Climate change: a glossary of terms 5th Edition Climate change 2012 The global oil and gas industry association for environmental and social issues 5th Floor, 209–215 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8NL, United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0)20 7633 2388 Facsimile: +44 (0)20 7633 2389 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.ipieca.org © IPIECA 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior consent of IPIECA. This publication is printed on paper manufactured from fibre obtained from sustainably grown softwood forests and bleached without any damage to the environment. IPIECA Climate change: a glossary of terms 5th Edition Preface The IPIECA glossary of climate change terms was first printed in June 1999 and defines and explains many of the terms used at the climate change negotiations and more broadly in the field. This fifth edition has been updated following the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa in December 2011 (COP 17 and COP/MOP 7). Some terms have been amended, and new terms and acronyms hav e been added. 1 IPIECA CLIMATE CHANGE: A GLOSSARY OF TERMS Contents Alphabetical section Page number A3 B 13 C 16 D 27 E 30 F 36 G 39 H 43 I 44 J 48 K 49 L 50 M 52 N 55 O 58 P 59 Q 62 R 62 S 65 T 70 U 73 V 76 W 76 Y 77 Summary of terms 82 2 IPIECA CLIMATE CHANGE: A GLOSSARY OF TERMS A AAU See ‘Assigned Amount Unit’. AB32 AB32 is the popular reference to the greenhouse gas legis- lation signed into law in California as Assembly Bill 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The law requires that emissions be reduced to 1990 level by 2020. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels means cutting approximately 30% from business-as-usual emission levels projected for 2020, or about 15% from the level in 2008. AB32 also refers to the implementing regulations adopted by the California Air Resources Board in 2011, which went into effect in 2012. Abatement Actions resulting in reductions to the degree or intensity of GHG emissions. Also referred to as mitigation. Accession An act whereby a State becomes a Party to a treaty already negotiated and signe d by other States; has the same legal effect as ratification. Activities Implemented Jointly, or AIJ The pilot phase for joint implementation (JI), as defined in Article 4.2(a) of the Convention, that allowed for project activity among developed countries (and their companies) and between developed and developing countries (and their companies). AIJ was intended to allow Parties to gain experience in joi ntly implemented project activities. There is no crediting for AIJ activity during the pilot phase, which has been extended indefinitely. (See also ‘Joint Implementation’ and ‘Clean Development Mechanism’.) Adaptation Adjustment in natural or human systems to a new or changing environment. Adaptation refers to adjustments in natural or human systems, intended to reduce vulnera- bility to actual or anticip ated climate change and vari- ability or exploit beneficial opportunities. 3 IPIECA CLIMATE CHANGE: A GLOSSARY OF TERMS Adaptation Assessment The identification of options to adapt to climate change and evaluate them in terms of criteria such as availability, benefits, costs, effectiveness, efficiency, and feasibility. In 2001, COP 7 established the National Adaptation Plans of Action (NAPAs) programme to provide a process for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to identify and prioritize their adaptation needs. Adaptation Benefits The avoided damages or the realized benefits following the adoption and implementation of adaptation measures. Adaptation Committee The Adaptation Committee was established by the Conference of the Parties as part of the Cancun Agreements to promote the implementation of enhanced action on adaptation in a coherent manner under the Convention through various functions. These functions are detailed in the Adaptation Framework. Adaptation Costs Costs of planning, preparing for, facilitating, and imple- menting adaptation measures, including transition costs. Adaptation Framework The Cancun Agreements include an agreement to promote the implementation of enhanced action on adaptation, which include, inter alia: (a) Planning, prioritizing and implementing adaptation actions, including projects and programmes, and actions identified in national and subnational adapta- tion plans and strategies, national adaptation programmes of action of the least developed coun- tries, national communications, technology needs assessments and other relevant national planning documents; (b) Impact, vulnerability and adaptation assessments, including assessments of financial needs as well as economic, social and environmental evaluation of adaptation options; (c) Strengthening institutional capacities and enabling environments for adaptation, including for climate- resilient development and vulnerability reduction; 4 IPIECA CLIMATE CHANGE: A GLOSSARY OF TERMS (d) Building resilience of socio-economic and ecological systems, including through economic diversification and sustainable management of natural resources; (e) Enhancing climate change-related disaster risk reduc- tion strategies, taking into consideration the Hyogo Framework for Action, where appropriate, early warn- ing systems, risk assessment and management, and sharing and transfer mechanisms such as insurance, at the local, national, subregional and regional levels, as appropriate; (f) Measures to enhance understanding, coordination and cooperation with regard to climate change induced displacement, migration and planned reloca- tion, where appropriate, at the national, regional and international levels; (g) Research, development, demonstration, diffusion, deployment and transfer of technologies, practices and processes, and capacity-building for adaptation, with a view to promoting access to technologies, in particular in developing country Parties; (h) Strengthening data, information and knowledge systems, education and public awareness; (i) Improving climate-related research and systematic observation for climate data collection, archiving, analysis and modelling in order to provide decision makers a t the national and regional levels with improved climate-related data and information. Adaptation Fund Finances adaptation projects and programmes in devel- oping countries that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The Fund is financed with a 2% share of credits (CERs) from CDM project activities and can receive funds from other sources. Adaptive Capacity The ability of a system to adjust to climate change, vari- ability and extremes to moderate potential damages, to take advantage of opportunities, or to cope with the consequences. Additionality The Kyoto Protocol articles on Joint Implementation (Art. 6) and the Clean Development Mechanism (Art. 12) state 5 IPIECA CLIMATE CHANGE: A GLOSSARY OF TERMS that emissions reduction units (ERUs and CERs) will be awarded to project-based activities provided that the projects achieve emissions reductions that are ‘additional to those that otherwise would occur.’ Ad Hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate, or AGBM Working group established by the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 1) to develop a process aimed at strengthening developed countries’ commitments to greenhouse gas reductions in the post-2000 period through the adoption of a protocol or other legal instru- ment. The AGBM process developed the Kyoto Protocol. Ad Hoc Working Group, or AWG Process established at COP/MOP-1 (Montreal, 2006) to negotiate future commitments (beyond 2012) for Annex B Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. Parties have agreed that AWG negotiations should be completed in tim e to ensure that there is no gap between the first and second commit- ment periods. Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, or ADP The ADP was established ‘to launch a process to develop a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention applicable to all Parties, through a subsidiary body under the Convention’ under decision 1/CP.17. Th e body has until 2015 to do so. Adverse Effects/Impacts Adverse effects or impacts, refers to the potential negative effects of human-induced climate change as well as the impacts resulting from implementation of response measures. Such effects or impacts include, e.g. sea level rise, changes in precipitation, storms or other weather patterns, and reduced demand for fossil fuels or other energy intensive products. Impacts of climate change can be positive as well as negative. (See also ‘Articles 4.8 and 4.9’.) ADP See ‘Ad-hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action’. 6 IPIECA CLIMATE CHANGE: A GLOSSARY OF TERMS Afforestation The act or process of establishing a forest on land that has not been forested in the past 50 years. African Group One of the five regional groupings commonly used by the UN, and the only one working as an active negotiating group under the UNFCCC. (See Regional Groups.) AGBM See ‘Ad-hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate’. Aggregate Impacts Total impacts summed across sectors and/or regions. The agg regation of impacts requires knowledge of (or assump- tions about) the relative importance of impacts in different sectors and regions. Measures of aggregate impacts include, for example, the total number of people affected, change in net primary productivity, number of