A water body that dries up periodically.
A specific expression that provides information about a organization’s environmental performance.
A taxon is Extinct in the Wild when it is known only to survive in captivity, in cultivation or as a naturalized population (or populations) well outside the past range. A taxon is presumed extinct in the wild when exhaustive surveys in known and/or expected habitat, at appropriate times (diurnal, seasonal, annual), and throughout its historic range have failed to record an individual.
A dynamic concept that recognises the need to integrate short and long-term economic, social and environmental aspects into the management of all activities. ESD therefore represents a fundamental shift in public policy because it affects all government departments and agencies to some degree.
Economists have frequently proposed the adoption of a system of unit taxes (or subsidies) to control externalities, where the tax on a particular activity is equal to the marginal social damage it generates.
1. The term has been defined as "an approach that takes major ecosystem components and services - both structural and functional - into account in managing fisheries. (continues) It values habitat, embraces a multispecies perspective, and is committed to understanding ecosystem processes. (continues) Its goal is to rebuild and sustain populations, species, biological communities and marine ecosystems at high levels of productivity and biological diversity so as not to jeopardize a wide range of goods and services from marine ecosystems while providing food, revenues and recreation for humans".; 2. Ecosystem-based management is an approach that takes major ecosystem components and services - both structural and functional - into account in managing fisheries. It values habitat, embraces a multispecies perspective, and is committed to understanding ecosystem processes. Its goal is to achieve sustainability by appropriate fishery management. ().; 3. The overarching principles of ecosystem-based management of fisheries (continues) aim to ensure that, despite variability, uncertainty and likely natural changes in the ecosystem, the capacity of the aquatic ecosystems to produce food, revenues, employment and, more generally, other essential services and livelihood, is maintained indefinitely for the benefit of the present and future generations (continues) to cater both for human as well as ecosystem well-being. This implies conservation of ecosystem structures, processes and interactions through sustainable use. This implies consideration of a range of frequently conflicting objectives and the needed consensus may not be achievable without equitable distribution of benefits.
They are CO2 emissions resulting from deforestation, or the conversion of forest land to other uses.
A logical and systematic process for objectively defining the probability of an adverse effect (or impact) on an organism or collection of organisms when challenged by an environmental modification such as introduction of exotic organisms.
They consist of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) gases produced by the combustion of a percentage of crop residues burned on-site.
A fee or tax to be paid on discharges into the environment, based on the quantity and/or quality of discharged pollutants.
Equality in employment regardless of colour, sex, religion and so forth; non-discriminatory practices in hiring employees.
The process of particle lifting by the agent of wind erosion.
Ecological condition of a river in terms of the deviation of biophysical components from the natural reference condition that will result from implementation of a particular management objective.
A land area, generally smaller than a region but considerably larger than a farm, with a definable combination of climate, relief, altitude, edaphic conditions and natural vegetation.
Documented limits and tolerances on the measured ratios and levels of pollutants allowed in water.
Fiscal policy measures used to steer economic burdens away from economically beneficial activities (such as employment) towards environmentally harmful activities (such as the generation of pollution). With this approach, decision-making at every level, by the individual in society up to the highest national Government forum, is steered towards minimizing the environmental impacts of growth.
It translates the quantity of substances emitted into a common measure expressed as the oxygen required for the degradation of dead biomass.
The study of the environmental fate of pollutants and their potentially harmful effects on human health and other organisms within ecosystems.; The branch of toxicology which studies the toxic effects caused by natural substances or by artificial pollutants on living organisms whether animal or vegetable, terrestrial or aquatic, which constitute the biosphere.
Techniques and technologies capable of reducing environmental damage through processes and materials that generate fewer potentially damaging substances, recover such substances from emissions prior to discharge, or utilize and recycle production residues. The assessment of these technologies should account for their interaction with the socio-economic and cultural conditions under which they are implemented.; Ecotechnology is an applied science that addresses the issues of sustainable development through a process of integrating various disciplines. The process is human centric and aims for improving the socio-economic standards of the community through appropriate environment friendly technologies which are both efficient and adapted to local conditions.
