GUIDE
Sustainability
Abbreviations,
Acronyms, and
Buzzwords
THE 2023
UPDATE
www.worldfavor.com
The Worldfavor Guide to
Sustainability Abbreviations,
Acronyms, and Buzzwords
It’s not easy keeping up with all the sustainability abbreviations,
acronyms, and buzzwords. We’ve created a handy glossary with some
of the most common terms you will come across when talking
sustainability. Enjoy!
Let us know if there's anything we might have missed!
A
Agenda 2030
Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development was established by the Highlevel Political
Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) at the United Nations to end poverty and
hunger, realize the human rights of all, achieve gender equality and the
empowerment of all women and girls, and ensure the lasting protection of the planet
and its natural resources. The HLPF is the central UN platform for the follow-up and
review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted at the United
Nations Sustainable Development Summit on 25 September 2015. This Agenda is a
plan of action for people, planet and prosperity.
Further reading: Sustainable Development Goals
B
Biodiversity Strategy
With the aim to protect nature and reverse the ecosystem degradation, EU’s Biodiversity
Strategy plays an important role in putting Europe's biodiversity on a path to recovery by
2030, benefiting the people, the climate and the planet. The EU Nature Restoration Plan is
a part of the strategy, including several actions and commitments to restore
ecosystems by 2030 and onwards manage them sustainably. The strategy is effective
from 2023.
Further reading: Biodiversity strategy for 2030 - concrete actions
B-corp
B-corp is a certification for businesses that meet the highest standards of social and
environmental performance, as well as transparency and legal accountability. To
achieve the B-certification, companies must go through a strict certification process of
measuring the company’s entire social and environmental impact.
C
Carbon Capturing Storage (CCS)
CCS is a technology that can capture up to 90% of the carbon dioxide emissions
produced from the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation and industrial
processes, preventing the carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.
Further reading: Carbon Capture & Storage Association
Carbon Footprint
Emissions of greenhouse gases (in carbon equivalent) for an activity or organization
over a given period of time.
2
Carbon Offsetting
Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases by purchasing credits through emissions
reduction projects or carbon trading schemes.
Further reading: A Complete Guide to Carbon Offsetting
Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)
CDP is a not-for-profit charity that runs the global disclosure system for investors,
companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts. Over
the past 15 years, they have created a system that has resulted in unparalleled
engagement on environmental issues worldwide.
Further reading: Carbon Disclosure Project
Carbon Sequestration
Carbon sequestration can be defined as the capture and secure storage of carbon
that would otherwise be emitted to or remain in the atmosphere. The idea is to keep
carbon emissions produced by human activities from reaching the atmosphere by
capturing and diverting them to a secure storage or to remove carbon from the
atmosphere and storing it.
Further reading: Science Direct
NEW Carbon Tunnel Vision
Also known as “carbon tunnel syndrome,” this term refers to the narrow focus on net
zero emissions, while ignoring other sustainability goals. A selective focus on carbon
emissions can lead to inadequate sustainability management, partial solutions, and
harm to other sustainability objectives – while this concept promotes a more holistic
approach.
Circular Economy
An alternative to a traditional linear economy (make, use and dispose) in which
resources are kept in use for as long as possible, the maximum value extracted from
them whilst in use, and then products and materials recovered and regenerated at
the end of each service life.
Further reading: Towards the Circular Economy
Clean Energy
Clean energy is energy that gives off little to no greenhouse gas emissions and
includes renewable and carbon-free sources. This is in contrast to fossil fuels that
produce a serious amount of greenhouse gas emissions.
3
Climate Apaptation
Climate change adaptation points to actions that reduce the negative impact of
climate change. It involves adjusting policies and actions because of observed or
expected changes in climate.
Climate Neutral Now
Achieving net zero carbon emissions by balancing carbon emitted with an equivalent
amount sequestered or offset, or buying enough carbon credits to make up the
difference.
Further reading: UNFCCC
Closed Loop
The most sustainable economic system, where the inputs used to create a product
are the same as its end-of-life outputs. It is a zero waste system that completely
reuses, recycles or composts all materials. When a company says it uses a closed-
loop system, it’s referring to its supply chain. Under a closed-loop system, businesses
reuse the same materials over and over again to create new products for purchase.
