify Kyoto until 2007, and the United States still has not ratified the treaty. The Kyoto treaty will expire in 2012.  

LULUCF: Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry activities, designed to provide a relative way to lower greenhouse gas levels by increasing the removal of greenhouse gas from the atmosphere (for example, by planting trees) or by reducing emissions (for example, by preventing deforestation.)

 MRV (measurable, reportable verifiable):  A requirement for emissions reduction targets and actions set by the Bali Aciton Plan to ensure that compliance with these targets could be tracked. 

Methane:  A greenhouse gas which is over 20 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO2, but which remains in the atmosphere for a much shorter amount of time, approximately 9-15 years. Methane is often associated with agriculture (livestock and soil bacteria), but is also produced from coal mining, industrial processes, landfills, natural gas systems and other sources.

Mitigation: Activities undertaken to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

NAMAs (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions): Projects ad policies implemented by developing countries to reduce emissions.  NAMAs are to be used by developing countries rather than binding targets.

Non-annex 1 parties: All countries that, under the Kyoto Protocol, were not listed as Annex 1 countries and therefore were not subject to binding emissions targets.

Ocean Acidification: An increase in the acidity of the Earth’s oceans caused by the absorption of CO2 in the oceans’ waters. Ocean acidification damages and can ultimately destroy reefs and ocean life.

Permit: A certificate that enables an emitter under an emissions trading scheme to emit one tonne of CO2e.

Photovoltaic: Cells used in solar panels to capture the sun’s energy and create power.

Positive Feedback Loops: A situations where the effects of climate change themselves cause increased climate change. See also runaway climate change.

Ppm: Parts per million. Used in reference to the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation): United Nations programme designed to reduce deforestation by giving financial value to forests and the carbon stored within them. REDD will provide money for programs in developing countries that voluntarily reduce emissions from deforestation.

Reforestation:  Replanting of forests that have previously been cleared.

RET (Renewable Energy Targets): A government pledge assigning a target for the percentage of a country’s energy to come from renewable sources.  In Australia, the Government has set an RET of 20 percent of Australia’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020.  

Runaway climate change: The point at which the effects of climate change cause additional effects that add to the warming(positive feedback loops), so that warming is no longer stoppable no matter how much humans reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Also referred to as the passing tipping points or the points of no return.

Renewable energy: Energy that comes from natural sources such as wind, sun, water (hydro) and biofuels such as wood, manure or flaxseed oil. These sources are renewable, because they do not run out.  Renewable energy sources have either low emissions or are emissions-free.

Scope 1 emissions: Emissions from sources that a company or organisation owns and controls itself. Also called direct emissions.

Scope 2 emissions: Emissions from a company’s electricity, heat or steam that the company purchases.  Also called indirect emissions.  

Scope 3 emissions: All indirect emissions other than those that are scope 2. These can include business travel, employee commuting, waste disposal, or outsourced emissions.

Soil Carbon: The concept of returning carbon to the soil using various farming methods. When carbon is put into unhealthy soils, soils become healthier and can grow more plants and trees, which will in turn help to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Stern Review: A report written by British economist Sir Nicholas Stern in 2006 about the economics of climate change. The main conclusion was that was that the cost to the world's economy of not acting immediately to fight climate change is far greater than the cost of taking action now.

Technology Transfer: Cooperation between countries to allow the sharing of new innovations, ideas and technologies designed to deal with climate change and its effects.

Umbrella Group: An informal negotiating block of nations made up of Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Japan, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Norway, Iceland and Kazakhstan (although members may change).

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC):  An agreement signed by the United States and 191 other countries in 1992 stating that the countries will seek to keep greenhouse gases from becoming dangerous for our climate. The agreement is not legally binding.