Part of a formal project environmental assessment, this plan outlines feasible and cost-effective measures which may reduce potentially significant adverse environmental impacts to acceptable levels. It should provide details of proposed work programs and schedules to ensure that the proposed environmental actions are in phase with engineering activities throughout preparation.
Pressure resulting from human activities which bring about changes in the state of the environment.
It is the level of GHG emissions per unit of economic activity, usually measured at the national level as GDP.
Part of the management system used to manage environmental aspects, fulfil compliance obligations, and address risks and opportunities.
They consist of methane gas (CH4) produced in digestive systems of livestock (both ruminants and non-ruminants).
It is the level of resource consumption and waste discharge by a population in excess of locally sustainable natural production and assimilative capacity.
A cost that is not included in the market price of the goods and services produced. In other words, a cost not borne by those who create it, such as the cost of cleaning up contamination caused by discharge of pollution into the environment.
Found throughout the developing world, wherever people live in close proximity to their animals, affecting not only the health of poor people but often also their livelihoods through the health of their livestock. Unlike newly emerging zoonoses that attract the attention of the developed world, these endemic zoonoses are by comparison neglected. This is, in part, a consequence of under-reporting, resulting in underestimation of their global burden, which in turn artificially downgrades their importance in the eyes of administrators and funding agencies.
Part of cultivated wetlands and inland valley bottoms which have been equipped with water control structures (intake, canals, etc.).
Equipped wetlands and inland valley bottoms
The presence of people, livelihoods, species or ecosystems, environmental functions, services, and resources, infrastructure, or economic, social, or cultural assets in places and settings that could be adversely affected.
A mechanism of accountability for the protection of rights and the prevention and punishment of wrongs related to the disproportionate impacts of growth on the poor and vulnerable in society from rising pollution and degradation of ecosystem services, and from inequitable access to and benefits from the use of natural assets and extractive resources.
Minimizing environmental pressure while maximizing economic benefit, is a key sustainability principle. A country’s economy can be thought of as a huge resource-processing plant. Raw materials, including energy and water, go into the economy as inputs to various production or consumption processes. At the other end, the result is goods, services and waste. The transformation process is intended to result in some human benefit. Maximizing the efficiency of resource use and minimizing pollution during the entire transformation process across economic sectors is critical to achieving sustainable development or economic benefit.
They consist of gases produced from the burning of biomass for the following items: humid tropical forest, other forests, and organic soils.
A result of oil retraction and production can also directly effect human life in the region. Damage can include pollution of water resources and contamination of the soil.
The mitigation potential, which takes into account social costs and benefits and social discount rates, assuming that market efficiency is improved by policies and measures and barriers are removed.
They consist of direct and indirect nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from nitrogen (N) in crop residues and forage/pasture renewal left on agricultural fields by farmers.
Usually the rate of water flow. A volume of fluid passing a point per unit time commonly expressed as cubic feet per second, cubic meters per second, gallons per minute, or millions of gallons per day.
According to the UN, it has five components: 1) women’s sense of self-worth; 2) their right to have and to determine choices; 3) their right to have access to opportunities and resources; 4) their right to have the power to control their own lives, both within and outside the home; 5) their ability to influence the direction of social change to create a more just social and economic order, nationally and internationally.
people who have been forced to leave their traditional habitat temporarily or permanently, because of a marked environmental disruption (natural or triggered by people) that jeopardizes their existence and/or seriously affected the quality of their life. (Science for Peace) belong to a larger group of immigrants known as environmental refugees. Environmental refugees include immigrants forced to flee because of natural disasters, such as volcanoes and tsunamis.