It’s a way to conserve natural resources and divert waste from the landfill, and
increasingly, more companies are adopting it.
Communication of Progress (CoP)
Submitting an annual CoP is at the heart of your company’s commitment to the UN
Global Compact and provides valuable information to your stakeholders. The overall
format of a CoP is flexible and CoPs can be prepared in any language as long as
they meet minimum requirements.
Further reading: The Communication on Progress in Brief
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
CSR is a management concept whereby companies integrate social and
environmental concerns in their business operations. CSR is generally understood as
being the way through which a company achieves a balance of economic,
environmental and social imperatives, while at the same time addressing the
expectations of shareholders and stakeholders.
Further reading: What is CSR?
NEW Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is the EU’s new directive
requiring all listed companies on EU-regulated markets (except micro-enterprises) to
report on the social and environmental impacts of their operations. The Directive was
approved in December 2022, and the first round of companies included in its scope
are obligated to publish their first report in 2025 (covering the 2024 fiscal year).
Further reading: What is the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)?
4
Code of Conduct
A code of conduct clarifies an organization’s mission, values and principles, linking
them with standards of professional conduct. The code articulates the values the
organization wishes to foster in leaders and employees and, in doing so, defines
desired behavior. As a result, written codes of conduct or ethics can become
benchmarks against which individual and organizational performance can be
measured.
Further reading: A Code of Conduct Can Supercharge Your Sustainable Sourcing
A supplier code of conduct helps you to communicate your values to external
stakeholders, like direct suppliers or consultants, and make sure that your
expectations and requirements on your suppliers are printed in an official document.
It helps you to express your core beliefs, while hedging yourself towards potential
risks of misconduct in the supply chain.
Further reading: How to create a supplier code of conduct
Cradle to Cradle
Using the end use product – or waste – as the source for a new product: a circular
economy. All products can be designed for continuous recovery and re-utilization.
Cradle to Grave
Accounting for the impact of producing a product, from creation to end use. It is a
linear flow: take, make throw away.
D
Demand Response
Demand response is changing electricity usage based on a change in the price of
power. It’s a technique utilities use with commercial, industrial and residential
customers. Also called demand management, demand response has been used for
many years, but is getting more sophisticated as technologies — notably smart
buildings — gain ground. And as more solar and wind energy comes online, demand
response could play an important role integrating these variable sources into the
grid.
Further reading: What do you need to know about demand response?
Decycling
Decycling it the opposite to recycling. It means taking products that are supposed to
be recycled and making sure they make their way into everyday waste.
5
E
Environmental Management Systems (EMS)
EMS are sets of processes and practices that enable an organization to measure
and ultimately reduce its environmental impacts. The most commonly used
framework is the one developed by the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO) for the ISO 14001 standard.
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
ESG makes up a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious
investors use to screen potential investments. Environmental criteria consider how a
company performs as a steward of nature. Social criteria examine how it manages
relationships with employees, suppliers, customers and the communities where it
operates. Governance deals with a company’s leadership, executive pay, audits,
internal controls and shareholder rights.
Further reading: 5 Frameworks to tackle ESG factors in the Financial Sector
Ethical or Sustainable Investments
Investment in activities that have a positive social and/or environmental impact. It
includes screening positive characteristics in, or negative characteristics out, of an
investment option. It can also include using assessment criteria like environmental,
social and governance criteria or strategic sustainability criteria.
Further reading: Financial Times
EU Taxonomy
The EU Taxonomy was established in 2018 by the European Commission to help
facilitate Europe’s move to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, as well as combat
climate change in the long-term. In March 2020, the initiative was updated, aiming to
help companies access green financing to improve environmental performance. The
EU Taxonomy aims “to help investors, companies, issuers and project promoters
navigate the transition to a low carbon, resilient and resource-efficient economy.”
