Backgrounder
A lexicon on climate change
Climate Change: Climate includes all the elements of weather, such as temperature, precipitation, and wind patterns. Climate change refers to changes in the climate as a whole, not just one single element of the weather. Global climate change, therefore, refers to changes in all the interconnected weather elements of the Earth.
Annex 1 Parties: refers to OECD countries and those making the transition to a market economy, such as Russia and the former East Bloc countries, who are signatories to the Framework Convention on Climate Change, and who agreed in Rio to aim to return greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2000.
Anthropogenic emissions: refers to greenhouse gas emissions that arise from human activities.
CoP: the acronym for "Conference of the Parties" to the Framework Convention on Climate Change. The first CoP was held in Berlin in 1995; the second in Geneva in 1996. The Kyoto meeting is the third Conference of Parties, or "CoP3".
Coverage: the extent to which legally binding targets encompass various greenhouse gases, anthropogenic sources, and sinks.
Differentiation: setting different targets and timetables for individual countries, as opposed to one flat rate for all countries. A variety of formulas have been proposed internationally which try to account for different national circumstances (i.e., climate, size, population growth, economic situation).
Emissions banking: the extent to which emission reductions in a given period can be applied against emissions in a future period.
Emissions budget periods: the total amount of emissions to be reduced over a set period of time. Emissions would be averaged over several years in order to take into account significant variability between individual years.
Emission borrowing: the extent to which countries can borrow from a future period to offset excess emissions in a current period.
Emissions trading: a system that would allow countries that have committed to targets to "buy" or "sell" emissions permits among themselves. Emissions trading provides participating Parties with the opportunity to reduce emissions where it is most cost-effective to do so. The kind of valuing system that would be applied to these permits or credits, and the identification of a body to monitor and regulate this trade, is under discussion.
Flexibility provisions: provisions which provide countries with maximum flexibility in how their emission reduction targets can be achieved in the most cost-effective way (e.g. joint implementation, emissions banking, and emissions trading).
Framework Convention on Climate Change (the "FCCC"): The agreement signed by 154 countries, including Canada, at the Earth Summit in Rio in June 1992, under which climate change is discussed globally. Developed countries agreed to aim to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2000.
Greenhouse effect: The process by which heat is trapped in the earth's atmosphere instead of being released out into space. This process occurs naturally and keeps the Earth warm enough to sustain life. Scientific evidence suggests that human activity is intensifying this natural process.
Greenhouse gases (GHG): Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). These gases together absorb the earth's radiation, and warm the atmosphere. Most greenhouse gases occur naturally, but are also produced by human activity such as the burning of fossil fuels. They build up, or concentrate, in the atmosphere, with impacts on climate and weather patterns. They are usually measured in carbon dioxide equivalents.
IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an intergovernmental organization established in 1988 by the United Nations Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization to review and report on the scientific evidence on climate change. Its 1995 report found that, "the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate."
Joint implementation: an international project which results in a real, measurable, and long-term reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions in a host country. J.I., which is in its pilot phase, called Activities Implemented Jointly, is open to voluntary participation by all parties. No credits are allocated against current (pre-2000) commitments.
Joint implementation with credit: the principle that, when a country joins in an international project that helps reduce emissions, it can earn credit toward its own reduction targets. Canada is proposing that such credits be shared between the investing country and the host country. Aspects of this proposal are still under negotiation.
P&Ms: common policies and measures agreed upon by signatories to the Agreement. This is being interpreted in a variety of ways, ranging from specific activities all countries would commit to adopting, to a simple listing of national actions for Parties to choose from.
Sinks: natural systems that absorb and store greenhouse gases, such as forests or wetlands.