Environmental refugees and internally displaced people (IDPS)
The occurrence in a community or region of cases of an illness, specific health-related behaviour, or other health-related events clearly in excess of normal expectancy. The community or region and the period in which the cases occur are specified precisely.
is spread by mosquitoes and is a rare cause of brain infections (encephalitis). It can infect horses, causing fever, behavioural changes, and other symptoms of encephalitis, and infection is often deadly for the horse. Only a few human cases are reported in the United States each year, most in eastern or Gulf Coast states. Approximately 30 per cent of people with eastern equine encephalitis die and many survivors have ongoing neurologic problems.
Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEE virus)
They consist of direct and indirect nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from nitrogen (N) added to agricultural soils by farmers.
A lake with no outflow to the sea or ocean.
A long-term reduction in an ecosystem’s structure, functionality, or capacity to provide benefits to people.
The constant presence and/or usual prevalence of a disease or infectious agent in a population within a geographic area.
A tool used in vulnerability assessments to help resource managers understand how plants and animals may respond to a changing climate. Climate envelope models describe the climate where a species currently lives (its climate "envelope"), and then map the geographic shift of that envelope under climate change.; Climate envelope modeling relies on statistical correlations between existing species distributions and environmental variables to define a species’ tolerance. Envelopes of tolerance are then drawn around existing ranges. By predicting future levels of factors such as temperature, rainfall, and salinity, new range boundaries are then predicted.
Expresses economic theories in mathematical terms in order to verify them by statistical methods. It is concerned with the empirical measurement of economic relations that are expressible in mathematical form. It seeks to measure the impact of one economic variable on another in order to be able to predict future events or advise the choice for economic policy to produce desired results.
This term includes habitats and major natural systems, such as grasslands, mangroves, wetlands, tropical forests, coral reefs, and their ecological balance.
Regular, comparable measurements or time series of data on the environment.
The amount of energy that has to be expended in order to produce a certain amount of energy.
Environmental performance relates to action by governments and other actors, including implementation of processes that support environmentally sustainable economic growth. Essentially, environmental performance is a measure of the gap between the actual state of what is being measured and targeted policy goals.
The central strategy is the cradle-to-cradle development method and seeks to create industrial systems that emulate healthy natural systems. The central principle of eco-effectiveness is that “waste equals food.” The concept was developed in response to some of the perceived limitations of eco-efficiency which critics claim only slow down the rate of environmental depletion and don’t reverse the production of unused or non-recycled waste. Eco-effectiveness will allow both business and nature to be fecund and productive. This leads to human industry that is regenerative rather than depletive. It involves the design of things that celebrate interdependence with other living systems. From an industrial-design perspective, it means products that work within cradle-to-cradle life-cycles rather than cradle-to-grave ones.
Action aimed at preventing environmental degradation; implies rational use and management of resources.
Process of reversing the degradation of ecosystems to regain their ecological functionality; in other words, to improve the productivity and capacity of ecosystems to meet the needs of society.; Encompassing a wide continuum of practices and targeted ecosystem conditions that contribute to conserving and repairing damaged ecosystems.
They consist of direct and indirect nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from manure nitrogen (N) added to agricultural soils by farmers.
The degradation of water or land quality due to enrichment by nutrients, primarily nitrogen and phosphorous, which results in excessive plant (principally algae) growth and decay. Eutrophication of a lake normally contributes to its slow evolution into a bog or marsh and ultimately to dry land. Eutrophication may be accelerated by human activities that speed up the ageing process.
Part of a formal project environmental assessment, this plan outlines feasible and cost-effective measures which may reduce potentially significant adverse environmental impacts to acceptable levels.
Equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value.
They consist of methane gas (CH4) emitted by anaerobic decomposition of organic matter in paddy fields.
Are those associated with carbon losses from drained organic soils of croplands.
A coherent system of natural and/or semi-natural landscape elements that is configured and managed with the objective of maintaining or restoring ecological functions as a means to conserve biodiversity while also providing appropriate opportunities for the sustainable use of natural resources.
