Greenhouse gases
Carbon footprint takes all the six greenhouse gases (GHG) into account. They are regulated by Kyoto Protocol, namely: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), hydrofluorcarbons (HFC), perfluorcarbons (PFC).
Carbon footprint
A carbon footprint has been defined as the total set of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by a person or an organization. Even a product or an event has a carbon footprint. It is best calculated in carbon dioxide equivalent.
Carbon dioxide equivalency
A carbon dioxide equivalent is a metric measure used to compare the emissions from various greenhouse gases on the basis of their global-warming potential (GWP), by converting amounts of other gases to the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide with the same global warming potential. The total emissions are derived by the sum of equivalent of CO2 emissions.
Carbon neutral
Carbon neutral is a generally accepted term for having net zero emission. Even an organization or a product is responsible for a certain amount of greenhouse gas emissions. By neutralizing its emissions, the organization or the product reaches carbon neutrality.
Emission neutralization
The party responsible for neutralization is charged with neutralizing the direct and/or indirect CO2 emissions of an individual or a company (emissive). The emissive party selects a neutralizing project he is in most sympathy with, pays the cost of neutralization and from that point on the party responsible for neutralization arranges the rest. There are several types of neutralizing projects including
– reforestation
– preventing deforestation
– renewable energy investments (wind, solar, geothermal, biomass)
– supporting projects to improve energy efficiency
– conversion of combustion power plants or factories to have less GHG emission
What is the Retirement of Offsets?
When carbon offsets (carbon footprint compensation) are verified, the units are recorded in an official registry account by intermediaries offering registration services, such as APX, NYSE Blue, American Carbon Registry, CDC Climat, or OurOffset. After this, the units cannot be traded, and the registry tracks the ownership of various units.
To be effectively offset, the units must be officially retired, meaning they are permanently removed from the registry system. This ensures that they can no longer be traded and can only be used once for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compensation, specifically for CO₂e offsetting or carbon neutralization. This principle exists to prevent fraudulent trading, where the same offset unit is sold to multiple buyers.
Adaptation
The response to the unavoidable natural, social, and economic impacts of climate change and the flexible, planned adjustment to them (adaptation to climate change).
Low-Carbon Economy
An economy that operates with minimal greenhouse gas emissions, achieved through the replacement of fossil fuels, resource and energy efficiency, and the strengthening of natural carbon sinks.
Adaptive Capacity
The “strength” of local socio-economic responses to climate change. (For example, one form of agricultural adaptation is irrigation, which depends, among other factors, on agricultural profitability. Another example is mobility, which can be a possible response to urban heat waves.) In the case of ecosystems, it refers to the system’s ability to mitigate adverse effects by adjusting its functioning, adapting to the changes, or even turning them to its advantage.
Allergens
Substances to which the body becomes sensitized, producing antibodies and showing hypersensitivity symptoms (e.g., hay fever, conjunctivitis, asthma).
Anthropogenic Impact
Effects directly or indirectly caused by human activities.
Decarbonization
Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity (emissions per unit of activity). If emissions grow at a slower rate than the economy, it is considered weak or relative decarbonization. If emissions are actually reduced while economic growth continues, it is called strong or absolute decarbonization.
Destination
A receiving area or travel destination. A location with tourism attractions, institutions, and services that tourists or groups choose to visit, marketed by the tourism supply side.
Climate Drivers
The National Climate Strategy (NÉS) considers GHG emissions as the main driver of climate change. Accordingly, high-carbon economies and their associated sectors (energy, residential and public sectors, industry, transportation, and land use) are identified as the primary climate drivers.
Climate Vulnerability
A complex indicator that combines the expected regional impacts of climate change with adaptive capacity. It accounts for how different climate exposures and regional sensitivities result in varying consequences depending on the adaptive capacity of each region.
Food Sovereignty
The right of people, regions, states, or their unions to determine their agricultural and food policies without flooding other nations’ markets with surplus goods.
Growing Stock
The total volume of all living trees above ground, including bark and branches, that make up the stands.
Eco-village (Bio-village)
An eco-village is a human-scale, full-featured settlement in which human activities are integrated harmlessly into the natural world in a way that supports healthy human development and can be successfully continued indefinitely.
Energy Poverty
The lack of ability to afford adequate energy supply for households.
Epidemiology
The study of the distribution of health-related states and events and the factors that influence their occurrence in a given population group, with the aim of using the results to solve health-related problems.
Erosion
A form of soil degradation. Its essence is the mechanical destruction of soil material by water (water erosion) or wind (deflation). The transport medium carries soil particles from one area to another.
ETS
The European Union’s mandatory emissions trading system, launched in early 2005, is the world’s first international, company-level cap-and-trade system that sets quotas for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.
Phenology
Examines the stages of individual development of living organisms, the so-called phenophases. The most commonly observed phenophases in plants include the onset of flowering, full flowering, the onset of fruit ripening, etc.
Land Use
Provides information on the size and composition of agricultural land by cultivation branch; the size and composition of greenhouse and foil production, and the utilization of arable land.