NEW European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS)
The European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) are the EU’s new mandatory
standards that companies under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
(CSRD) must align their reporting to. The standards provide long-awaited clarity on
which metrics companies should include in their report – ensuring comparable,
relevant, and reliable sustainability data from all organizations in its scope.
Further reading: What are the ESRS, the EU’s new mandatory Sustainability Reporting
Standards?
6
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
EPR requires manufacturers to minimize the environmental impact of their products
at each stage of the product’s lifecycle. This includes taking responsibility for the
product’s end-of-life by creating take-back programs for the reuse and recycling of
their products.
G
NEW Germany’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (the LkSG)
Germany’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, also known as
"Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz," or "LkSG," entered into force in 2023. The act
requires in-scope companies to set up a due diligence process in order to identify
and respond to negative impacts on human rights in their own operations and
supply chains.
Further reading: Everything you need to know about Germany's new supply chain due
diligence law (LkSG)
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
GRI is an independent international organization that has pioneered sustainability
reporting since 1997. GRI helps businesses and governments worldwide understand
and communicate their impact on critical sustainability issues such as climate
change, human rights, governance and social well-being.
Further reading: Global Reporting Initiative
Green Bonds
Green Bonds are funds raised from fixed-income investors to support
lending for eligible projects that seek to mitigate climate change or help
affected people adapt to it. As products, green bonds respond to specific
investor demand for a triple-A rated fixed income product that support
projects that address the climate challenge.
Further reading: World Bank – Green Bonds
Green Finance
Green financing involves increasing the level of financial flows to sustainable
development priorities. The idea centers around managing environmental
and social risks better, while finding opportunities that bring a decent rate of
return as well as environmental benefit and greater accountability.
Greenwashing
Greenwashing points to giving false impressions or providing misleading
information for a more positive view on a company’s products' environmental
impacts. It is considered a disputable manner with the purpose of deceiving
consumers into believing that a company's products are better than they are
from an environmental perspective.
7
H
Human Rights Due Diligence
Human rights due diligence (HRDD) is a risk management process that businesses
can implement to identify and respond to actual and potential negative impacts
within their own operations and their supply chain.
I
Integrated Reporting
A new approach to corporate reporting that integrates financial information and
non-financial (environmental and social) information into a single document to
show how a company is performing. The International Integrated Reporting
Framework is used to accelerate the adoption of integrated reporting across the
world.
Further reading: International <IR> Framework
NEW Impact Washing
Stemming from the more mainstream concept of greenwashing, this term is used to
describe assets, bonds, and investments whose positive impact on the environment
and society are falsely claimed, overstated, or can’t be supported with accurate
data.
While impact washing can be intentional, it also happens unintentionally through
inadequate methodologies and lack of insights into funds.
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change)
The IPCC stands for the Intergovernmental panel for climate change - the UN’s panel
with the purpose of assessing science related to global warming. They provide
policymakers with scientific assessments, implications of climate change and
potential future risks, along with mitigation options.
ISO 14001
ISO 14001 has become the international standard for designing and implementing an
environmental management system. The standard is published by ISO (the
International Organization for Standardization), an international body that creates
and distributes standards that are accepted worldwide. The most recent version of
the environmental management system requirements was published in 2015, and is
referred to as “ISO 14001:2015.” The standard was agreed upon by a majority of
member countries before being released and updated, and as such it has become
an internationally recognized standard accepted by a majority of countries around
the world.
Further reading: ISO 14000 Family, Environmnental Management
8
ISO 26000
ISO 26000 is an international standard developed for organizations committed to
operate in a socially responsible way. The standard provides guidelines and assists
organizations to address their social responsibilities in operations and processes and
overall performance. The goal is to help organizations behave in a more socially
responsible way and thus contribute to the social, economic, and environmental
development.
Further reading: ISO 26000, Social Responsibility
ISO 37001
ISO 37001 is an international standard for anti-bribery management systems. The
standard provides assistance for organizations to implement and maintain relevant
measures that will help them prevent, detect, and address bribery conducted by the
organization, but also bribery activities conducted against the organization.
