A term used to describe the flow of carbon (in various forms, e.g. as carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) , carbon in biomass and carbon dissolved in the ocean as carbonate and bicarbonate) through the atmosphere , hydrosphere, terrestrial and marine biosphere and lithosphere. In this report, the reference unit for the global carbon cycle is GtCO ₂ or GtC (Gigaton of carbon = 1 GtC = 10 ¹⁵ grams of carbon. This corresponds to 3.667 GtCO ₂ ).

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Carbon compensation or carbon replacement, sometimes also carbon offset, is the reduction or elimination of emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases carried out in order to compensate for emissions carried out elsewhere. A carbon credit or offset credit is a transferable financial instrument (eg a derivative of an underlying commodity) certified by governments or independent certification bodies as representing a reduction in emissions and which can then be bought or sold. Both offsets and credits are measured in tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2 eq.). One carbon offset or credit represents the reduction or elimination of one ton of carbon dioxide or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases.

The term refers to three concepts in the literature, resource evaluation and captures  carbon cycle on a global level through synthesis evidence about emissions fossil fuels and cement, about emissions from land use change , about interceptions WHAT ₂ in oceans and on land. and the resulting rate of atmospheric growth _CO2 . This is referred to as the global carbon budget; estimated cumulative amount of global carbon dioxide emissions estimated to limit global surface temperature to a given level above the reference period , taking into account the contributions of others of greenhouse gases to the total surface temperatureand climate forces; apportioning the carbon budget defined in the point to the regional, national or sub-national level based on considerations of equity, cost or efficiency.

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The total amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere each year by a person, family, building, organization or society. A person's carbon footprint includes greenhouse gas emissions from fuel that an individual directly burns, such as heating a home or driving a car. It also includes greenhouse gases that come from the production of goods or services that an individual uses, including emissions from power plants that produce electricity, factories that make products, and landfills where waste is sent.

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technologies that can significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions from new and existing coal and gas-fired power plants, industrial processes and other stationary sources of carbon dioxide. It is a three-step process that involves capturing carbon dioxide from power plants or industrial sources; transport of captured and compressed carbon dioxide (usually through pipelines); and underground injection and geological sequestration or permanent storage of that carbon dioxide in rock formations that contain tiny openings or pores that capture and retain the carbon dioxide.

The process in which WHAT ₂ captures and subsequently uses for the production of a new product. If CO ₂ stores in the product in a time horizon relevant to climate , this is referred to as carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). Only then, and only in combination with CO ₂ recently removed from atmosphere , CCUS can lead to removal of carbon dioxide . CCU is sometimes referred to as carbon dioxide capture and utilization.

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Planting new ones forests on lands that historically did not contain forests. A discussion of the term forest and related terms such as afforestation, reforestation  a deforestation , see the IPCC Special Report on Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (IPCC, 2000), information provided by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, 2013) and the report on definitions and methodological options for inventorying emissions from direct forest degradation human-caused and devegetation of other types of vegetation (IPCC, 2003)

Underground gas deposits consisting of 50 to 90 percent methane (CH ₄ ) and a small amount of heavier gaseous hydrocarbon compounds such as propane (C ₃ H ₈ ) and butane (C ₄ H ₁₀ ).

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The effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests , which offers incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested land and invest in low-carbon pathways to sustainable development (SD) . So it is a mechanism for mitigation consequences of prevention   deforestation . REDD+ goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation to include the role of conservation, sustainable forest management and increasing forest carbon stocks. This concept was first presented in 2005 at the 11th session of the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP)in Montreal and later greater recognition at COP 13 in 2007 in Bali and inclusion in the Bali Action Plan, which called for "policy approaches and positive incentives on issues related to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries" (REDD) and the role of conservation, sustainable forest management and increasing forest carbon stocks in developing countries.” Since then, support for REDD has increased and has slowly become a framework for action supported by many countries.

The aid sector loves its acronyms. Mix in some climate science and the political language of global treaty negotiations, and you have a recipe for a (rapidly heating) pot of alphabet soup. Here's our updated guide to some language abbreviations, acronyms and initialisms that help make the language of climate change a little more concise, if not entirely clear.

We also mix in some key concepts that underlie climate action and summit negotiations. (Irwin Loy, Will Worley, more at thenewhumanitarian.org)

eFuels represent a global solution to environmental challenges, as they make it possible to use climate-neutral vehicles and equipment anywhere in the world, today and in the future. (more…)