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In the realm of sustainability leadership, navigating the intricate landscape of procurement and sourcing is pivotal for effecting positive change. Understanding terms and acronyms is key to piloting sustainable procurement practices, and the Kloopify team has put together a list of important terms that will help pilot your efforts.
The Kloopify Glossary empowers sustainability leaders like you to decode the nuanced terminology, acronyms, and concepts that permeate the world of sustainable procurement.
From "circular economy" and "life cycle assessment" to "fair trade" and "carbon footprint," the Kloopify glossary comprehensively covers the lexicon of sustainable sourcing.
Do you ever find yourself puzzling over the distinctions between "green procurement" and "ethical sourcing"? Are you keen to unravel the implications of "traceability" and how it safeguards supply chain transparency?
Whether you're collaborating with suppliers or crafting impactful procurement strategies, Kloopify ensures you're well-equipped with the vocabulary you need to drive sustainability forward. Yet, this glossary is more than just a glossary. It's a living compendium that grows in tandem with the dynamic landscape of sustainable procurement.
As new paradigms emerge and industry best practices evolve, Kloopify’s team ensures that its glossary remains a current and reliable resource, offering you up-to-the-minute explanations that resonate with the ever-evolving language of sustainability.
The list of fifty five terms will help you to navigate to a net zero initiative giving your team the vocabulary to build your strategy. We hope you enjoy it, we sure did.
Whether you're a seasoned sustainability professional looking to deepen your understanding or an aspiring leader eager to make a meaningful impact, the glossary is your gateway to mastering the intricate tapestry of procurement discourse, we’ve got you covered. Enjoy.
1. Albedo: Albedo refers to the reflectivity of a surface, particularly the proportion of incoming solar radiation that is reflected back into space. It plays a role in climate and temperature regulation.
2. Blue Carbon: Blue carbon refers to the carbon stored in coastal and marine ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrasses, and salt marshes, which have the capacity to sequester significant amounts of carbon dioxide.
3. Biodiversity: Biodiversity refers to the variety of life forms, including species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, their genetic diversity, and the ecosystems.
4. Carbon Accounting: This is the process of measuring, recording, and reporting an organization's carbon emissions, typically as part of its efforts to manage and reduce its carbon footprint.
5. Carbon Assessment: A carbon assessment involves evaluating an organization's carbon footprint, which includes calculating the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses emitted as a result of its activities.
6. Carbon Capture: Carbon capture is a technology that captures carbon dioxide emissions from industrial processes or power plants and prevents them from being released into the atmosphere, usually for the purpose of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
7. Carbon Credit: A carbon credit represents a unit of carbon dioxide equivalent that has been reduced, avoided, or offset from emissions. It's often used in emissions trading and carbon offset programs.
8. Carbon Dioxide CO2: Carbon dioxide is a colorless, odorless gas composed of carbon and oxygen. It is a major greenhouse gas and a primary contributor to climate change.
9. Carbon Management: This involves the strategic planning and implementation of measures to reduce and manage carbon emissions within an organization.
10. Carbon Neutral: Carbon neutrality is an approach for climate change mitigation in which carbon dioxide emissions are balanced by absorbing carbon via carbon sinks.
11. CDP: CDP is a global nonprofit organization that encourages companies and cities to disclose their environmental impact, particularly their greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related data. It aims to drive transparency and accountability, helping businesses and governments understand and reduce their carbon footprint.
12. Commodity side: This refers to the side of a business that deals with the commodities it procures, such as raw materials or primary products.
13. CSR: CSR refers to a company's commitment to operating in an ethical and sustainable manner, considering its impact on society, the environment, and stakeholders beyond just profits.
14. Circular Economy: A circular economy is a model of production and consumption where products and materials are kept in circulation through processes like maintenance, reuse, refurbishment, remanufacture, recycling, and composting. In a circular economy, materials never become waste, and nature is regenerated.
