Our Sustainability Glossary
Here’s a useful glossary to help all businesses, and people responsible for sustainability, to decode and understand the enormous vocabulary of terms and acronyms associated with the subject.
If you spot any we have missed, don’t hesitate to contact us and let us know.
B
- B Team
- Organisation that advocates for economic systems change and new corporate norms — to protect the natural environment and secure a safe, sustainable and equitable future for all.
C
- CDP
- CDP (or Carbon Disclosure Project) is a not-for-profit charity that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts.
- CSR
- CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) refers to a company’s commitment to managing its operations in a way that is ethical, socially responsible, and environmentally sustainable. It involves going beyond profit-making to consider the impact a business has on society and the environment.
- CSRD
- Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. EU rules will require large companies and listed companies to publish regular reports on the social and environmental risks they face, and on how their activities impact people and the environment. This will amend the existing reporting requirements of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD).
Read more at our CSRD blog.
- California Transparency Act
- The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act forces companies to publicly disclose their efforts to eradicate modern slavery within their supply chain.
- Carbon footprint
- Carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases, measured in carbon dioxide equivalents, that an individual, organisation, product, or activity generates directly and indirectly. It includes emissions from sources like transportation, energy use, manufacturing, and consumption. Reducing a carbon footprint involves cutting emissions and offsetting unavoidable ones.
- Carbon neutral
- Carbon neutral means that the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere is balanced by removing or offsetting an equivalent amount. This is achieved through actions like reducing emissions, using renewable energy, and investing in carbon offset projects (e.g., tree planting or carbon capture technologies). The goal is to have net-zero carbon emissions.
D
- Data Model
- Data models are visual representations of an enterprise’s data elements and the connections between them. By helping to define and structure data in the context of relevant business processes, models support the development of effective information systems.
- Data Strategy
- A data strategy is a long-term plan that defines the technology, processes, people, and rules required to manage an organisation’s information assets.
- Double materiality
- Double materiality is a concept used in sustainability reporting that considers two perspectives when evaluating the impact of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors:
Financial Materiality – How sustainability issues (like climate change, resource scarcity, or social risks) impact a company’s financial performance and long-term viability.
Impact Materiality – How a company’s activities impact the environment, society, and stakeholders, regardless of the financial consequences for the company itself.
Read more at our Double Materiality blog.
E
- EFRAG
- European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) is a private association established in 2001 to serve the public interest. EFRAG extended its mission in 2022 following the new role assigned to EFRAG in the CSRD, providing Technical Advice to the European Commission in the form of fully prepared draft EU Sustainability Reporting Standards and/or draft amendments to these Standards.
- EPIC
- Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is a public interest research center in Washington, DC seeking to protect privacy, freedom of expression, and democratic values in the information age.
- ESG
- ESG stands for Environmental Social and Governance, and refers to the three key factors when measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of a business or company:
Environmental – How a company affects the planet (e.g., carbon footprint, pollution, resource use).
Social – How a company treats people (e.g., labor rights, diversity, community impact).
Governance – How a company is managed (e.g., ethics, transparency, executive pay).
- ESRS
- The EU Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) are a set of standards that outlines the mandatory concepts and principles to which companies reporting under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) must align their sustainability statements with.
Read more at our ESRS blog.
- EU Taxonomy
- The EU taxonomy is a classification system, establishing a list of environmentally sustainable economic activities.
Read more at our EU Taxonomy blog.
- EV100
- EV100 is the Climate Group’s global initiative bringing together companies committed to accelerating the transition to electric vehicles (EVs).
G
- GHG emissions
- Greenhouse gas emissions are gases that trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere and contribute to climate change. The most common GHGs are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and fluorinated gases. These emissions come from a variety of sources including energy production, transportation, agriculture, and industrial processes.
- GHG protocol
- The Greenhouse Gas Protocol establishes comprehensive global standardised frameworks to measure and manage greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from private and public sector operations, value chains and mitigation actions.
- GRI
- Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) developed the global best practice for how organizations communicate and demonstrate accountability for their impacts on the environment, economy and people. They provide the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting standards.
- Gap analysis
- Gap analysis is the process of comparing current performance or outcomes to desired goals to identify shortcomings and areas for improvement.
Read more at our ESRS gap analysis blog
- Global Child Forum
- Global Child Forum is a Swedish non-profit foundation bringing together global leaders from business, civil society, academia and government in order to spur action for social change around children’s rights.
- Globescan
- Globescan is a global insights and advisory consultancy working at the intersection of brand purpose, sustainability, and trust. They help decision-makers know their world and create strategies to lead a sustainable and equitable future.
- Greenwashing
- Greenwashing is a marketing tactic used by companies to present their products or policies as environmentally friendly or sustainable, when they may not be. The purpose of greenwashing is to appeal to consumers who are concerned about environmental issues and to improve the company’s image.
I
- ISSB
- The International Financial Reporting Standards IFRS created a standard-setting board—the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) to deliver a comprehensive global baseline of sustainability-related disclosure standards that provide investors and other capital market participants with information about companies’ sustainability-related risks and opportunities to help them make informed decisions.
Read more at our ISSB blog.
K
- KPI
- KPI stands for key performance indicator, a quantifiable measure of performance over time for a specific objective.
