Glossary

Carbon performance language made simple

Confused by jargon? You don’t need to be. Use this glossary to find plain-English definitions.

activity data: a quantitative measure of activity that results in a GHG emission or removal (NOTE Examples of GHG activity data include the amount of energy, fuels or electricity consumed, material produced, service provided or area of land affected).

assertion: your declaration of your organization’s GHG inventory.

base year (baseline year): the historical period specified for the purpose of comparing GHG emissions or removals or other GHG-related information over time.

carbon dioxide equivalent or CO₂e: a unit of measurement that allows all GHGs to be reported in one unit for consistency. CO₂e is calculated using the mass of a given GHG multiplied by its global warming potential (GWP). Also the reason why GHG inventories are also called carbon footprints.

carbon footprint: the total GHG emissions and reductions for an organization over a specific time period (see greenhouse gas inventory).

carbon performance report: a stand-alone document intended to communicate an organization's or project's GHG-related information (see greenhouse gas report).

direct emission: a physical entity or process owned and/or controlled by the organization that is a source of GHG.

emission or removal factor: a factor relating activity data to GHG emissions or removals (NOTE A greenhouse gas emission or removal factor could include an oxidation component).

emission: the total mass of a GHG released to the atmosphere for a given period of time.

energy indirect emission: electricity, heat or steam consumed by your organization, but not generated by your organization.

facility: a single installation, set of installations or production processes (stationary or mobile), which can be defined within a single geographical boundary, organizational unit or production process.

global warming potential (GWP): a calculation of how much a given mass of a specific GHG contributes to climate change.

greenhouse gas (GHG): a gas in the atmosphere (natural or manmade) that absorbs and emits radiation to contribute to climate change (global warming), including carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆).

information system: policies, processes and procedures to establish, manage and maintain GHG information.

inventory: the total GHG emissions and reductions for an organization over a specific time period (see carbon footprint).

level of assurance: the degree of assurance required in a verification statement of carbon performance.

materiality: the concept that individual or an aggregate of errors, omissions and misrepresentations could affect the accuracy or validity of the carbon performance report.

monitoring: continuous or periodic assessment of GHG emissions and removals or other GHG-related data

organization: referring to any company, corporation, firm, enterprise, authority or institution, or part or combination thereof, whether incorporated or not, public or private, that has its own functions and administration.

other indirect emission: GHG emission, other than energy indirect GHG emissions, which is a consequence of an organization's activities, but arises from greenhouse gas sources that are owned or controlled by other organizations.

removal: the total mass of a GHG removed from the atmosphere over a specified period of time.

report: a stand-alone document intended to communicate an organization's or project's GHG-related information (see carbon performance report).

reservoir: a physical entity that is able to capture and store greenhouse gas.

sink: a physical entity or process that removes greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.

source: a physical entity or process that emits greenhouse gas to the atmosphere.

verification criteria: a policy, procedure or requirement used as a reference against which evidence is compared.

verification statement: a formal written declaration that provides assurance on the statements in the carbon performance report.

verification: a systematic, independent, objective and documented process for the evaluation of a carbon performance report.

verifier: a competent and independent person, or persons, with responsibility for performing and reporting on the verification process