A functional tool at the disposal of the authorities and the aquaculture industry (e.g. farmers) for aquaculture management practices in order to ensure the sustainability of the sector itself.
They consist of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide gases from aerobic and anaerobic decomposition processes.
An analysis of the likelihood of occurrence and the magnitude of consequences of adverse environmental effects.
the effect that a person, company, activity, etc. has on the environment, for example the amount of natural resources that they use and the amount of harmful gases that they produce
A strategy for the integrated management of land, water, and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way. It is based on the application of appropriate scientific methodologies focused on levels of biological organization which encompass the essential processes, functions and interactions among organisms and their environment. It recognizes that humans, with their cultural diversity, are an integral component of ecosystems.
Probability rate for an erosion process to start and develop as a result of changes of one or several erosion inducing or controlling factors.
A value, generally defined by regulation, which specifies the maximum permissible concentration of a potentially hazardous chemical in an environmental sample, generally of air or water.
The benefits people obtain from knowing that an ecosystem service exists, even if they will never actually use the service themselves. Also referred to as non-use value.
Non-monetary assessment of ecosystem integrity, health, or resilience, all of which are important indicators to determine critical thresholds and minimum requirements for ecosystem service provision.
The ecolabelling scheme uses an independent accreditation body (AB) to carry out accreditation of certification bodies responsible for conducting conformity assessments with the standard and for chain of custody requirements.
Quantity, timing and quality of water flows required to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems and the human livelihoods and well-being that depend on these ecosystems. Through implementation of environmental flows, water managers strive to achieve a flow regime, or pattern, that provides for human uses and maintains the essential processes required to support healthy river ecosystems.
The branch of medicine which deals with the incidence, distribution, and possible control of diseases and other factors relating to health.
They are those associated with nitrous oxide gas from cultivated organic soils (both cropland and grassland organic soils).
emissions from cultivation of organic soils
Based on three pillars (i) improving energy efficiency in agrifood systems, (ii) increasing the use of renewable energy in these systems and (iii) improving access to modern energy services through integrated food and energy production.
Statistics that describe the state of and trends in the environment, covering the media of the natural environment (air/ climate, water, land/soil), the living organisms within the media, and human settlements.
Broadly defined as any synthetic or naturally occurring chemical or any microorganism that is not commonly monitored in the environment but has the potential to enter the environment and cause known or suspected adverse ecological and(or) human health effects.
1. Management and control of the environment and natural resources systems in such a way so as to ensure the sustainability of development efforts over a long-term basis.2. The strategy by which human activities that affect theenvironment are organized with a view to maximizing the well-being of people and to preventing and mitigating potential problems by addressing their root causes. (UNDP Programming Manual October 1999).
The process of recognizing values and clarifying concepts in order to develop skills and attitudes necessary to understand and appreciate the interrelatedness of humans, their culture and biophysical surroundings. Environmental education also entails practice in decision-making and self-formulation of a code of behaviour about issues concerning environmental quality.
Habitat identified as essential to the ecological and biological requirements for critical life history stages of exploited fish species, and which may require special protection to improve stock status and long term sustainability.
It is an analysis approach that focuses on identifying general patterns in the data, and identifying outliers and features of the data that might not have been anticipated.
A dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment, interacting as a functional unit.; Ecosystem: A dynamic complex of vegetable, animal and microorganism communities and their nonliving environment that interact as a functional unit. Ecosystems may be small and simple, like an isolated pond, or large and complex, like a specific tropical rainforest or a coral reef in tropical seas.
Environmental degradation is the deterioration in environmental quality from ambient concentrations of pollutants and other activities and processes such as improper land use and natural disasters.
A collective term encompassing the vast and interacting complex of ecosystems, agricultural lands, pastures, fisheries, labour, infrastructure, technology, policies, culture, traditions, and institutions (including markets) that are variously involved in growing, processing, distributing and consuming food.
