Sustainability glossary

Adaptation (in relation to climate change)

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects, in order to minimise harm or exploit beneficial opportunities.

Advocacy

The act of supporting a cause or a person to produce a desired change. An advocate is 'a person who pleads, intercedes, or speaks for another'. In the context of the environment, this might involving working to influence policy makers when they make laws and regulations, distribute resources, and make other decisions that affect peoples' lives.  It may involve working at many levels to both convince and help governments and other political bodies adopt, enforce, strengthen and/or change policies, guidelines and laws that affect biodiversity and natural resource use.

Anthropogenic global warming (AGW)

An increased rate of climate change due to increasing production of man-made greenhouse gases.

Appropriate technology

Technology that is suitable to the social and economic conditions of the geographic area in which it is to be applied, is environmentally sound, and promotes self-sufficiency on the part of those using it.

Atmosphere

The layer of gases surrounding the earth. Nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapour make up more than 99 per cent of the atmosphere, while so-called trace gases including carbon dioxide, methane and other 'greenhouse' gases constitute the remainder. Many of these gases are involved in chemical cycles such as the nitrogen and carbon cycles that sustain life on earth and shape the planet's habitability

Audit

A management tool used to measure performance against financial, environmental or social organisational objectives. According to the EU Eco-management and Audit Scheme Regulation, an audit is a "systematic, documented, periodic and objective evaluation." It aims to facilitate management control and assess compliance with company policy.

Biodiversity (Biological diversity)

The variety of life on earth and the systems that support it. As well as the full array of living plants, animals and micro-organisms, biodiversity includes the ecosystems in which those species live, and the range of genetic variety within each species.

Bio-gas

A combustible gas (composed primarily of methane) produced when sewage or manure is fermented in the absence of oxygen. The solid material that remains in the digester after fermentation can be used as an organic fertiliser.

Biomass

Biomass refers to the total mass of living matter within a given area. It also describes the use of plant material, vegetation, or agricultural waste as a fuel or energy source.

Biomimicry

Emulating (copying) nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies.

Bottom of the pyramid (BOP)

Doing business with the world’s 4 billion poorest people (on less than around $2 a day), inspired by a vision of inclusive capitalism. Whilst certain multinationals have been active (and highly visible) in BOP initiatives, the majority of BOP initiatives are started by small local enterprises, as well as not-for-profits and local governments. Linked with this, there has been an explosion in the micro-finance or micro-credit industry across the world, initiated by Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank in the 1970s, and serving those who would otherwise be unable to access entrepreneurial finance. Whilst not without their critics, micro-finance and BOP have been an important development in the relationship between enterprise and sustainability.

Campaigning

Using your influence over friends, family, businesses and politicians to make more noise and reach further to improve the lives of those in greatest need.

Carbon

Often used as shorthand for carbon dioxide – a key greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. See greenhouse gas 

Carbon Budgets

Carbon capture and storage (CCS or CCUS)

Carbon credits

A way of offsetting carbon emissions. For example, a large corporation might purchase ‘credits’ from a farmer managing their land in a sustainable way, so that the emissions generated by the company’s activities might be said to be offset. 

Carbon emissions

Greenhouse gases released by human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, are sometimes referred to as carbon emissions. Carbon dioxide emitted in this way is the main cause of climate change. See Greenhouse gas.

Carrying capacity

The number of living organisms, such as cattle or livestock that a given ecosystem, such as a pasture or range, can support without suffering degradation or losing its productivity.

Certification

Provides third party assurance that a product, process or service is in conformity with certain standards.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

A class of synthetic chemicals first manufactured in the 1930s and widely used as refrigerants, spray propellants, solvents, and blowing agents for plastic foam. Stable and inert at ground level, these chemicals drift to the stratosphere where the sun's rays break away the chlorine and fluorine atoms they contain, causing a series of reactions that result in the destruction of stratospheric ozone.