15. Climate Action Network: The Climate Action Network (CAN) is a global network of NGOs and civil society organizations working together to advocate for climate action and policy changes.
16. Climate Neutral Now: Climate Neutral Now is an initiative by the United Nations that encourages individuals, companies, and governments to measure, reduce, and offset their carbon emissions to achieve climate neutrality.
17. Climate Crisis: The term "Climate Crisis" refers to the urgent and severe situation resulting from the rapid and ongoing changes in Earth's climate patterns, primarily driven by the increase in greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. The Climate Crisis encompasses a range of interconnected issues, including global warming, rising temperatures, sea-level rise, extreme weather events, and disruptions to ecosystems and biodiversity.
18. Decarbonization: Decarbonization refers to the process of reducing 'carbon intensity', and lowering the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by the burning of fossil fuels. Generally, this involves decreasing CO2 output per unit of electricity generatedDecarbonization is the process of reducing carbon emissions, typically by transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources and implementing energy-efficient practices.
19. DUNS: Data Universal Numbering System called DUNS is a unique nine-digit identification number assigned to businesses by Dun & Bradstreet, a commercial data and analytics company. It is widely used as a global standard for identifying and tracking businesses in various industries and sectors.
20. EPA: EPA is a governmental agency in the United States responsible for protecting human health and the environment. The EPA develops and enforces regulations and policies related to environmental protection, pollution control, and sustainable practices.
21. EEIO: EEIO refers to a modeling framework that incorporates environmental data into the traditional input-output analysis. It enables the assessment of a product or industry's total environmental impact throughout its supply chain, including resource consumption, emissions, and waste generation.
22. ESG: ESG refers to the three key factors used to measure the sustainability and ethical impact of an investment in a company: environmental practices, social responsibility, and corporate governance.
23. Fair Trade: is a term for an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and environmental standards.
24. Feedback Loops: Feedback loops in the context of climate change refer to processes that amplify or dampen the effects of initial changes, potentially leading to self-reinforcing or self-regulating mechanisms.
25. Greenwashing: Greenwashing is the practice of making misleading or exaggerated claims about the environmental friendliness of a product, service, or company in order to appear more sustainable than they actually are.
26. GWP: Global Warning Protocol called GWP is a measure of the relative impact of a greenhouse gas on global warming over a specific timeframe, usually compared to carbon dioxide. It quantifies the ability of a gas to trap heat in the atmosphere and contributes to climate change. GWP values are used to compare and assess different greenhouse gases.
27. GHG Emissions: These are gasses, primarily carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), released into the atmosphere that contributes to the greenhouse effect and global warming.
28. GHG Protocol: The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is a widely used accounting tool for calculating and managing greenhouse gas emissions. It provides standards for reporting and accounting emissions.
29. IPCC: IPCC is an international body that assesses scientific research on climate change. It provides policymakers with comprehensive and objective information regarding the risks, impacts, and mitigation strategies related to climate change. The IPCC's reports inform global climate policy discussions.
30. Institute For Supply Management (ISM): The ISM is a professional association that provides education and resources for individuals and organizations involved in supply chain management.
31. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: IPCC is an international body that assesses scientific research on climate change. The ICPP reports inform on global policy discussions.
32. Life Cycle Assessment: A life cycle assessment (LCA) is a systematic analysis of the environmental impact of a product, process, or service throughout its entire life cycle, from raw material extraction to disposal.
33. NAICS: NAICS is a standardized classification system used in North America to categorize businesses into specific industries. It allows for consistent data collection and analysis across industries, facilitating economic research, policy development, and business comparisons.
34. Net-Zero Initiative: A commitment by an entity to balance the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted with an equivalent amount removed from the atmosphere, achieving a net-zero carbon footprint.
35. North American Industry Classification System: NAICS uses a production-oriented conceptual framework to group establishments into industries based on the activity in which they are primarily engaged. Establishments using similar raw material inputs, similar capital equipment, and similar labor are classified in the same industry.