A crop cultivar adapted to a particular condition or range of conditions in the soil environment.; It is an intraspecific group having distinctive characters which result from the selective pressures of the local environment.
The general idea of the concept is that by applying an understanding of the interplay between hydrology and biota, considering the range of techniques from the molecular to the catchment scales, an augmentation of the absorbing capacity of ecosystems to human impacts can be achieved.
The entire process of undertaking an objective evaluation and analysis of information designed to support environmental decision making. It applies the judgement of experts to existing knowledge to provide scientifically credible answers to policy -relevant questions, quantifying where possible the level of confidence. It reduces complexity but adds value by summarizing, synthesizing and building scenarios, and identifies consensus by sorting out what is known and widely accepted from what is not known or not agreed. It sensitizes the scientific community to policy needs and the policy community to the scientific basis for action.
An action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent.
A measure of how much area of biologically productive land and water an individual, population or activity requires to produce all the resources it consumes and to absorb the waste it generates, using prevailing technology and resource management practices.
1) A shift in CO² emissions away from countries taking stringent GHG mitigation actions towards countries taking less stringent or no mitigation actions. 2) The increase in emissions outside a region as a direct result of the policy to cap emission in this region. 3) The increase in CO2 emissions outside the countries taking domestic mitigation action divided by the reduction in the emissions of these countries.
A policy aimed at addressing environmental problems and challenges.
An emerging field that examines the complex relationships among humans, animals and the environment, and how these relationships affect the health of each of these domains. One Health deals with biomedical questions, with an emphasis on zoonoses, and is historically more health science-driven. In contrast, the EcoHealth concept is defined as an ecosystem approach to health, tending to focus on environmental and socio-economic issues and initially designed by disease ecologists working in the field of biodiversity conservation.
Relating to the part of a river nearest to the sea, where tides ... occur and where fresh and salt water mix.
The change in well-being of ecosystems, resulting from a process set in motion or accelerated by human actions.; Any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partially resulting from an organization’s activities, products or services.
Integrating gender equality issues into an area of work, a programme, a project or a policy.
A measure of the soil’s susceptibility to detachment and transport by the agents of erosion.; Susceptibility to erosion, erosion proneness.
Complex tools and processes aiming to reduce the impact of natural hazards by providing timely and relevant information in a systematic way.
A rare and deadly disease in people and nonhuman primates. The viruses that cause Ebola are located mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. People can get Ebola through direct contact with an infected animal (bat or nonhuman primate) or a sick or dead person infected with Ebolavirus.
Reflects the actual revenue for all quantities of a product that are transacted. It assumes that all purchasers pay (and producers receive) the same price on average, and hence excludes consumer surplus.
Material or energy entering the system being studied that has been drawn from the environment without previous human transformation, or material or energy leaving the system being studied that is released into the environment without subsequent human transformation.
Are those associated with carbon losses from drained organic soils of grasslands.
They are expressed in carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent and consist of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), produced by aerobic and anaerobic decomposition processes in crop and livestock production and management activities.
The degree of functionality or health of an ecosystem, measured by a broad array of indicators of condition that include biotic characteristics (e.g., native plant communities, fish or invertebrate populations, species and habitat biodiversity) and abiotic characteristics (e.g., streambank stability and erosion, assimilation and cycling of nutrients, maintenance of sufficient flow and water temperature).
Ratio of energy consumption to economic or physical output. At the national level, energy intensity is the ratio of total domestic primary energy consumption or final energy consumption to gross domestic product or physical output. Lower energy intensity shows greater efficiency in energy use.
The managed alteration of a game populations numbers or compositions, when at odds with its resources, health and welfare, or man’s interest.
Environment means surroundings, including water, air, soil and their interrelationship as well as all relationships between them and any living organisms.
Traditional input-output (IO) tables summarizing the exchanges between major sectors of an economy, which have been typically developed to analyze environmental impacts.
