Useful terms and acronyms

As I do this in my spare time, I will add to this when I can. Last updated 23 April 2008.

cap and trade: a system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by placing an initial limit on total emissions and then reducing emissions over time, and allowing the marketplace to determine how this is done. Heavy users would need to buy credits from companies that can easily reduce emissions.
CCS: carbon capture and sequestration. A method for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-based power plants.
CDM: clean development mechanism.
direct emissions: direct emissions are produced from within an organisation, a result of that organisation's activities. Examples include generation of electricity, manufacturing processes, transportation, on-site waste management, etc.
DNA: designated national authority. Under the Kyoto agreements, each country is to have a designated national authority, which is to be the sole governmental entity for regulating carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions.
downstream: in a market-based approach such as cap and trade or a carbon tax, downstream refers to the ultimate users of the carbon emission.
ETS: emissions trading scheme. Also known as "cap and trade" - regulatory appproach to limiting the emission of pollutants, in this situation, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
GGE: greenhouse gas emissions. The release of anthropogenic gases into the atmosphere that absorb and or emit infrared radiation, causing the greenhouse effect.
GHG: greenhouse gases. Pollutants that contribute to global warming. These include water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, methane, fluro- and halo-carbons and others.
Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act: law passed in 2007 that will require top Australian carbon emitters to report, starting in July 2008.
indirect emissions: emissions generated in the wider economy as a consequence of an organisation's activities. Some examples: consumption of electricity from a coal-fired plant, downstream emissions from transport of an organisation’s product to customers, and emissions from contracted/outsourced activities.
Kyoto Protocol: international treaty that sets legally binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions. Negotiated in 1997, it entered into force on February 16, 2005. Australia has recently ratified the agreement.
LULUCF: Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry. Term for agriculture-based GHG sequestration methods such as tree planting and land disturbance reduction.
MRET: mandatory renewable energy target. The Australian government is considering have a 20% MRET for the year 2020.
NCAS: National Carbon Accounting System. Australia's accounting system for sources (emissions) and removals (sinks) for greenhouse gas emissions from land-based systems.
NGA: National Greenhouse Accounts. A guideline providing estimates of emissions of greenhouse gases for various activities, such as fuel combustion, mining activities, methane emission from waste, agriculture, etc.
OSCAR: Online System for Comprehensive Activity Reporting. An online system for reporting greenhouse gases.
UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This is the international forum for dealing with climate change.
upstream: in a market-based approach such as cap and trade or a carbon tax, upstream refers to the primary producers of carbon, such as coal mines, oil wells, refineries, etc.
VCS: Voluntary Carbon Standard 2007. Specification for the project-level quantification, monitoring and reporting as well as validation and verification of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removals.