Term | Definition | Further comments |
Abatement | Measures that companies take to prevent, reduce, or eliminate
sources of GHG emissions within their value chain. Examples
include reducing energy use, switching to renewable energy, and
reducing chemical fertilizer use. | Also see:
• Decarbonization
• Mitigation |
Absolute reduction | Method used to calculate absolute emissions reduction targets that
requires organizations to reduce annual emissions by an amount
consistent with underlying mitigation pathways. Also known as
“absolute contraction”. | Also see:
• Sector-specific intensity
convergence
• Science-based target
methods |
Beyond value chain
mitigation (BVCM) | Mitigation action or investments that fall outside a company’s value
chain, including activities that avoid or reduce GHG emissions, or
remove and store GHGs from the atmosphere. | Examples of BVCM include:
• Forestry, e.g.,
Jurisdictional (Reducing
Emissions from
Deforestation and Forest
Degradation) REDD+
• Conservation projects,
e.g., peatland or
mangrove
• Energy efficiency, e.g.,
cookstove projects
• Methane destruction,
e.g., landfill gas projects
• Renewable energy, e.g.,
solar/wind/biogas
• Industrial gases, e.g.,
N2O destruction at nitric
acid facilities
• Scale-up of Carbon
Dioxide Removal (CDR)
technologies, e.g., Direct
Air Capture (DAC) and
Storage. |
Bioenergy | Energy generated from the combustion of biomass. In certain
cases, bioenergy is considered ‘carbon neutral’ because
combustion-related CO2 emissions are balanced by CO2
sequestered during bioenergy feedstock growth. | |
Biomass emissions | Organic material available aboveground and belowground, living
and dead, e.g., trees, crops, grasses, tree litter, roots etc. | |
Carbon Dioxide
Removal (CDR) | According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), “anthropogenic activities removing CO2 from the
atmosphere and durably storing it in geological, terrestrial, or ocean
reservoirs, or in products”. Removals are either nature-based,
geological or a hybrid. | |
Climate change
mitigation | According to the IPCC, “a human intervention to reduce emissions
or enhance the sinks of GHGs.” | Also see:
• Mitigation strategy |
Compensation (legacy
terminology used in
earlier versions of the
SBTi Net-Zero
Standard) | Actions companies take to help society avoid or reduce emissions
outside of their value chain. | SBTi is eliminating the term from
use within its documentation.
Also see:
• Greenhouse gases
• Value chain emissions |
Corporate climate
targets | Goals set by a corporation to reduce its impact on the climate.
Targets may include a variety of GHG emissions across different
corporate activities (i.e., operations, value chain, or products) and
may use emissions abatement, compensation, or neutralization. | Also see:
• Abatement
• Compensation
• Neutralization |
Cross-sector pathway | One-size-fits-all pathway for companies to calculate near-term and
long-term absolute reduction science-based targets (SBTs), eligible
for all companies except those in the power, maritime transport or
(Forest, Land and Agriculture) FLAG sectors. | Also see:
• Sector-specific pathways |
Decarbonization | The process by which CO2 emissions associated with electricity,
industry, and transport are reduced or eliminated. | Also see:
• Abatement |
Emissions (or GHG)
inventories | According to the GHG Protocol, a “quantified list of an
organization’s GHG emissions and sources.” Emissions inventories
typically include emissions in scopes 1, 2, and 3. | Also see:
• Scope 1 inventory
• Scope 2 inventory
• Scope 3 inventory |
Forest, land and
agriculture (FLAG)
emissions | FLAG designates the SBTi Forest, Land and Agriculture project,
sectors, methodologies and targets. The terms FLAG-related
emissions and Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU)
emissions are used interchangeably in the SBTi FLAG Guidance. | Other similar related terms are
AFOLU and Land-use, Land-use
change and Forestry (LULUCF;
AFOLU and agriculture GHGs) |
Global emissions
budget | A cumulative emissions threshold that must not be exceeded to limit
global temperature rise by a specified amount and probability.