Further reading: ISO 37001 Anti-bribery Management Systems
ISO 45001
The ISO 45001 standard focuses on health and safety in the workplace and replaces
the previously widely used OHSAS 18001. By developing better occupational health
and safety standards internationally, the framework aims to save lives and minimize
deaths in the workplace. The ILO estimates that approximately three million people
die annually due to poor occupational health and safety.
Further reading: ISO 45001 – Occupational healt and safety
NEW ISSB Sustainability Reporting Standards
The ISSB Sustainability Reporting Standards are a set of upcoming sustainability
reporting standards proposed by the International Sustainability Standard Board.
They were developed to meet the urgent need for a comprehensive global baseline
of corporate sustainability reporting. There are currently two standard drafts
published, the first focuses on climate, while the second outlines the general
requirements for sustainability-related financial disclosures. More standards
covering additional themes and industries will be issued in the future.
Further reading: What are the ISSB Sustainability Disclosure Standards?
9
M
Materiality Assessment
Materiality assessments are an exercise in stakeholder engagement designed to
gather insight on the relative importance of specific ESG issues. The insight is most
commonly used to inform sustainability reporting and communication strategies, but
it also is valuable to strategic planning, operational management and capital
investment decisions.
Further reading: What is Materiality? The Basics of Defining What Matters
N
NEW Nature Positive
Nature Positive is the term used to describe a world (including the societies and
governments within that world) where natural processes, biodiversity, and
ecosystems are restored and regenerating – rather than declining.
Natural Capital
The world’s stock of natural assets, including geology, soil, air, water and all living
things.
Net Positive
Net positive simply means putting more back into the environment or society than
you take out. It aims to restore or regenerate ecological systems, which is different
from eco-efficiency, which simply slows down the decline in ecological capital, and
closed-loop systems, which only prevent further ecological decline.
Further reading: A Seven Step Guide to Net Positive
Net zero
Net zero is the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas produced and the
amount removed from the atmosphere. Balance, and net zero is reached when the
amount taken away is equal to the amount we add.
NEW Norway’s Transparency Act ( "Åpenhetsloven")
The Norwegian Transparency Act (or as it’s known in Norwegian: "Åpenhetsloven")
requires large companies selling products and services in Norway to carry out
human rights due diligence in line with the OECD Guidelines starting in 2022. The act
requires companies to conduct human rights and labor due diligence throughout
their supply chains and business relationships – and to communicate any learnings
with consumers externally.
Further reading: Get ready for Norway's new Human Rights Due Diligence law
10
O
NEW OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct
Developed and published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business
Conduct provides recommendations for how enterprises can conduct due diligence
in order to identify, prevent, or mitigate adverse impacts – as well as account for how
those impacts are addressed. The majority of new and upcoming human rights and
supply chain due diligence laws refer to the OECD Guidance as the proper process to
follow.
Offsetting
To compensate for the heavy carbon footprint caused by flying or other travel
activities, companies and travelers can purchase carbon offsets equivalent to the
amount of carbon dioxide they were responsible for. When you purchase carbon
offsets, you’re contributing to carbon reduction projects that either capture and store
existing CO2 from the atmosphere or prevent new emissions from happening. These
could be projects such as establishing a wind farm that replaces energy produced
from fossil fuel-fired power plants with clean, renewable energy or planting trees that
will help to absorb and store carbon.
P
Paris Climate Agreement
The Paris Climate Agreement – also known as the Paris Climate Accord, Paris
Climate Deal or simply Paris Agreement – is a 2016 pact sponsored by the United
Nations to bring the world's countries together in the fight against climate change.
Further reading: United Nations – Climate Change
PRI
PRI stands for Principles for Responsible Investments. Responsible investment,
according to the PRI, is an investment approach that specifically acknowledges the
relevance and impact that ESG factors have on investments and the long-term
health and stability of the market as a whole. The PRI framework makes it easier for
investors to make more responsible decisions when it comes to environmental,
social, and corporate governance factors.
Product Stewardship
Product stewardship is an approach where businesses take responsibility for the
environmental impacts that come with the products they make, sell or buy, in all
stages of the product’s life cycle.
