Glossary topic · 18 terms
Carbon accounting.
How emissions get counted, by whom and inside which boundary. Most arguments about climate claims start here.
Absolute emissions
The total quantity of greenhouse gases emitted within a defined scope and period.
Carbon accountingActivity data
Information about an activity used to estimate greenhouse gas emissions.
Carbon accountingBase year
A historical period used as the reference for tracking change.
Carbon accountingCarbon dioxide equivalent
A common unit that expresses different greenhouse gases relative to CO₂ using a selected emissions metric.
Carbon accountingCarbon footprint
The greenhouse gas emissions associated with an activity, product, person or entity across a defined boundary.
Carbon accountingDouble counting
Counting the same emission reduction or removal more than once in ways that undermine the intended accounting rules.
Carbon accountingEmission factor
A coefficient used to estimate emissions from a unit of activity.
Carbon accountingEmissions intensity
Greenhouse gas emissions per unit of an activity, output or economic measure.
Carbon accountingEmissions inventory
A structured account of greenhouse gas sources and quantities within a stated boundary and period.
Carbon accountingGlobal warming potential
A metric comparing the integrated radiative effect of equal-mass gas emissions over a chosen period, relative to CO₂.
Carbon accountingGWP100
Global warming potential evaluated over one hundred years after a pulse emission.
Carbon accountingGWP20
Global warming potential evaluated over twenty years after a pulse emission.
Carbon accountingLife-cycle assessment
A method for assessing environmental burdens across stages of a product or service's life.
Carbon accountingScope 1 emissions
Direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by a reporting organisation.
Carbon accountingScope 2 emissions
Indirect emissions associated with generating purchased electricity, steam, heat or cooling used by an organisation.
Carbon accountingScope 3 emissions
Other indirect emissions across an organisation's upstream and downstream value chain.
Carbon accountingSystem boundary
The set of processes, sources and activities included in an assessment.
Carbon accountingTonne of CO₂e
The usual reporting unit for greenhouse gases, equal to one tonne of CO₂ or the amount of another gas judged equivalent under a chosen metric.