M
- MSCI
- Morgan Stanley Capital International is a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community. They enable clients to understand and analyse key drivers of risk and return and confidently build more effective portfolios. Clients use their research-enhanced solutions to gain insight into and improve transparency across the investment process.
N
- NFRD
- The objective of the Non-financial Reporting Directive NFRD is to raise the transparency of the social and environmental information provided by undertakings to a similarly high level across all EU Member States and thus to improve the disclosure of non-financial information by certain large undertakings
- NLP
- Natural Language Processing is a form of AI used to enable computers and digital devices to recognize, understand and generate text and speech.
- Net zero
- Net zero means balancing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted with an equivalent amount removed from the atmosphere, resulting in no net increase in emissions. This is achieved by reducing emissions as much as possible and offsetting the rest through carbon capture, reforestation, or other mitigation strategies. Net zero applies to all greenhouse gases, not just carbon dioxide.
P
- PCAF
- Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials PCAF is a global partnership of financial institutions that work together to develop and implement a harmonised approach to assess and disclose the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with their loans and investments.
- Predictive analytics
- What will happen? (as opposed to descriptive what has happened)
- Prescriptive analytics
- How can we make it happen? (as opposed to diagnostic, why did it happen)
R
- RE100
- RE100 is the global corporate renewable energy initiative bringing together hundreds of large and ambitious businesses committed to 100% renewable electricity (RE).
S
- SASB
- The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Standards guide the disclosure of financially material sustainability information by companies to their investors. Available for 77 industries, the Standards identify the subset of environmental, social, and governance issues most relevant to financial performance in each industry. These will be integrated into ISSB.
- SBT
- Science-based targets show companies and financial institutions how much and how quickly they need to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to prevent the worst effects of climate change. Provided to the SBTi (see below).
- SBTi
- The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) drives ambitious climate action in the private sector by enabling organizations to set science-based emissions reduction targets.
Download our SBTi white paper
- SCI
- Supply Chain Intelligence
- SDG
- The UN Sustainable Development Goals or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet now and into the future”.
- SECR
- Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting is a regulation that makes it mandatory for large businesses in the UK to annually report on their energy and carbon emissions as well as any efficiency measures.
Read more at our SECR blog.
- SMART
- Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time based. A way of setting goals that are able to be actioned and followed up.
- Scope 1 emissions
- Scope 1 emissions are direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from sources that a company owns or controls. These include:
Fuel combustion (e.g., company-owned vehicles, boilers, furnaces)
Industrial processes (e.g., chemical reactions in manufacturing)
On-site energy generation
Read more at our Scope 1 & 2 blog.
- Scope 2 emissions
- Scope 2 emissions are indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating, or cooling that a company consumes.
- Scope 3 emissions
- Scope 3 emissions are indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a company’s value chain, both upstream (suppliers) and downstream (customers).
Read more at our Scope 3 blog.
- Supply chain
- A supply chain is the network of organisations, people, activities, information, and resources involved in the production and distribution of a product or service. It covers everything from raw material sourcing to manufacturing, transportation, and the final delivery to consumers.
Read more at our Supply Chain Intelligence blog.
- Sustainability
- Sustainability is the practice of meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.
- Sustainable Business Index
- The SDGBI is the world’s first Index ranked based on the review of SDGs-based. Corporate Sustainability Analysis Index for global corporations submitted as a written statement.
T
- TCFD
- The Financial Stability Board (FSB) created the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) to develop recommendations on the types of information that companies should disclose to support investors, lenders, and insurance underwriters in appropriately assessing and pricing a specific set of risks—risks related to climate change.
Read more at our TCFD blog.
- TNFD
- The Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) is a global initiative which aims to give financial institutions and companies a complete picture of their environmental risks. The organisation aims to deliver a framework for organizations to report and act on evolving nature-related risks, in order to support a shift in global financial flows away from nature-negative outcomes and toward nature-positive outcomes.
- Tech Platform
- A modern technology platform typically includes analytics, database and data management, tools for application development and extension, integration, and intelligent technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
U
- UK Modern Slavery Act
- The Modern Slavery Act 2015 (“the 2015 Act”) consolidates existing offences of human trafficking and slavery and encompasses trafficking for all forms of exploitation.
- UNGC
- The United Nations Global Compact is a voluntary initiative based on CEO commitments to implement universal sustainability principles (on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption) and to take steps to support UN goals.
V
- Value chain
- A value chain refers to the series of activities a company performs to deliver a product or service to the market, with each step adding value. It includes everything from raw material acquisition to final consumer delivery.
Read more at our Value Chain Assessment blog.
W
- WBCSD
- The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is the premier global, CEO-led community of over 200 of the world’s leading sustainable businesses working collectively to accelerate the system transformations needed for a net-zero, nature positive, and more equitable future.
- WEF
- The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
- WEF stakeholder capital metrics
- The set of metrics to improve the ways in which companies measure and demonstrate their performance against environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators and track their positive contributions towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on a consistent basis.
- We Mean Business
- We Mean Business Coalition, together with an extended network of partners, catalyses business and policy action to halve emissions by 2030 and accelerate an inclusive transition to a net-zero economy.
- Women’s Empowerment Principles
- The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) are a set of Principles offering guidance to business on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community.