Geological Formation
The basic unit of stratigraphy. A rock assemblage formed under specific conditions, which can be mapped and may consist of numerous rock layers with similar petrographic, facies, or other properties.
Intermodality
The connection of different modes of transport within a travel chain (e.g., combining parking and public transport in the case of P+R).
Invasion (Invasive)
The rapid spread of non-native plant and animal species in a given area, usually triggered by persistent and widespread changes in environmental conditions.
Industrial Ecology or Industrial Symbiosis
An approach to linking different industries that establishes the natural ecosystem’s material and energy cycles in industrial processes. It transforms linear production processes from raw material to finished product into circular processes through feedback, in which the waste from one process is used as raw material by another production process.
R&D Ecosystem
A set of complementary research, development, and innovation activities that, as a unified system, create added value.
Climate Awareness
A way of thinking or decision-making and planning mechanism that, when preparing for action, takes into account the fact of climate change, its expected risks, and its impacts on the actor. The individual, group, or institution develops its actual activities in such a way as to minimize the expected negative impacts of these risks for itself; furthermore, it acts in such a way as to minimize the acceleration of the climate change process or, if possible, slow it down.
Comodality
The active cooperation of transport sectors, the most efficient joint application of different modes of transport to create an optimal transport system. For example, RoLa (rolling highway) is a comodality tool by transporting trucks by rail.
Mitigation
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions to prevent and mitigate the effects of climate change.
Sink
A facility, as well as biomass itself, that can sequester a greenhouse gas, aerosol particle, or substance that causes their formation from the atmosphere.
Participatory Planning Process (Community)
The key element of participatory community planning is the activation and involvement of local stakeholders and communities in the development of a common vision and strategy, in a way that truly reflects the needs, demands, and perspectives of the community.
Regional Climate Model
Its physical basis is similar to that of global models, but calculations are performed for a smaller area (the so-called limited domain), which can significantly increase the model’s resolution (currently 10-25 km). In addition to the initial conditions, boundary conditions must also be given to the model to take into account the processes taking place outside the domain. Boundary conditions are most often provided by global models.
Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS)
A chain of technologies developed to capture, compress, transport, and then inject carbon dioxide from large-scale, point-source emissions (e.g., industrial facilities, power plants) underground at appropriate locations.
Territorial Differentiation
The spatially different occurrence of any circumstance or condition.
Greenhouse Effect
The warming of the lower layer of the atmosphere due to the fact that short-wave solar radiation passes through the atmosphere without significant absorption and is absorbed by the Earth’s surface. At the same time, the atmosphere absorbs the long-wave (infrared) radiation of the surface to a much greater extent, thereby retaining heat.
Urban Heat Island
Artificial surfaces absorb more energy and therefore transfer more energy to the air layers above them than areas covered with natural vegetation. Higher temperatures develop in settlements with many artificial surfaces (asphalt, concrete) in both horizontal and vertical directions compared to surrounding areas with natural surface cover.
Vectors
In the field of environmental health, invertebrate animals capable of transmitting infectious pathogens between vertebrate hosts.
Definitions of Carbon Neutrality and Climate Neutrality:
- Carbon Neutrality:
- Definition: Reducing and offsetting all greenhouse gas emissions to bring net emissions to zero. All gas emissions are measured in CO2eq.
- Achievement: Through the application of emission reduction measures and compensation projects.
- Climate Neutrality:
- Definition: Similar to carbon neutrality, except that it often includes a more comprehensive approach that seeks to minimize the overall climate change impact, including indirect impacts.
- Achievement: Through measures similar to carbon neutrality, but may also include broader sustainability practices.
Summary
The difference between climate neutrality and carbon neutrality is not in the measurement of emissions, but rather in the comprehensiveness of the approach. Both concepts aim to reduce and offset greenhouse gas emissions.
The Social Cost of Climate Change
The social cost of climate change refers to the impact of emitting 1 ton of CO₂ or an equivalent amount of greenhouse gases (tCO₂eq). This estimated value expresses the global economic, health, and environmental damages caused by one ton of emissions, including effects on food production, infrastructure, human health, and natural ecosystems. The Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) is a scientifically calculated indicator used by institutions such as the U.S. government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in climate policy decisions.
The social cost of climate change represents the monetary damage caused by the emission of one ton of carbon dioxide (CO₂) or its equivalent in greenhouse gases (tCO₂eq) to society. This damage includes:
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- Health costs (e.g., illnesses due to heatwaves and air pollution)
- Economic losses (e.g., reduced agricultural yields, infrastructure damage)
- Ecological degradation (e.g., biodiversity loss, wildfires, rising sea levels)
- Losses caused by extreme weather events
The social cost is typically expressed in USD per ton of CO₂eq, and scientific estimates now place it above 1,300 USD/tCO₂eq. This means that each ton of emitted carbon dioxide causes over $1,300 in damages to the global economy and society.
However, low carbon credit prices and emissions trading systems often ignore this value, meaning that the true cost of emissions is not paid by polluters.
