- Additionality
- The condition that a project's emission reductions would not have occurred without the revenue or support provided by carbon units. Read the article: Climate project additionality: how to demonstrate it
- Annual company report
- A report on the organization's emissions for the year across its facilities, in PDF and DOCX. In the platform, an administrator creates it on the organization's GHG page: the data is checked for completeness first, and if the report is created with incomplete data, the gaps are listed in it. Read the article: Closing a facility's year and the annual company report
- Article 6.2
- Cooperative approaches between Parties to the Paris Agreement involving transfers of ITMOs and corresponding adjustments. Read the article: Article 6 of the Paris Agreement: mechanisms 6.2 and 6.4
- Article 6.4 / PACM
- The UN mechanism that issues carbon units under the oversight of the Supervisory Body. Read the article: Article 6 of the Paris Agreement: mechanisms 6.2 and 6.4
- Attribution
- The share of a financed company's or asset's emissions attributed to a bank or investor in proportion to its investment (PCAF). Read the article: PCAF attribution formula for financed emissions, with examples
- Base year
- The year against which an organization's emissions are compared; it is recalculated after significant changes in boundaries or methodology. Read the article: Base year and base-year recalculation: rules and an example
- Baseline
- The emissions scenario without the project; emission reductions are calculated against it. Read the article: Climate project baseline: how to define and calculate it
- Carbon footprint
- The total emissions of an organization or product over a period, expressed in CO₂e. Read the article: Corporate carbon footprint: what it is and why it matters
- Carbon unit (carbon credit)
- A verified reduction or removal of 1 t CO₂e, recorded in a registry. Read the article: Carbon units: what they are and how they come into being
- Carbon unit registry
- A system that records the issuance, holding, transfer and retirement of units, each with a unique serial number. Read the article: Registries of carbon units, projects and climate claims
- CBAMCarbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
- The EU's carbon border mechanism for imports of carbon-intensive goods. Read the article: CBAM: what it is and who the EU mechanism affects
- CCPCore Carbon Principles
- The ICVCM's integrity principles for carbon units. Read the article: ICVCM integrity principles (Core Carbon Principles, CCP)
- Closing the year for a facility
- Completing a facility's accounting for the reporting year, after which the year's data is view-only. In the platform, the year is closed by an administrator or by the facility's responsible employee with edit rights; only an administrator can reopen it. Read the article: Closing a facility's year and the annual company report
- CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e)
- The unit in which emissions of different gases are added up, taking their GWP into account. Read the article: Greenhouse gases and CO₂ equivalent: how GWP works
- Completeness check
- A check that a facility's data for the year has no gaps: each month has consumption entered or is marked “No consumption”, all sources are calculated, and documents are attached to the required fields. It runs before a facility's year is closed and before the company report is created. Read the article: Closing a facility's year and the annual company report
- Corresponding adjustment
- An adjustment to the selling country's national accounts so that a transferred reduction is not counted twice. Read the article: Corresponding adjustments: what they are
- Double counting
- Counting the same reduction more than once, through double issuance, double use or double claiming. Read the article: Leakage, permanence and double counting in climate projects
- Embedded emissions
- Direct and indirect emissions released in producing a good, including those of its precursors; the basis for CBAM calculations. Read the article: CBAM goods and embedded emissions: how to calculate them
- Emission factor
- The amount of emissions per unit of activity, for example kg CO₂e per kWh or per m³ of gas. Read the article: Emission factors: where they come from and how to choose one
- EVICEnterprise value including cash
- Enterprise value including cash: the denominator of the attribution factor for listed companies under PCAF. Read the article: PCAF attribution formula for financed emissions, with examples
- Facility
- A site of the organization, such as a boiler house, workshop, warehouse, office or vehicle fleet, for which emissions are accounted. In the platform, each facility has a location and ownership details and can be assigned a responsible employee; data is entered for each facility month by month. Read the article: Facilities in the platform: creation wizard, map and responsible person
- Financed emissions
- Emissions of companies and assets attributed to a bank or investor through its loans and investments (Scope 3, Category 15). Read the article: PCAF: financed emissions of banks and investors
