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EMISSIONS GAP REPORT 2018 – GLOSSARY


Co-benefits: The positive effects that a policy or measure aimed at one objective might have on other objectives, without yet evaluating the net effect on overall social welfare. Co-benefits are often subject to uncertainty and depend on, among others, local circumstances and implementation practices. Co- benefits are often referred to as ancillary benefits.


Conditional NDC: NDC proposed by some countries that are contingent on a range of possible conditions, such as the ability of national legislatures to enact the necessary laws, ambitious action from other countries, realization of finance and technical support, or other factors.


Conference of the Parties (COP): The supreme body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It currently meets once a year to review the Convention’s progress.


Crowding in: The mobilization of private sector finance for innovative investment projects through public sector (co-)financing of these investments


Current policy trajectory: This trajectory is based on estimates of 2020 emissions considering projected economic trends and current policy approaches including policies at least through 2015. Estimates may be based on either official data or independent analysis.


Deforestation: Conversion of forest to non-forest.


Economic mitigation potential: The mitigation potential, which takes into account social costs and benefits and social discount rates, assuming that market efficiency is improved by policies and measures and barriers are removed


Effective carbon rate: Is the sum of carbon prices and excise taxes per unit of carbon contained in a specific fossil fuel.


Emissions gap: The difference between the greenhouse gas emission levels consistent with a specific probability of limiting the mean global temperature rise to below 2°C or 1.5°C in 2100 above pre-industrial levels and the GHG emission levels consistent with the global effect of the NDCs, assuming full implementation from 2020.


Emission pathway: The trajectory of annual greenhouse gas emissions over time.


Excise tax: A tax on the consumption or use of a specific good, service, or activity. Excise taxes are mainly introduced with the intention to create public revenues for local, state or federal governments. Common examples for excise taxes are taxes on alcohol, tobacco, or fuel.


Global warming potential: An index representing the combined effect of the differing times greenhouse gases remain in the atmosphere and their relative effectiveness in absorbing outgoing infrared radiation.


Green fiscal reform: A major change in the tax system with the intention of introducing or increasing taxes on environmental bads (such as pollution, carbon


emissions) while simultaneously decreasing other taxes (such as income taxes).


Greenhouse gases: The atmospheric gases responsible for causing global warming and climatic change. The major greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO2 methane (CH4


),


but very powerful, GHGs are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6


) and nitrous oxide (N2 ).


Innovation landscape: The entirety of the activities of innovation from research and development to diffusion of competitive products


Integrated assessment models: Models that seek to combine knowledge from multiple disciplines in the form of equations and/or algorithms in order to explore complex environmental problems. As such, they describe the full chain of climate change, from production of greenhouse gases to atmospheric responses. This necessarily includes relevant links and feedbacks between socio-economic and biophysical processes.


Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC): INDCs are submissions from countries describing the national actions it intends to take to reach the Paris Agreement’s long-term temperature goal of limiting warming to well below 2°C. Once a country has ratified the Paris Agreement, its INDC is automatically converted to its NDC (see below), unless it chooses to further update it. INDCs are thus only used in this publication in reference to countries that have not yet ratified the Paris Agreement.


Kigali Amendment: The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer aims for the phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by cutting their production and consumption.


Kyoto Protocol: An international agreement, standing on its own, and requiring separate ratification by governments, but linked to the UNFCCC. The Kyoto Protocol, among other things, sets binding targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by industrialized countries.


Land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF): A greenhouse gas inventory sector that covers emissions and removals of greenhouse gases resulting from direct human-induced land use, land use change and forestry activities.


Likely chance: A likelihood greater than 66 percent chance. Used in this assessment to convey the probabilities of meeting temperature limits.


Lock-in: Lock-in occurs when a market is stuck with a standard even though participants would be better off with an alternative.


Mitigation: In the context of climate change, a human intervention to reduce the sources, or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases. Examples include using fossil fuels more efficiently for industrial processes or electricity generation, switching to solar energy or wind power, improving the insulation of buildings and expanding


O). Less prevalent,


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