Mission Zero Glossary

Glossary of terms

Adaptation – Adjusting to actual or expected future climate. The goal is to reduce our vulnerability to the harmful effects of climate change whilst making the most of any potential beneficial opportunities associated with climate change.

Baseline – [Base year] A historical specific year against which an organisations emissions are tracked over time.

Boundary – The boundary determines which emissions are measured or calculated and reported by the organisation.

Carbon footprint – The amount of carbon emitted by an individual or organisation in a given period of time.

Carbon sequestration – The removal and storage of carbon from the atmosphere in carbon sinks (such as oceans, forests or soils).

Climate Emergency – A situation in which urgent action is required to reduce or halt climate change and avoid potentially irreversible environmental damage resulting from it.

Decarbonisation – The process of reduction or removal of carbon from energy production.

Direct zero emissions – Mitigation of organisational activities so there are no emissions whatsoever.

Emissions – The release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Fossil fuel – A fuel derived from geological deposits of plant and animal remains, such as coal, oil, or natural gas.

Greenhouse gas – These are the gases known to warm the earth’s climate. Greenhouse gases per the Kyoto protocol are: Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Hydro-fluorocarbons (HFC), Perfluorocarbons (PFC), Nitrogen Trifluoride (NF3) and Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6).

Green Recovery – A package of environmental, regulatory and fiscal reforms to recover prosperity after the COVID-19 pandemic. This investment, to lift countries out of economic recession, should be spent in a way that combats global warming, including the reduction of coal, oil, and gas use, as well as investment in clean transport, renewable energy, ecofriendly buildings, and sustainable corporate or financial practices.

Heat pump – A heat pump is a device that transfers heat energy from a source of heat to what is called a thermal reservoir. Heat pumps move thermal energy in the opposite direction of spontaneous heat transfer, by absorbing heat from a cold space and releasing it to a warmer one.

Mission Zero – The National Park Authority’s ambition and approach to becoming a net zero organisation by 2030. 20

Mitigation – Reducing emissions of and stabilising the levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Net zero – Is the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. We reach net zero when the amount we add is no more than the amount taken away.

Offsetting – [Carbon offset] An action or activity (such as the planting of trees or carbon sequestration) that compensates for the emission of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

Photovoltaics – Photovoltaics is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect.

Renewable energy – Energy taken from sources that are replenished by natural processes, e.g. wind, water, solar, geothermal energy and biofuels.

Residual emissions – These are emissions produced by “hard-to-treat” sectors where emission abatement is prohibitively expensive.

Scope – Greenhouse Gas Protocol definition which defines the operational boundaries in relation to indirect and direct greenhouse gas emissions.

Scope 1 – Covers direct emissions from owned or controlled sources.

Scope 2 – Covers indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling consumed by the reporting company.

Scope 3 – Includes all other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain.

Smart meter – Is an electronic device that records information such as consumption of electric energy, voltage levels, current, and power factor. They communicate the information to the consumer for greater clarity of consumption behaviour, and electricity suppliers for system monitoring and customer billing.

tCo2e – Tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.