Choice editing

Manufacturers, retailers and regulators making decisions to edit out (i.e. stop producing, supplying, approving and stocking) less sustainable products. This removes the option for consumers to purchase unsustainable products and avoids the onus being placed on consumers to make sustainable choices.

Circular economy

A circular economy is an industrial system that - by intention and design - generates economic value whilst restoring or regenerating natural systems.  Typically, this involves the use of renewable energy and natural resources, eliminates the use of toxic chemicals (which impair reuse), and aims for the elimination of waste through the superior design of materials, products, systems, and business models. 

Cleantech

Originated from the Venture Capital community, it relates to clean technologies (typically low carbon tecnologies), with high growth potential that are of interest to equity investors like business angels and venture capitalists. The term 'greentech' is being increasingly used in replacement of cleantech.

Climate change

A long-term change in the earth's climate. There is now scientific consensus that  the earth's climate is changing due to an increase in the average atmospheric temperature.  This increase 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.

Climate disruption

Unusual and extreme weather events and other disruption to natural systems which are caused by long term changes to the earth's climate. This may include extreme heatwaves, excessively cold winters, flooding and storms.

Closed loop (or Cradle to Cradle) system

A system that does not rely on exchange of matter outside of the system. A production system is never truly closed if all the inputs from nature, including energy and water, are considered.

Code of conduct (Code of practice)

A set of guidelines outlining how an organisation responds to and acts on issues such as labour standards, dealing with oppressive regimes, corruption and bribery or environmental performance. Generally, codes of conduct are adopted voluntarily by a corporation and apply to issues not covered by, or which exceed the demands of, current legislation. Adherence to voluntary codes of conduct - particularly those developed by non-governmental third party organisations - has become a means for companies to demonstrate best practice.

Collaboration

Engagement between two or more parties, typically intended either to advance a shared vision or to resolve a conflict. It usually results in an exchange of information or a joint agreement or commitment to action between two or more parties.

Common but differentiated responsibility

Provides a framework for the equitable distribution of the costs of global environmental protection; the principle that all states share the burden of environmental protection for common resources, but there is differential responsibility based on unequal material/social/economic situations, different historical contributions, and different capacity to tackle global problems.

Common cause/ Identity campaigning

Working to activate and strengthen a set of helpful 'intrinsic' values, while working to diminish the importance of unhelpful 'extrinsic' values.

Common concern of humankind

When an issue is a matter of common responsibility based on its importance to the international community as a whole.

Common heritage of humanity

The principle that geographical areas and parts of humanity's common heritage (cultural and natural) should be held in trust for future generations and be protected from exploitation by individual nation states or corporations.

Competitiveness

A competitive economy, industry or organisation is one that is as or more capable of delivering greater value for a given input than others - ie it has stronger 'productivity.' Competitiveness is a cornerstone of modern market economics as it underpins the process of specialisation (competitive advantage) and continual improvement that has driven innovation and increased efficiency.

From a sustainability perspective, increased economic competitiveness and improved productivity can be positive – an efficient economy or business that does more with less is better for environmental and social outcomes.

Contrails

Convertibility or expandability

Other ways of achieving flexibility

COP

Conference of the Parties: “COP is the main decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It includes representatives of all the countries that are signatories (or ‘Parties’) to the UNFCCC. COP assesses the effects of measures introduced by the Parties to limit climate change against the overall goal of the UNFCCC.”

Corporate citizenship

The interaction of a business with society at all levels of its operations. This broad definition has grown from corporate philanthropy to encompass community involvement as a whole. It is frequently used interchangeably with corporate social responsibility.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR)

There is no single, widely accepted definition of CSR. Broadly speaking, it refers to the management of companies' impacts on society with the aim of maximising positive and minimising negative effects. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development defines CSR as the commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to improve their quality of life.

Critical minerals

Renewable energy and ‘clean’ technology require the use of minerals such as lithium, copper, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements. These are termed ‘critical materials’ but the official definitions vary by country.

Cross-sector partnerships (CSPs)

Where government, businesses and civil society work together in areas of mutual interest to achieve common – or at least complementary – goals.

