Glossary

General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs.

"Geoengineering is the deliberate large-scale intervention in the Earth’s natural systems to counteract climate change".

Source: Oxford Geoengineering Programme.

Greenhouse Gas. The greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (MH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), fluorinated gases (HFCs, PFCs, SF6, NF3) and water vapour.

GRI is an independent, international organisation, headquartered in Amsterdam who have produced the GRI Standards, a comprehensive set of sustainable development reporting standards for enterprises.

For the full version of the GRI Standards, including Recommendations, Guidance, and Background, please visit the GRI Resource Center.

The increase of trade around the world, especially by large companies producing and trading goods in many different countries.

Source: Cambridge Dictionary.

Greenhouse gases are those gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, thus creating a natural greenhouse effect. The greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (MH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), fluorinated gases (HFCs, PFCs, SF₆, NF₃) and water vapour.

Greenwashing is defined as “behaviour or activities that make people believe that an enterprise is doing more to protect the environment than it really is” . The term was coined by Jay Westerveld, a New York Biologist and Environmentalist when he wrote an essay in 1986 about the hypocritical practices of the hotel industry. When on holidays Westerveld observed that the hotel he was staying in, asked customers to ‘save their towels’ in a bid to conserve water & protect the environment, whilst on the other hand, seemed to care very little about the environment when it came to their own expansion plans. Westerveld believed the hotel was motivated more by saving on laundry costs than saving the planet and that this cynical marketing ploy would eventually be exposed, observing that “It all comes out in the greenwash”.

Source: The Guardian 2016, Orange and Cohen 2010.