A Glosssary of Climate Change & Forestry
There are 107 entries in this glossary.All
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Agroforestry |
A land-use system in which woody perennials (trees, shrubs, palms, bamboos) are deliberately used on the same land management unit as agricultural crops (woody or not), animals or both, either in some form of spatial arrangement or temporal sequence. In agroforestry systems there are both ecological and economic interactions between the different components. (World Agroforestry Centre, 1997) The practice of planting trees on agricultural farms, especially on peripheral bunds of fields, for simultaneous production of food crops and trees. As a production system, agroforestry is superior to pure cropping. Trees, apart from bringing up nutrients from the deeper layers of soil, provide shelter, maintain temperature modernization and humidity in the atmosphere, improve the organic content of the topsoil, and promote fertility enhancing soil-fungi such as the root associative mycorrhizae and the nitrogen fixing rhizobia. (Siyag, P.R., 1998) An agro-forest is a complex of tree areas within an area that is broadly characterised as agricultural or as an agro-ecosystem. (UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA, 2001) A complex of tree areas within an area that is broadly characterized as agricultural or as an agro-ecosystem (ITTO, 2002) Land management which combines agricultural crops with tree crops and forest plants and/or animals simultaneously or sequentially and applies management practices which are compatible with the cultural pattern of the local population. (PEENRA website) |
| Alliance of Small Island States, or AOSI |
The Alliance of Small Island States is a coalition of small island and low-lying coastal countries that share similar development challenges and concerns about the environment, especially their vulnerability to the adverse effects of global climate change. It functions primarily as an ad hoc lobby and negotiating voice for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) within the United Nations system. AOSIS has a membership of 43 States and observers, drawn from all oceans adnd regions of the world: Africa, Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, Pacific and South China Sea. AOSIS functions on the basis of consultation and consensus. The Alliance does not have a formal charter, and there is no regular budget, nor a secretariat. (AOSIS' own definition). AOSIS and other UN regional groupings are informally defined and their structure and definition can change. Under the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol AOSIS members are entitled to representation and Bureaus established under the agreement. |
| Allowances |
Legally defined units that entitle the holder to emit one tonne of CO2 or CO2-equivalent of other green house gases. Under the Kyoto Protocol the units are AAUs, ERUs (from Joint Implementation), CERs (from the Clean Development Mechanism), and RMUs (from LULUCF).For compliance, units must be surrendered in amount sequal to actual emissions over the commitment period. Under the Kyoto Protocol emissions units may be traded between countries, or banked for use in future periods. |
| Alternative Energy |
Energy derived from non-fossil fuel sources. |
| Ancillary Benefits (IPCC definition) |
The ancillary or side effects of policies aimed exclusively at climate change mitigation. Policies that address GHG emissions may have a variety of social and economic impacts, for example on resource use efficiency transportation, agriculture, land-use practices, employment and energy security. Sometimes these benefits are referred to as ‘ancillary impacts’, to reflect the fact that in some cases the side effects may be negative. Since few policies are implemented for climate change mitigation alone, the term co-benefits is more commonly used.(See also ‘Co-benefits’.) |
| Annex B Countries |
Annex B in the Kyoto Protocol lists those developed countries that have agreed to a commitment to control their greenhouse gas emissions in the period 2008–12,including those in the OECD, Central and Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation. The list of Annex B countries currently (2007) matches that of Annex I, with the exclusion of Turkey. |
| Annex I Countries |
Annex I to the UNFCCC lists all the countries in the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1990, plus countries with‘economies in transition’ (see entry), Central and Eastern Europe (excluding Albania and most of the former Yugoslavia). By default the other countries are referred to as Non-Annex I countries. Under Article 4.2 (a and b) of the Convention, Annex I countries commit them selves specifically to the aim of returning individually or jointly to their 1990 levels of GHG emissions by the year 2000. |
| Annex II Countries |
Annex II to the UNFCCC lists all countries in the OECD in 1990. Under Article 4.2 (g) of the Convention, these countries are obligated to provide financial resources to assist developing countries comply with their obligations such as preparing national reports. Annex II countries are also expected to promote the transfer of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries. |
| Anthropogenic Emissions |
Emissions of greenhouse gases associated with human activities. These include burning of fossil fuels for energy, deforestation, land-use changes and emissions of other GHGs. |
| ARD Activities |
Afforestation, Reforestation, Deforestation (see separate definitions). These are the three land-use change and forestry activities which are included in Article 3.3 of the Kyoto Protocol. Net changes resulting from these activities are allowed to be used by the Parties in meeting their GHG obligations under the Protocol in the first commitment period (they are required in the second commitment period). They are often referred to together as ARD. ARD Activities are the focus of Ch.4 of the IPCC Special Report on Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF). |