Cycle of poverty

The forces that prevent individuals, communities and countries from moving out of poverty. These include, but are not limited to, low-income levels, poor access to opportunity, lack of democracy, poor health and low level of education.

Disclosure

The public reporting of corporate performance data, policies, codes of conduct or position statements.

Discontinuous innovation/ disruptive innovation

Innovations in technology, business process or business model which can disrupt or even destroy existing business approaches. These innovations and disruptions are normally initiated by new firms.

Durability

A way to improve efficiency by maximising the lifespan of a product, preventing or reducing obsolescence - including planned obsolescence.

Eco-effectiveness

[In contrast to eco-efficiency] leads to human industry that is regenerative rather than depletive. It involves the design of things that celebrate interdependence with other living systems. From an industrial-design perspective, it means products that work within 'circular economy' systems.

Eco-efficiency

The delivery of competitively priced goods and services that satisfy human needs and bring quality of life, while progressively reducing ecological impacts and resource intensity throughout the life cycle, to a level at least in line with the earth's estimated carrying capacity. Creating more value with less impact, or doing more with less; the efficiency with which ecological resources are used to meet human needs; a ratio of an output divided by the input.

Eco-innovation

Applying long term vision to today's markets to provide products and services that are environmentally efficient and economically profitable.

Economic growth

The increase, over time, in the monetary value of goods and services and the ability and capacity to produce them. Economic growth, with business as the engine, generates wealth necessary for the provision of social services, healthcare, and education and is the basis for on-going job creation. To be compatible with sustainable development, however, a change is required in the nature of economic growth to ensure that the goods and services produced are environmentally sound and socially acceptable, as well as economically sustainable.

Efficiency

Essentially this entails achieving more (or the same) value/benefit with fewer resources, e.g. replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent or LED lighting, thereby reducing electricity usage and carbon emissions.

Emerging market and developing economies (EMDE)

Emissions

A substance discharged into air, land or water. See carbon emissions.

Emissions Trading System (ETS)

Employee compensation

The total package of monetary and non-monetary benefits received by workers in return for their labour.

Entrepreneurship

The pursuit of opportunity.  An entrepreneurial event involves the creation of a new organisation to pursue an opportunity. The entrepreneurial process involves all the functions, activities, and actions associated with the perceiving of opportunities and the creation of organisations to pursue them. An entrepreneur is someone who perceives an opportunity and creates an organisation to pursue it.

Environmental footprint

A concept  which expresses the resource consumption and waste management requirements of a defined human population or economy in terms of a corresponding land area.

Equal opportunities

The absence of discrimination on grounds such as race, sex, age or religion in determining access to employment, education, etc.

Flexibility/Adaptability

The ability of a system to accommodate, adapt or react to changes by modifying its current direction or configuration.

Fossil fuels

Sources of energy including coal, oil, and natural gas formed in geological deposits from the carbon-rich remains of prehistoric plants, animals, and microbes. Essentially a highly concentrated form of ancient sunlight, these fuels became the primary energy source for human societies during the Industrial Revolution.

Future-proofing

Products, services or models that are designed to thrive into the future, even in the context of significant change.  the term can be used to mean ‘stress-testing’ solutions against a range of plausible futures to ensure that they remain functional over the long-term; hence avoiding obsolescence or disruptive and costly upgrades .

Generic technology

A technology which will yield benefits for a wide range of sectors of the economy and/or society.

Global Goal on Adaptation (from Paris Agreement) - GGA

Global Stocktake (GST)

Green House Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol)

Greenhouse gas (GHGs)

Greenwash

The dissemination of misleading information about an organiation's environmental performance in order to present a positive public image.

Gross domestic product (GDP)

An aggregate of the goods and services produced on a nation's territory over a given period, commonly used as a proxy for a country's state of development. In recent years, however, GDP has come under criticism on the grounds that the definition of growth it incorporates gives an incomplete picture of a nation's welfare, given its exclusion of social and environmental criteria.