NEW Purpose Washing
Purpose washing happens when an organization misleads or overstates its
commitment to certain values – while their actions and operations do not mirror
those pledges.
11
R
NEW Regenerative (agriculture/business/design)
A practice that focuses on delivering positive outcomes for the environment and
society by making a company's activities, systems and processes more sustainable.
Usually associated with agriculture and design, the term is starting to get more
attention from practitioners, decision-makers, and mainstream media, and is
increasingly seen as an alternative to mainstream business models.
Rematerialization
Repurposing what was once considered a waste material into a new resource for a
product, service or process. Rematerialization is part of a thesis that a ‘de-linking’
occurs between materials use and economic growth during economic development
(the so-called ‘dematerialization hypothesis’). Dematerialization is not a persistent
trend in industrialized economies, but occurs during periods of rapid structural and
technological change. Evidence suggests that periods of ‘rematerialization’, when
materials use is re-linked with economic growth, follow periods of dematerialization.
Further reading: Dematerialization and rematerialization
Reporting Frameworks
Sustainability reporting is a tool to increase transparency and accountability in the
issues that traditional financial reporting is not dealing with. These include the
linkages between environmental, social and economic issues as well as long-term
perspective.
Further reading: The Top 5 Sustainability Reporting Frameworks You Should Know
Risk Assessment
Sustainability risk refers to the uncertainty in being able to sustain the growth of a
given system (a corporation, household, community or economy) because certain
practices may have negative externalities which result in the dilapidation of value
chain of the system over a period of time or impact other related systems.
S
Science Based Targets
Science Based Targets is a joint initiative of CDP, the UN Global Compact (UNGC),
the World Resources Institute (WRI) and WWF. The goal is to enable leading
companies set ambitious and meaningful corporate GHG reduction targets. Targets
adopted by companies to reduce GHG emissions are considered “science-based” if
they are in line with the level of decarbonization required to keep global temperature
increase below 2°C compared to preindustrial temperatures, as described in the Fifth
Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Further reading: Science Based Targets
12
Scope 1 Emissions
In order to calculate a carbon footprint, three types of emissions are differentiated:
Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions that a company controls, such as company-
owned and operated facilities, vehicles, and so on.
Further reading: What are scope emissions
Scope 2 Emissions
A company’s indirect greenhouse gas emissions, generated by the electricity/power
it uses.
Further reading: What are scope emissions
Scope 3 Emissions
A company’s indirect greenhouse gas emissions that are not included in Scope 2.
Emitted by company’s suppliers, business travel, use of company products, etc. The
majority of a company’s greenhouse gases (GHG) are scope 3 emissions, which is
why everyone is going crazy about the concept right now.
Further reading: What are scope emissions
NEW Scope 4 Emissions
Scope 4 emissions, also known as “avoided emissions,” refers to the emissions
reduction that happened outside a value chain or lifecycle as a result of more
efficient products, goods, and services. It often refers to a product or service
replacing an emission-intensive product. (For example, a company encouraging
train travel or teleconferencing services as an alternative to flying.)
While scope 4 is not an established category under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol,
more investors, businesses, and organizations are beginning to use it to compare the
impact of various investments and products.
SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation)
The SFDR was adopted by the European Commission in the spring of 2019 as a
proposal for “a regulation on disclosures relating to sustainable investments and
sustainability risks”. The primary goal is to increase transparency on sustainability to
ensure that financial market participants (FMP) are able to finance growth in a
sustainable manner. It consists of disclosure requirements on both business and
product-level to standardize sustainability disclosure while combat “greenwashing”.
Further reading: Action plan: Financing Sustainable Growth
Shared Value
A management principle that seeks market opportunities for business to solve social
problems. ‘Creating Shared Value’ was first introduced in the Harvard Business
Review in 2011, based on the principle that the competitiveness of a company and
the health of the communities around it are mutually dependent.
Further reading: Creating Shared Value - Harvard Business Review
13
Social Impact Bonds
A social impact bond, also known as pay for success financing, a pay for success
bond or a social benefit bond or simply a social bond, is a contract with the public
sector in which a commitment is made to pay for improved social outcomes that
result in public sector savings.