Emissions budgets can be determined for CO2 only or all GHGs. | Also see:
• Greenhouse gases
• Paris Agreement |
Greenhouse gases
(GHGs) | Gases which absorb and re-emit infrared radiation, thereby trapping
it in Earth’s atmosphere. Includes carbon dioxide (CO2), methane
(CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs),
perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen
trifluoride (NF3). | |
Greenhouse Gas (GHG)
emission reduction
targets | Goals set by an organization to reduce direct or indirect emissions
by a specified amount. | Also see:
• Greenhouse gases
• Science-based targets |
Insetting | Used to describe projects wholly contained within a Scope 3 supply
chain boundary of a company, a project partially within their Scope
3 supply chain boundary (spanning their supply chain and other
companies’ supply chains) and a project adjacent to a supply chain
boundary. | There are multiple definitions for
the term “insetting” in use and no
standardization of the term. |
Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change
(IPCC) | United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate
change. | Also see:
● IPCC Special Report on
1.5°C (SR15)
● Paris Agreement |
IPCC Special Report on
1.5˚C (SR15) | A Special Report requested by the United Nations on the impacts of
global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related
global GHG emission pathways. Issued in the context of
strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change,
sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty. The
report includes over 6,000 scientific references and was prepared
by 91 authors from 40 countries. | Also see:
• Paris Agreement |
Long-term science
based target | GHG reduction targets in line with what the latest climate science
deems is necessary to reach net-zero at the global or sector level in
1.5°C pathways before 2050. | Also see:
• Near-term science-based
target |
Mitigation | According to the IPCC, “a human intervention to reduce emissions
or enhance the sinks of GHGs.” | Also see:
• Mitigation strategy |
Mitigation strategy | A set of measures planned by a company to mitigate GHG
emissions that may include abatement, insetting, compensation and
neutralization. | Also see:
• Mitigation
• Abatement
• Insetting
• Compensation
• Neutralization |
Nature-based Solutions
(NBS) | The WWF defines NBS as “Ecosystem conservation, management
and/or restoration interventions intentionally planned to deliver
measurable positive climate adaptation and/or mitigation benefits
that have human development and biodiversity co-benefits
managing anticipated climate risks to nature that can undermine
their long-term effectiveness.” | Also see:
• Beyond value chain
mitigation
• Carbon Dioxide Removal
(CDR)
• Compensation
• Neutralization
• Insetting |
Near-term science
based target | GHG reduction targets in line with what the latest climate science
deems necessary to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial
levels and are achieved within a 5-10 year timeframe from the date
of submission to the SBTi. | Also see:
• Long-term science-based
target |
Net-zero | Setting corporate net-zero targets aligned with meeting societal
climate goals means: (a) reducing scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions to
zero or a residual level consistent with reaching net-zero emissions
at the global or sector level in eligible 1.5°C scenarios or sector
pathways and (b) neutralizing any residual emissions at the net
zero target date – and any GHG emissions released into the
atmosphere thereafter. | Also see:
• Near-term science-based
target
• Long-term science-based
target
• Residual emissions |
Neutralization | Measures that companies take to remove carbon from the
atmosphere and permanently store it to counterbalance the impact
of emissions that remain unabated. | Also see:
• Nature-based Solutions
• Carbon credits
• Carbon Dioxide Removal
(CDR) |
Physical emissions
intensity | A metric describing the emissions per physical unit of an activity
(e.g., cement production). The sector-specific intensity convergence
method is based on the principle that all companies in a sector will
converge to the same physical emissions intensity in a future year
of mitigation pathways. | Also see:
• Decarbonization
• Paris Agreement |
Removals | Measures that companies take to remove carbon from the
atmosphere and permanently store it within or beyond the value
chain.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
• DAC and storage
• Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS)
• Improved soil management
• Improved forest management
• Land restoration, e.g., of peatland, terrestrial forests or
mangroves
Within the value chain, companies in the FLAG sectors are
expected to deliver biogenic carbon removals as well as abatement
as part of their science-based targets. | Also see:
• Carbon Dioxide Removal
(CDR)
• Neutralization |