Habitat

The area or environment in which an organism or ecological community normally lives or occurs and to which it has specifically adapted or evolved.

Heavy metals

Elements such as copper, lead, cadmium, mercury, and other toxic metals used in industrial processes. They are often released to the environment as air and water pollutants and may accumulate to hazardous concentrations.

Human capital

The intangible assets of a company contained in the wealth of skills, know-how, corporate memory and the web of social relationships which employees build up over the course of their working lives and which enhance their value in the marketplace.

Human rights

The basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, including the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law. The Universal Declaration on Human Rights, enshrining these freedoms, was first signed in 1948. Some argue that the right to clean water, adequate food and basic health care should be included among these core human rights.

Hybrid system

An automotive technology which relies partially on renewable energy. The hybrid system combines a petrol engine, an electric motor, and a nickel-metal hydride battery on a single power train. The petrol engine supplies the main power to drive the wheels, but the electric battery and electric generator can also supply power to the electric motor.

Hydrological cycle or water cycle

This describes the constant movement of water from ground level and below into the atmosphere and vice versa. It includes rivers, lakes, oceans, clouds, the water table, precipitaition and all other areas where water is found.

Just transition

Inclusive design

The design of mainstream products and/or services that are accessible to, and usable by, as many people as reasonably possible ... without the need for special adaptation or specialised design. Inclusive design aims to improve product experience across a broad range of users, aspiring to create functional, usable, viable and desirable products. The design process is often likely to be participatory as understanding user needs is at the heart of inclusive design.

Independent verification

According to the EU Eco-management and Audit Scheme Regulation, the function of the verifier is to check an organisation's compliance with applicable environmental standards and to confirm the reliability of performance data and information put into the public domain. Third party independence of verification enhances its credibility.

Innovation

The use of a new idea, material, or technology to change an activity, development, good, or service or the way goods and services are produced, distributed, or disposed of.

ISO 14001

The ISO 14000 series builds on the ISO 9000 quality series and applies the same principle of continuous improvement to environmental performance. ISO 14001 is that part of the series which sets the specification for environmental management systems.

ISO 9000

A set of voluntary quality standards, developed by the International Standards Organisation (ISO), and which have become an industry benchmark for continuous improvement in the quality of goods and services.

Iterative design

A design approach based on a cyclical process of prototyping, testing, analysing, and reworking/refining a product or, more simply, Do Learn Rework/Refine and Do again. It is also the case that iterative design can reduce development costs, as changes are easier and less expensive to implement in the earliest stages of development.

Kickback

A form of bribe or corruption. A sum of money obtained unofficially, typically as a result of pressure, coercion, or a secret agreement.

Labelling

Typically used on consumer goods, labelling provides on-pack claims, marks or seals that indicate conformance with a standard.

Landfill

A site designated for disposal of solid or chemical wastes by burial. This may take the form of an open pit or deep well injection.

License to operate

Public acceptance of a company's presence in the community. A business' license to operate is partly a function of meeting national rules and local regulations, and partly a matter of demonstrating that the company will be a good and responsible neighbour, employer and trader. Companies which fail to maintain good relations with the local community may see their license to operate in that community withdrawn.

Life cycle analysis (LCA)

A systems-oriented approach to product design which aims to calculate the total environmental impact of goods, processes or services throughout all stages of its life cycle, from 'cradle' to 'grave.' This is achieved through the compilation of an 'inventory' of energy and resource usage, waste generation, emissions and discharges. LCA can be used to compare the relative environmental merits of particular product categories (eg washing machines), such as under the EU eco-label.

Lifecycle thinking / perspective

Adopting a long-term perspective and/or considering the full lifecycle from the outset, which does not necessarily require the use of a formal Lifecycle Assessment (LCA).

Lobbying

To try to shape public policy by influencing the thinking of legislators in favour of, a specific cause.

Logistics

The management of the flow of resources between the point of origin and the point of consumption.