36. Offset: Offset refers to the act of compensating for carbon emissions by investing in projects or practices that remove or reduce an equivalent amount of greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere.
37. PACT Framework: Partnership for Carbon Transparency. Organizations are under increasing pressure to decarbonize, but struggle to create transparency on emissions across their value chains (Scope 3). The Partnership for Carbon Transparency (PACT) is resolving this challenge by developing the global methodological and technological infrastructure needed for product-level emission accounting and exchange.
Kloopify.com: Kloopify is a climate action platform powered by machine learning to give procurement officers a complete audit of their scope 3 emissions in the company’s supply chain.
38. Sustainable Procurement: This involves sourcing products and services in a way that considers environmental, social, and ethical factors, aiming to minimize negative impacts and promote sustainability.
39. Supplier side: This refers to the side of a business that deals with its suppliers or vendors, including sourcing materials, products, and services from external entities.
40. Partnership for Carbon Transparency: known as PACT sets the foundations for standardized emissions data exchange. New tech specifications will enable data exchange across different technology solutions.
41. Product Carbon Footprint Sustainable Supply Chain Alliance: PCF measures the total greenhouse gas emissions produced throughout the lifecycle of a specific product.
42. Protocol X: The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is the landmark multilateral environmental agreement that regulates the production and consumption of nearly 100 man-made chemicals referred to as ozone-depleting substances (ODS). Adopted on 16 September 1987, the Protocol is to date one of the rare treaties to achieve universal ratification.
43. SSCA: SSCA is an alliance of organizations and businesses committed to promoting sustainable practices in supply chains. It focuses on collaborating, sharing knowledge, and developing guidelines to improve environmental and social performance across supply chains.
44. Scope 3 Emissions: These are indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that occur in a company's value chain outside of its own operations. They include emissions from activities like procurement, transportation, waste disposal, and supply chain processes.
45. Scope 1: These are direct greenhouse gas emissions that come from sources owned or controlled by a company, such as emissions from on-site combustion of fossil fuels.
46. Scope 2: These are indirect greenhouse gas emissions that result from the generation of electricity, heating, or cooling that a company consumes.
47. Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC): SPLC is a membership-based organization focused on promoting sustainable purchasing practices and supply chain sustainability.
48. Traceability: The ability to track and record the history of an item and can help identify areas where distributors can improve efficiency, reduce costs, or streamline operations
49. United Nations Central Product Classification: The Central Product Classification (CPC) is a product classification for goods and services that was created by the United Nations Statistical Commission. The CPC is intended to be an international standard for organizing and analyzing data on industrial production, national accounts, trade, prices, and more.
50. Universal Product Code: UPC is a standardized barcode system used to identify and track consumer products.
51. Unique Resource Name: URN is a persistent identifier used to uniquely identify a resource, such as a document, file, or webpage regardless of its location or access method. URNs enable long-term access to resources even if their location or address changes.
52. UNCPC: UNCPC is a classification system developed by the United Nations to categorize goods and services based on their economic and functional characteristics. It provides a standardized framework for statistical reporting, economic analysis, and policy development.
53. UPC: UPC is a standardized barcode system used to identify and track consumer products. It consists of a unique numeric code assigned to each product, allowing for efficient inventory management, sales tracking, and supply chain operations.
54. URN: URN is a persistent identifier used to uniquely identify a resource, such as a document, file, or web page, regardless of its location or access method. URNs enable long-term access to resources, even if their location or address changes.
55. World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSB): WBCSB is a global coalition of businesses dedicated to promoting sustainable development and sustainability practices. It provides a platform for companies to collaborate and develop innovative solutions to environmental and social challenges, integrating sustainability into business strategies.
56. Waste and Sustainability Performance (WSP): WSP refers to the measurement and assessment of waste generation and sustainability performance within an organization. It involves tracking waste streams, analyzing waste reduction opportunities, and implementing sustainable practices to minimize waste and improve overall sustainability.
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