Environmentally extended input-output model
The overall goal of an Environmental Product Declaration, EPD, is to provide relevant, verified and comparable information to meet various customer and market needs. The international EPD®system has the ambition to help and support organisations to communicate the environmental performance of their products (goods and services) in a credible and understandable way.
A species is endangered when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E specified for the endangered category of the IUCN Red List, and is therefore considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
water passage where the tide meets a river current
An analytical process or procedure that systematically examines the possible environmental consequences of a given activity or project. The aim is to ensure that the environmental implications are taken into account before the decisions are made.
Transition area between adjacent ecological communities (e.g., between forests and grasslands), usually involving competition between organisms common to both.; It has some of the characteristics of each bordering biological community and often contains species not found in the overlapping communities. An ecotone may exist along a broad belt or in a small pocket, such as a forest clearing, where two local communities blend together.
Fairness of rights, distribution and access. Depending on context, this can refer to access to resources, services or power
A generic term encompassing various forms of electrical and electronic equipment that has ceased to be considered of value and is disposed of.
It measures the human impact on ecosystems due to land use and land transformation.
Environmental Governance is the means by which society determines and acts on goals and priorities related to the management of natural resources. This includes the rules, both formal and informal, that govern human behavior in decision-making processes as well as the decisions themselves. Appropriate legal frameworks on the global, regional, national and local level are a prerequisite for good environmental governance.
A concept referring to both the services provided by the natural ecosystems, and to nature within the man-made ecosystems.
Those aspects of human health and disease that are determined by factors in the environment. It also refers to the theory and practice of assessing and controlling factors in the environment that can potentially affect health. Environmental health includes both the direct pathological effects of chemicals, radiation and some biological agents, and the effects, often indirect, on health and well-being of the broad physical, psychological, social and aesthetic environment. This includes housing, urban development, land use and transport.
The provision of timely and effective information, through identified institutions, that allows individuals exposed to a hazard to take action to avoid or reduce their risk and prepare an effective response.
A state of environmental conditions in environmental media, expressed in terms of indicators or indices related to environmental quality standards.
Potential ability of physical dynamic agents such as water, wind or ice to cause erosion.
​Erosion is the geological process in which earthen materials are worn away and transported by natural forces such as wind or water.
Infections that have recently appeared within a population or those whose incidence or geographic range is rapidly increasing or threatens to increase in the near future.
Combined loss of water by evaporation from the soil or surface water, and transpiration from plants and animals.
The variety of ecosystems that occurs within a larger landscape, ranging from biome (the largest ecological unit) to microhabitat. All the different habitats, biological communities and ecological processes, as well as variation within individual ecosystems.
A tax on the consumption or use of a specific good, service, or activity. Excise taxes are mainly introduced with the intention to create public revenues for local, state or federal governments. Common examples for excise taxes are taxes on alcohol, tobacco, or fuel.
A combination of the two words economy and ecology. The meaning of this term is that good economic aims are congruent with ecological aims, at least in the long-run.
They consist of direct and indirect nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from manure nitrogen (N) left on pastures by grazing livestock.
All the pressures like predation, competition, weather, and food availability, which inhibit the potential growth of a population.; The difference between the potential ability of a population to increase and the actual observed performance.
The smallest landscape unit in the ecological holarchy.
1) The structure and inter-relationships between the biological, chemical, and physical components of the wetland. These derive from the interactions of individual processes, functions, attributes and values of the ecosystem(s).; Combination of the ecosystem components, processes and services that characterize the wetland at a given point in time.
The set of habitat resources (food, cover types, water etc.) used by a species, as determined by its geographic and ecological range and its adaptations. The role or "job" of a species in its environment.
They consist of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) gases produced from the burning of vegetation biomass in the following five land cover types: savanna, woody savanna, open shrublands, closed shrublands and grasslands.
It is the informed inclusion of relevant environmental concerns into the decisions and institutions that drive national, sectoral and local development policy, rules, plans, investment and action.