Loss and Damage (L&D)

Markets

Markets provide for the exchange of goods for value, and efficient allocation of resources, typically measured in financial terms. The rules that enable markets to operate effectively and fairly for this purpose are defined by governments and measured using concepts such as GDP. There are debates around when markets are the most appropriate way to allocate resources, how much intervention in markets is helpful or warranted and how to optimise them. However, markets have delivered huge welfare benefits to humanity and are at the heart of our economies. Markets, when working well, can deliver a speed and scale of action that exceeds almost any other method of allocating scarce resources.

Micro enterprise

Micro credit

The extension of very small loans to entrepreneurs too poor or too geographically remote to qualify for traditional bank loans.

Mitigation

Preventing or lessening adverse impacts through actions that reduce hazard, exposure, and/or vulnerability. In the context of climate change, it means human intervention to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases and taking measures to moderate, offset or minimise the negative effects of greenhouse gas emissions on the climate.

Multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs)

Voluntary collaborations that involve business and organisations from the public and/or civil society sectors.

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

Natural capital

Nature-based solutions (NbS)

Net zero

New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG)

NGO

A non-governmental organisation representing a special interest group in civil society.

Non-renewable resources

Those resources which are not self-renewing or regenerative within a reasonable timescale, and which exist only in fixed amounts (eg natural minerals such as gold). Most non-renewable resources are inorganic.

Operations

A set of business processes that are directly responsible for converting a variety of resources (such as materials, money and the effort of people) into outputs (such as manufactured goods and/or delivered services) made available to customers.

Participatory design or 'Cooperative Design'

An approach to design that endeavours to actively involve all stakeholders (eg employees, partners, customers, citizens, end users) in the design process in order to help ensure that the end result meets their needs.

Partnership

Collaboration between various actors in society, generally from public, business and civil constituencies, who engage in voluntary, mutually beneficial, innovative relationships to address common societal aims through combining their complementary resources and competencies. Basically a collaboration between two or more parties conducted with the intention of realising mutually acceptable beneficial outcomes that are greater than those which any single party could achieve.

Polluter pays

The principle that the costs of pollution through damage to the natural environment are borne by those that caused it.

Precautionary principle

The principle that if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of scientific consensus, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those taking the action.

Principle/ Performance standards

Describes what activities an organisation should or should not do, but does not describe how.

Procurement

The acquisition of goods and services and the management of inventory.

Product lifecycle (in environmental context)

A systems-oriented approach to product design which aims to calculate the total environmental impact of goods, processes or services throughout all stages of its life cycle, from 'cradle' to 'grave.' This is achieved through the compilation of an 'inventory' of energy and resource usage, waste generation, emissions and discharges. Product life cycle can be used to compare the relative environmental merits of particular product categories (eg washing machines), such as under the EU eco-label.

Product service system (PSS)

A type of sustainable business model, which encourages functionality rather than ownership (eg rental, lease, pay per use, maintenance and extended warrantees). In other words, it encourages the use of “services” rather than products, hence Product Service System.

Product take-back

Where the manufacturer assumes responsibility for retrieval, dismantling and disposal of products at the end of their useful life, sometimes for profit.

Public-private partnerships

A long term agreement between the government and a private partner where the service delivery objectives of the government are aligned with the profit objectives of the private partner.

Radical innovation

The potential for delivering dramatically better product performance or lower production costs, or both.

Reciprocity

The principle that favours, benefits, or penalties that are granted by one state to the citizens or legal entities of another, should be returned in kind

Recovery

Dismantling of used goods to extract those components that can be reused, recycled, or which require special treatment prior to disposal.

Recycling

A set of methods for refashioning recovered, discarded materials (such as glass, paper, aluminium, steel, and some plastics) into new materials.

Redundancy

A way of achieving flexibility by providing more capacity than is needed at the outset, in case it is needed in future.

Resilience

The long-term capacity of a system to deal with change and continue to develop. For an ecosystem such as a forest, this can involve dealing with storms, fires and pollution, while for a society it involves an ability to deal with political uncertainty or natural disasters in a way that is sustainable in the long-term. (Courtesy of Stockholm Resilience Centre.)

