Category
Roughly a quarter to a third of global greenhouse gas emissions depending on what is counted — and the distinctive feature is that these emissions are mostly not carbon dioxide from burning fuel,
Generally better than landfill for the same waste, and worse than not producing the waste at all — which sounds like a dodge and is the actual finding of most life cycle assessments. Where landfill
Extracting mineral deposits from the ocean floor, thousands of metres down — principally polymetallic nodules containing nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese, which are used in batteries and
Overfishing is taking fish faster than a population can replace itself — and the reason it persists despite being understood for a century is that it is a textbook common pool resource problem, where
The fall in ocean pH caused by seawater absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere — sometimes called "the other carbon problem", because it is a direct chemical consequence of emissions that has
Storm overflows are deliberate relief points in the sewer network, designed to discharge diluted sewage into rivers and the sea when heavy rain would otherwise overwhelm the system and back it up
Paying electricity consumers to change when they use power — reducing at peak or increasing when there is surplus — treated as an alternative to building generation, because avoiding a megawatt of
Which variable is fixed. A carbon tax fixes the price and lets emissions find their level; a trading scheme fixes the quantity of emissions and lets the price find its level. Both put a cost on
The principle that moving away from fossil fuels should not impose the costs on the workers and communities that depend on them — and that a transition perceived as unfair will be resisted, whatever
A mechanism that pays generators and other providers to be available when needed, rather than for the electricity they actually produce — addressing a problem that energy-only markets create. The
Storing seeds in conditions that keep them viable for decades or centuries, as insurance against the loss of plant genetic diversity in the wild and in agriculture. Why it is needed: Crop genetic
An assessment of a species' risk of extinction, made by the IUCN against published quantitative criteria — and it is a measure of risk, not of rarity, abundance or importance, which is the
The benefits people obtain from ecosystems — a framework for making nature's contribution visible in decisions that would otherwise treat it as worth nothing. The four categories, from the Millennium
A chain of effects passing through a food web when something changes at one level — typically the addition or removal of a predator — producing changes several steps away that are not obviously
A requirement that development must leave biodiversity measurably better than before — in England, a legally mandated minimum uplift, calculated with a defined metric and secured for a long period.
A strip of habitat connecting otherwise isolated areas, allowing animals to move between them — and the evidence that connectivity matters is strong, while the evidence about specific corridors is
An estimate, in money, of the damage caused by emitting one additional tonne of carbon dioxide — used to put climate effects into cost-benefit analysis of policies and projects. Why it exists.
A formal process requiring the likely environmental effects of a proposed development to be identified, assessed and taken into account before consent is granted — a procedural requirement rather
Carbon captured and stored by coastal and marine ecosystems — principally saltmarsh, mangroves and seagrass — which sequester carbon at rates far exceeding most terrestrial habitats, per unit area.
Because they store an extraordinary quantity of carbon in a very small area, and damaged peatland releases it — turning one of the most effective natural carbon stores into an emissions source. What
A species whose effect on its ecosystem is disproportionately large relative to its abundance — so removing it causes changes far beyond what its numbers would suggest. The origin. The concept comes
Power is a rate; energy is a quantity. Power is how fast energy is used or produced; energy is how much has been used over time. Confusing them is behind a great deal of muddled discussion about
Curtailment is reducing generation below what a plant could produce — and wind farms are compensated for it because the grid physically cannot move the electricity to where it is needed, not because
A certificate proving that a unit of electricity was generated from a renewable source — and whether buying one changes anything depends on a concept called additionality, which is where most green