Social Enterprise
Organizations that operate to tackle social problems, improve communities or the
environment, at the same time having their own mechanism for generating financial
profit. They reinvest their profits back into the business or community.
Social Entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship is entrepreneurship based on social value. Measurement of
success in this kind of business is based not only on profit but also on a positive
return to society and its pressing issues. Social entrepreneurship can take many
different shapes and forms. It can be work to preserve the environment, help children
in need, or eradicate poverty. It can be a business or organization that is completely
focused on a social issue, or it can be a business where just one aspect of the
enterprise is focused on alleviating a social need.
Stakeholder Dialogue
Stakeholder dialogues are increasingly used by companies as a mean
to regularly involve their direct and indirect stakeholders (customers, suppliers,
distributors, peers, etc) in the definition and implementation of their CSR strategy.
The process not only empowers the stakeholders, it also gives the company a clear
framework on managing change, consolidating its CSR and business approach,
ultimately building its reputation.
Further reading: Stakeholder Dialogue
Supplier Assessment
Although you may have a very safe, cost-effective, and streamlined production
process, this process is useless if your suppliers or sub-suppliers do not perform to
the same standard. Unfortunately, the lowest common denominator will be the
guiding one in this case, regardless of whether that is how you want it or not.
Therefore, it's necessary to assess suppliers and ensure that they are aligned, too.
Further reading: Three Stages of Supplier Assessment
14
Supply Chain Traceability
The traceability in supply chain traceability refers to the ability to
identify, track, and trace elements of a product or substance as it moves
along the supply chain – from raw goods to finished products. The goal is
to find issues related to a component or ingredient, and thus locate the
source of an identified problem. By doing so, businesses and organizations are able
to either distance itself from the problem – for example to say its product or food
was not affected – or take corrective action with the affected product or substance.
Further reading: How Supply Chain Visibility, Traceability, Transparency, and Mapping
relate to each other
Supply Chain Transparency
Supply chain transparency is reached when a business or organization knows what is
happening in the supply chain and are able to communicate this knowledge further
– both internally and externally. For a business to be transparent, real-time data of
every area of sustainability in the supply chain needs to be collected and shared to
everyone of interest. For a food business, this could mean information about
ingredients, food fraud, animal welfare, or child labor. Supply chain transparency
benefits all parties in the supply chain, but is mainly implemented for consumers and
end users of an enterprise's product to take part in.
Supply Chain Visibility (SCV)
Supply chain visibility refers to the visibility of data across every tier of the supply
chain and all the logistic movements in between. It is the ability to track components,
products and/or parts from the manufacturer to their final destination. The goal is to
improve and strengthen the supply chain by making real-time and actionable data
available to all stakeholders at any time. In a supply chain with total visibility, all
parties, including customers, should have access to pertinent data anytime and
anywhere.
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)
SASB was founded in 2011 to develop and disseminate sustainability accounting
standards. The aim of SASB is to connect businesses and investors on the financial
impacts of sustainability.
Further reading: SASB
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
In 2016, the Paris Agreement on climate change entered into force, addressing the
need to limit the rise of global temperatures. The SDGs are the blueprint to achieve a
better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we
face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate, environmental
degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice. The Goals interconnect and in order
to leave no one behind, it ís important that we achieve each Goal and target by
2030.
Further reading: About the Sustainable Development Goals
15
Sustainable Procurement
Sustainable Procurement is a process whereby organizations meet their needs for
goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves value for money on a
whole life basis in terms of generating benefits not only to the organization, but also
to society and the economy, whilst minimizing damage to the environment.
Further reading: Drivers of Incorporating Sustainability in Procurement Organizations
Sustainability Report
A sustainability report is a report published by a company or organization about the
economic, environmental and social impacts caused by its everyday activities.
Further reading: Standards in Sustainability Reporting
Sustainability Risk Management (SRM)
SRM is a business strategy that aligns profit goals with a company's environmental
policies. The goal of SRM is to make this alignment efficient enough to sustain and
grow a business while preserving the environment. One of the chief drivers for SRM
adoption is increasing demand for compliance with global and national regulations.