Restoration

An effort to re-establish the full community of plants and animals characteristic of a particular ecosystem in habitats that have been degraded or transformed by human activities.

Reuse

The reconditioning of old or used products to extend their life span and enable continued use, thus saving resources and minimising waste.

Robustness

A term used to describe a system which can withstand / resist / endure / tolerate changes without adapting, ie it is able ‘to take a knock’.

Small to Medium Enterprise (SME)

Social cohesion

Social enterprise

Predominantly non-profit and charitable enterprises with a social purpose. Increasingly applies to all enterprises (including for-profit) with an explicit social and/or environmental purpose.

Social inclusion

The World Bank defines social inclusion as the process of improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of people, disadvantaged on the basis of their identity, to take part in society.

Species

Unique forms of living organism. sA species is often defined as the largest group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.

Stakeholder

Any person or group who is affected by, or can influence, the activities of another group. For a company, this typically extends to employees, customers, suppliers, communities, governments and NGOs, but could also include 'hidden' stakeholders such as poor or marginalised groups, or the environment.

Stakeholder engagement

A process of consultation and discussion with stakeholders to understand their views and to ensure that their needs and concerns are properly considered in company policy and action.

Standard (Voluntary)

A set of rules, guidelines or characteristics for products or related processes and production methods, which organisations can choose whether to comply with.

Substitution

Replacing harmful or depleted resources with alternatives, eg replacing ozone-damaging Chlorofluorocarbon (CFCs) with hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which break down before reaching the ozone layer.

Supply chain

A network of facilities and distribution options that perform the functions of procurement of materials, transformation of these materials into intermediate and finished products, and the distribution of these finished products to customers, ie the chain of suppliers inputting to a final product.

Sustainability

There are many definitions and interpretations of sustainability or sustainable development. The Business & Sustainability Programme Online uses these terms interchangeably.

The most frequently quoted definition of sustainable development is from the Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development ‘Our Common Future’, 1987 (also known as The Brundtland Report): 'Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'.

Sustainability is also described in terms of the ‘Triple Bottom Line’ (TBL), ‘People, Planet, Profit’ or the ‘Three Pillars’ of sustainability, namely, giving consideration to an organisation’s current and future environmental, social and economic impacts in an integrated manner. There are more complex models that aim to add detail to this, but their essence remains the same.

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)

Sustainable consumption

The use of services and related products which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life while minimising the use of natural resources and toxic materials as well as emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle of the service or product so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations.

Sustainable development

See ‘Sustainability’.

Sustainable economy

Sustainable livelihood

A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets (including both material and social resources) and activities required for a means of living. A sustainable livelihood can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks and maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets both now and in the future, while not undermining the natural resource base.

Sustainable manufacturing

The creation of manufactured products that use processes that minimise negative environmental impacts, conserve energy and natural resources, are safe for employees, communities, and consumers and are economically sound.

Sustainable production

The creation of goods and services using processes and systems that are: non-polluting; conserving energy and natural resources; economically viable; safe and healthy for workers, communities, and consumers; socially and creatively rewarding for all working people. If production is sustainable, then the environment, employees, communities, and organizations all benefit .

Sweatshop

A workplace where labourers are subject to extreme exploitation, which may include the absence of a living wage or benefits; poor working conditions; and arbitrary discipline, such as physical and psychological abuse.

Systems thinking

An approach to problem solving, by viewing ‘problems’ as parts of an overall system, rather than reacting to specific part, outcomes or events and potentially contributing to further development of unintended consequences.

Urbanisation

The movement of people from rural areas to urban areas and the resulting expansion of cities. Urbanisation is a process that has occurred, or is occurring, in nearly every part of the world that humans have inhabited.

Utilities

'Public good' commodities or services such as electricity, water or transportation.

V20 

Value chain

Water security

The reliable and continuous availability of water at a sufficient quantity and quality  for a population's health, livelihoods and production.

Water stress or water insecurity

Occurs when the demand for water in an area or country significantly outstrips that which is available.