Residual emissions | Emissions sources that remain unabated in a specific year of a
mitigation scenario. Long-term SBTs define the company’s
maximum level of residual emissions in line with global or sector
net-zero in 1.5°C-aligned mitigation pathways with low or no
overshoot. | Also see:
• Paris Agreement |
SBTi Net-Zero Expert
Advisory Group (EAG) | Advisory body to the SBTi consisting of representatives from civil
society organizations, corporate climate action initiatives, research
agencies, and other stakeholders contributing specifically to the
development of the Net-Zero Standard. | |
SBTi Scientific Advisory
Group (SAG) | Advisory body to the SBTi consisting of recognized experts in
climate change mitigation, integrated assessment modelling, energy
system and land-use dynamics, and other topics contributing to
developing the SBTi’s scientific foundations. | |
SBTi Technical Advisory
Group (TAG) | Advisory body to the SBTi consisting of practitioners and experts in
topics such as corporate sustainability, greenhouse gas accounting,
and target-setting, providing feedback on SBTi methods, criteria
changes, and guidance. | |
Science-based targets
(SBTs) | Targets that are in line with what the latest climate science says is
necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement – to pursue
efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. | Also see:
• Near-term science-based
targets
• Paris Agreement
• Pre-industrial levels |
Science-based target
methods | Methods used to calculate science-based targets from a mitigation
pathway, company input variables, and an allocation formula. | Also see:
• Absolute reduction
• Sector-specific intensity
convergence |
Sector-specific intensity
convergence | Method used to calculate emissions intensity targets based on the
principle of converging to a sector-wide physical emissions intensity
in a future year of a mitigation pathway. | Also see:
• Absolute reduction
• Science-based target
methods |
Sector-specific
pathways | Absolute emissions or emissions intensity pathways for a specific
sector that may be used for calculating near-term and long-term
intensity targets – as well as long-term absolute targets, in most
cases. | Also see:
• Cross-sector pathway |
Scope 1 emissions | Defined by the GHG Protocol accounting standard as: “A reporting
organization’s direct GHG emissions.” | Also see:
• Greenhouse gases |
Scope 2 emissions | Defined by the GHG Protocol accounting standard as: “A reporting
organization’s (indirect) emissions associated with the generation of
electricity, heating/cooling, or steam purchased for own
consumption.” | Also see:
• Greenhouse gases |
Scope 3 emissions | Defined by the GHG Protocol accounting standard as: “A reporting
organization’s indirect emissions other than those covered in scope
2.” | Also see:
• Greenhouse gases |
The Paris Agreement | Stated by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC), the Paris agreement is a “legally binding
international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties
at the Conference of the Parties (COP) 21 in Paris, on 12 December
2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016. Its goal is to limit
global warming to well-below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius,
compared to pre-industrial levels.” | |
United Nations Climate
Change Conference
(2021: COP26) | The annual COP brings together the 197 countries that have ratified
the UNFCCC. As the twenty-sixth such gathering, it is known as
COP26 and took place in Glasgow in November 2021.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) states that:
“Under the Convention, nations have reached two key agreements
on reducing greenhouse gas emissions: the Kyoto Protocol adopted
in 1997, and the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015. The Paris accord
is built around so-called “nationally determined contributions” as a
means of achieving the goal of limiting the global temperature
increase, and to step up those contributions over time”.” | Also see:
• Paris Agreement |
Value chain emissions | A company’s scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions as defined by the GHG
Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. | Also see:
• Scope 1 inventory
• Scope 2 inventory
• Scope 3 inventory |
Well-to-wheel (WTW) | Tank-to-wheel (TTW) emissions cover all the energy used once
transformed. This is emissions occurring during the combustion of
the fuels.
Well-to-tank (WTT) emissions are based on attributional life-cycle
assessment studies of fossil-derived fuels (e.g., gasoline, diesel,
compressed and liquefied natural gas), biofuels and electricity (based
on time and scenario-specific estimated average grid carbon
intensity).
Together, TTW and WTT make up WTW GHG emissions. This does
not include emissions from vehicle or battery manufacturing, or those
offset by material recycling, among others. | |