- Financial control
- A consolidation approach based on the right to direct an operation's financial and operating policies in order to benefit from its activities. Read the article: Organizational boundaries: operational and financial control
- Global warming potential (GWP)
- The warming impact of a gas relative to CO₂ over a 100-year horizon; used to convert emissions into CO₂ equivalent. Read the article: Greenhouse gases and CO₂ equivalent: how GWP works
- Greenwashing
- Misleading climate or environmental claims that are not backed by data. Read the article: How to avoid greenwashing in corporate climate claims
- ITMOInternationally transferred mitigation outcome
- A mitigation outcome transferred between countries under Article 6.2. Read the article: Corresponding adjustments: what they are
- Leakage
- An increase in emissions outside the project boundary caused by the project itself. Read the article: Leakage, permanence and double counting in climate projects
- Location-based method
- Calculating Scope 2 emissions using the average emission factor of the grid in the region where the energy is consumed. Read the article: Scope 2: location-based and market-based methods
- Market-based method
- Calculating Scope 2 emissions using contractual instruments and energy attribute certificates for the purchased energy. Read the article: Scope 2: location-based and market-based methods
- Materiality
- The threshold at which an error or omission could change the decisions of a report's users. Read the article: Verifying a GHG inventory under ISO 14064-3
- Monitoring plan
- A project's list of parameters, methods, measurement frequency, responsible persons and quality control procedures. Read the article: Climate project monitoring plan: what it should contain
- MRVMeasurement, reporting and verification
- Measurement, reporting and verification: a closed cycle for substantiating emissions and reductions. Read the article: What is MRV: measurement, reporting and verification of emissions
- NDCNationally determined contribution (NDC)
- Nationally determined contribution: a country's climate commitments under the Paris Agreement. Read the article: Article 6 of the Paris Agreement: mechanisms 6.2 and 6.4
- Operational control
- A consolidation approach that covers all facilities whose operating policies the organization determines. Read the article: Organizational boundaries: operational and financial control
- PCAF data quality score
- A score from 1 (verified data) to 5 (sector-level estimate) assigned to each portfolio position. Read the article: PCAF data quality score: the 1–5 scale
- Permanence
- The durability of a reduction or removal over time, and the safeguards in case it is reversed. Read the article: Leakage, permanence and double counting in climate projects
- Precursor
- An input material of a CBAM good whose embedded emissions are added to the emissions of the finished product. Read the article: CBAM goods and embedded emissions: how to calculate them
- Primary data
- Data from the organization's own documents and measurements: invoices, certificates of completion and meter readings. Read the article: Data quality in emissions accounting: primary data and estimates
- Retirement of units
- The permanent cancellation of a unit in a registry in support of a claim; a retired unit can no longer be transferred. Read the article: Retiring carbon units and making climate claims
- Scope 1
- Direct emissions from the organization's own sources: fuel combustion, process emissions, leaks and its own vehicles. Read the article: Scope 1, 2 and 3: how an organization's emissions are divided
- Scope 2
- Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, heat, steam and cooling. Read the article: Scope 1, 2 and 3: how an organization's emissions are divided
- Scope 3
- Other indirect emissions across the value chain, grouped into 15 categories. Read the article: Scope 3: the 15 emission categories and where to start
- Source list confirmation
- Confirmation that a facility's list of emission sources for the year is complete; the year cannot be closed without it. In the platform, the list is confirmed automatically once the year has ended and accounting for all Scope 1 and 2 sources is complete. Read the article: Closing a facility's year and the annual company report
- Uncertainty
- A quantitative estimate of how far a result may deviate from the true value because of the data and methods used. Read the article: Data quality in emissions accounting: primary data and estimates
- Validation
- An independent assessment of a project before or at the start of implementation, covering the soundness of the baseline, the monitoring plan and the assumptions. Read the article: Validation and verification of climate projects: what is the difference
- Verification
- An independent check of reported emissions or reductions for a past period at a specified level of assurance. Read the article: Validation and verification of climate projects: what is the difference
- Vintage
- The year (or period) in which the reduction represented by a carbon unit was achieved. Read the article: Carbon units: what they are and how they come into being