Further reading: Sustainability Risk Management
Sustainable Bonds
The transition to a sustainable global economy requires scaling up the financing of
investments that provide environmental and social benefits. The bond markets
through Green, Social and Sustainability Bonds can play an essential role in
attracting private capital to finance these global needs. Green, Social and
Sustainability Bonds are any type of bond instrument where the proceeds will be
exclusively applied to eligible environmental and/or social projects. They are
regulated instruments subject to the same capital market and financial regulation as
other listed fixed income securities.
T
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
The work and recommendations of the Task Force help companies understand what
financial markets want from disclosure in order to measure and respond to climate
change risks, and encourage firms to align their disclosures with investors’ needs.
Further reading: What is the TCFD? Everything you need to know
NEW Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)
The Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) is a science-based
risk management and disclosure framework for organizations of all sizes and sectors
to use to better identify, manage, and disclose their nature-related risks and
opportunities.
Further reading: What is the TNFD?
16
Triple Bottom Line
A phrase first coined by John Elkington in 1994, it describes the separate financial,
social and environmental ‘bottom lines’ of companies. In principle it is designed for
companies to value their social and environmental profits and losses, as well as the
financial ones.
Further reading: What's the Triple Bottom Line?
U
United Nations Global Compact
The UN Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to encourage
businesses worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to
report on their implementation.
Further reading: UN Global Compact
United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) is a set of
guidelines that was developed in 2011 for governments and businesses to prevent,
address and remedy human rights abuses committed in business operations. John
Ruggy, the author of the Guiding Principles explains that "the Guiding Principles are a
transformational roadmap to a future where the billions of people whose lives are
impacted by corporate activities are treated with respect for their dignity and
fundamental welfare – a world where human beings and corporations alike can
thrive and prosper.”
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC)
The UNFCC is an international environmental treaty adopted on 9 May 1992 and
opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992. It
then entered into force on 21 March 1994, after a sufficient number of countries had
ratified it.
Further reading: UNFCCC
United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)
The UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)is an international organization,
created as a blueprint for responsible investments. It aims to create understanding
of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and how they can be
incorporated in investment decisions by investors and financial actors.
Upcycling
Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming byproducts,
waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products of
better quality or for better environmental value. Upcycling is the opposite of
downcycling, which is the other face of the recycling process.
17
V
Value Chain
A series of activities that a business performs in order to deliver a valuable product
or service for the market. It is similar to a supply chain in principle, but focuses on the
key points that generate value for a business.
Further reading: Understanding How Value Is Created Within Organizations
Value Proposition
A promise of value to be delivered, applied to products, services or an entire
organization. For a growing number of organizations, sustainability is an important
aspect of their value proposition.
Further reading: How to Write a Great Value Proposition (Infographic)
W
Waste Framework Directive
The Waste Framework Directive is a European Union Directive of 17 June 2008. The
first Waste Framework Directive dates back to 1975 and was substantially amended
in 1991 and 2006. The aim of the WFD was to lay the basis to turn the EU into a
recycling society.
Further reading: EU Waste Legislation
Whole Life Costing
Whole life costing is an investment appraisal and management tool which assesses
the total cost of an asset over its whole life. It takes account of the initial capital cost,
as well as operational, maintenance, repair, upgrade and eventual disposal costs.
Further reading: Whole Life Costing
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ABOUT WORLDFAVOR
Worldfavor is the first-ever global platform where companies can collaborate,
share, and access sustainability performance information. Our solutions
enable clients understand their full impact and keep track of sustainability
data in order to drive decisions that help the people, planet, and economy
thrive together.
With the Sustainability Management, Sustainable Sourcing, Supply Chain
Visibility, and Sustainable Investments solutions, the platform supports various
areas of organizations' sustainability work. Today, Worldfavor’s digital platform
connects more than 30,000 companies in over 140 countries.
Regardless of where you are on your sustainability journey, Worldfavor helps
you digitize your process, gain transparency throughout your value chain, and
accelerate your sustainability goals.
