Term
| Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) |
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Definition
The Carbon Disclosure Project is an independent not-for-profit organization holding the largest
database of primary corporate climate change information in the world. |
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Term
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Definition
The total amount of greenhouse gases emitted directly or indirectly through an activity, or from a
product, company or person, typically expressed in equivalent tonnes of either carbon or carbon
dioxide. |
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Term
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Definition
The maximum number of individuals that a given environment can support without detrimental effects.
The carrying capacity of a geographical region, with respect to a particular species, is the maximum
population size that the region can support. |
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Term
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Definition
Carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e). The internationally recognized way of expressing the amount
of global warming of a particular greenhouse gas in terms of the amount of CO2 required to achieve
the same warming effect (over 100 years). |
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Term
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Definition
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) concerns a company’s duty to
♦ Make decisions in light of a wider responsibility beyond simply producing goods and services
♦ Operate by means that avoid harm to stakeholders
♦ Consider the overall betterment of society in its decisions and actions
♦ Take responsibility for any negative externalities resulting from its operations |
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Term
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Definition
| Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) concerns a company’s duty to ♦ Make decisions in light of a wider responsibility beyond simply producing goods and services ♦ Operate by means that avoid harm to stakeholders ♦ Consider the overall betterment of society in its decisions and actions ♦ Take responsibility for any negative externalities resulting from its operations |
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Term
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Definition
Eco-Effectiveness of business activities is the wider value created for people, communities, society
and the earth. Eco-effectiveness efforts focus on creating positive impacts (not just absence of
negative impacts) that build a flourishing society, restore and regenerate communities, ecosytems and
economic vitality. |
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Term
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Definition
The term eco-efficiency, coined by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
(WBCSD) in its 1992 publication "Changing Course," is usually calculated as the economic value
added by a firm in relation to its aggregated ecological impact. Eco-efficiency efforts focus on creating
more goods and services while using fewer resources and creating less waste and pollution. |
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Term
Ecological Footprint or Eco-Footprint
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Definition
The Ecological Footprint is a measure of the amount of biologically productive land and sea area an
individual, a region, all of humanity or a human activity requires to produce the resources it consumes
and absorb the waste it generates; it is often compared to how much land and sea area is available. |
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Term
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Definition
The negative or positive economic impacts of a firm’s operations on owners and shareholders,
customers, employees, suppliers, communities, and other stakeholders, including direct economic
value generated, return on investment, jobs created, economic multiplier effects, financial donations
and community investments, risks, and infrastructure investments. |
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Term
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Definition
The negative or positive biophysical effects on the physical environment and ecosystems from
development activities, production processes or products through their whole lifecycle from resource
extraction through end of life. |
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Term
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Definition
Greenhouse Gases (GHG): Gases whic contribute to the greenhouse effect due to high
concentrations of these gases remaining in the atmosphere. The GHGs of greatest concern include
carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxides (N2O). |
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Term
| Governance (more specificially, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Governance) |
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Definition
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Governance refers to oversight by boards over how the
company is managing its social and environmental performance as part of their fiduciary
responsibility. |
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Term
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
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Definition
LCA is a science-based tool to assess and compare the environmental performance of products. It
quantifies the potential environmental impacts of products or systems throughout their life cycles,
highlights a product’s impact areas, and allows firms to target strategic improvements. |
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Term
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Definition
A shareholder is an individual, group, or organization that holds one or more shares in a firm, and in
whose name the share certificate is issued. |
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Term
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Definition
The negative or positive social system effects on people, communities and society from development
activities, production processes or products through their whole lifecycle from resource extraction
through end of life. |
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Term
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Definition
Socially responsible investing describes an investment strategy which seeks to maximize financial
return and environmental and/or social contribution simultaneously. The areas of concern recognized
COM 362 FALL 2010
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by the SRI industry can be summarized as environment, social justice, and corporate governance
(ESG). |
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Term
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Definition
An individual or group who can affect or is affected by the activities of a company or organization; in
sustainable business models the term includes financial shareholders as well as those affected by
environmental or social factors such as suppliers, consumers, employees, the local community, and
the natural environment. |
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Term
| Sustainable Development (Brundtland definition) |
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Definition
Sustainable development has been defined in many ways, but the most frequently quoted definition is
from Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report:[1] "Sustainable development is
development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs. |
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Term
| Sustainability in Business |
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Definition
The creation of value that simultaneously creates economic wealth, is in alignment with and
restorative to natural eco-systems, and is in service of human development and prosperity. |
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Term
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Definition
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is is a CEO-led, global
association of some 200 international companies dealing exclusively with business and sustainable
development. |
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