Glossary

While not all these terms and/or acronyms appear in-text, they may be valuable to know and have been included as such.

BEIS – Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, established in 2016 by the UK Government

Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition – The Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC) brings together leaders from government, private sector, academia, and civil society to expand the use of carbon pricing policies. The work undertaken by the CPLC is organised around four areas:

fostering stakeholder engagement to enhance knowledge, exchange of experiences and unlock opportunities for partnerships and collaboration
mobilising business engagement (focusing on internal carbon pricing and other business actions to price carbon)
enhancing the knowledge base
effectively communicating carbon pricing

CERES Roadmap 2030 – A ten-year action plan for sustainable business leadership, centring on accountability and performance

CDP – CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) is a not-for-profit charity that runs a global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states, and regions to manage their environmental impacts.

CSRD – Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. On 21 April 2021, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which will amend the existing reporting requirements of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD).

DEC – Display Energy Certificate, a public certificate detailing a building’s energy use and carbon emissions issued by the UK government and required for any building at least partially occupied by a public authority, with a total floor area of >250m², and frequently visited by the public. Private organisations do not require DECs but can choose to get one if so desired.

EEA – The European Economic Area (EEA) consists of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Equator Principles - The Equator Principles (EP) are intended to serve as a common baseline and risk management framework for financial institutions to identify, assess and manage environmental and social risks when financing projects. The EP apply globally, to all industry sectors and to five financial products:

Project Finance Advisory Services
Project Finance
Project-Related Corporate Loans
Bridge Loans
Project-Related Refinance, and Project-Related Acquisition Finance.

ESAs – The three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs), which started their operations in January 2011, are:

The European Banking Authority (EBA) – an independent EU Authority which works to ensure effective and consistent prudential regulation and supervision across the European banking sector.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) – an independent EU Authority that contributes to safeguarding the stability of the EU’s financial system by enhancing the protection of investors and promoting stable and orderly financial markets.
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) – at the heart of insurance and occupational pensions supervision in the EU.

GHG Protocol – The Greenhouse Gas Protocol provides standards, guidance, tools and training for business and government to measure and manage climate-warming emissions. More specifically, GHG Protocol establishes comprehensive global standardized frameworks to measure and manage greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from private and public sector operations, value chains and mitigation actions.

GRESB – GRESB is a mission-driven and industry-led organisation that provides actionable and transparent ESG data to financial markets. GRESB collects, validates, scores and benchmarks ESG data to provide business intelligence, engagement tools and regulatory reporting solutions for investors, asset managers and the wider industry.

GRI – GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) is an independent, international organisation that helps businesses and other organisations take responsibility for their impacts, by providing them with a global common language to communicate those impacts. The GRI Standards cover topics ranging from biodiversity to tax, waste to emissions.

ILO – The only tripartite U.N. agency, since 1919 the ILO (International Labour Organization) brings together governments, employers and workers of 187 Member States, to set labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes promoting decent work for all women and men. The main aims of the ILO are to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection, and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues.

International Platform on Sustainable Finance (IPSF) - The IPSF offers a multilateral forum of dialogue between policymakers that are in charge of developing sustainable finance regulatory measures, with the overall aim of increasing the amount of private capital being invested in environmentally sustainable investments.

Low Carbon Benchmarks Regulation – Regulation (EU) 2019/2089 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 amending Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 as regards EU Climate Transition Benchmarks, EU Paris-aligned Benchmarks and sustainability-related disclosures for benchmarks.

LPAC – The LP Advisory Committee (“LPAC”) is typically comprised of a cross-section of LPs in a fund. The role of the LPAC is essentially to be consulted by the GP on material matters affecting the fund and on conflicts of interest. More generally, it acts as a sounding board for the GP.

MiFID - MiFID is the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Directive 2004/39/EC). In June 2014, the European Commission adopted new rules revising the MiFID framework. These consist of a directive (MiFID II) and a regulation (MiFIR).

Natural Capital Coalition – Now part of the Capitals Coalition, a global collaboration redefining value to transform decision making. Their ambition is that by 2030 most businesses, financial institutions and governments will include the value of natural capital, social capital, and human capital in their decision making and that this will deliver a fairer, just and more sustainable world.

PCAF – PCAF (Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials) is a global partnership of financial institutions that work together to develop and implement a harmonized approach to assess and disclose the GHG emissions associated with their loans and investments. PCAF has developed an open-source global GHG accounting standard for financial institutions, the Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Financial Industry.

RE100 Initiative – RE100 is a global corporate renewable energy initiative bringing together 360+ businesses committed to 100% renewable electricity. Led by the Climate Group and in partnership with CDP, their mission is to accelerate change towards zero carbon grids at scale.

SBTi – The SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative) drives ambitious climate action in the private sector by enabling organisations to set science-based emissions reduction targets. The SBTi is a partnership between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

SECR – SECR (Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting) is a guidance policy implemented from April 2019 in the UK, largely aimed at CFOs in UK-based companies with more than 250 employees, more than £36mn in annual turnover or more than £18mn on their annual balance sheet.

TCFD – The Financial Stability Board (FSB) created the TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) 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.

Transition Pathway Initiative - The Transition Pathway Initiative is a global, asset-owner led initiative which assesses companies’ preparedness for the transition to a low carbon economy.

UNGC – UNGC (United Nations Global Compact), reportedly the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, working with over 15,000 member companies to implement universal principles of ESG, specifically focusing on human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption issues.

UN SDG – The 17 UN SDGs (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals) are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015.

VCS – The VCS (Verified Carbon Standard) is a leading standard for voluntary carbon offsetting, similar to Gold Standard and closely linked with understandings of GHG emissions as set out by the Kyoto Protocol.

VER – Verified Emission Reductions (VERs) are essentially a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from a project that is independently audited (i.e., verified) against a third-party certification standard. Each verified emission reduction represents one metric tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (mtCO2e).

Value Reporting Foundation – In November 2020 the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) announced their intention to merge into the Value Reporting Foundation, which was officially formed in June 2021.

The Value Reporting Foundation is a global non-profit organisation that offers a comprehensive suite of resources designed to help businesses and investors develop a shared understanding of enterprise value – how it is created, preserved and eroded. Their resources include:

The Integrated Thinking Principles, which guide board and management planning and decision making.
The <IR> Framework, which provides principles-based, multi-capital guidance for comprehensive corporate reporting.
SASB Standards, which are a tool to inform disclosure to investors and guide investor decision making when embedded in investment tools and processes.

World Benchmarking Alliance – Launched in 2018, the World Benchmarking Alliance represents organisations working at global, regional, and local levels to shape the private sector’s contributions to achieving the SDGs.

Explore all sections of the guide

READ TIME:

Explore all sections of the guide

Getting started

Reporting template and tools

Regulatory mapping

Mapping of voluntary frameworks and standards

Deep dive for VCs and investors

Additional reading