• Anthropogenic- effects, processes, objects, or materials are those that are derived from human activities, as opposed to those occurring in natural environments without human influences.

• Adaptation- actions taken to enable adjustment to expected or actual changes in climate conditions and ecosystems. E.g Construction of Flood walls to protect from stronger storms and flooding, planting of drought resistant crops in dry or potentially arid areas.
  
  
•  Biomass-A renewable source of energy.

This source is deemed renewable as long as the vegetation which produces them is maintained or replanted.
e.g. Fuel wood, fuel from crops such as cassava and sugar, combustible oils (which can be used to produce Biodiesel)
Because the source of this energy comes from plants, GHG’s are reduced (in comparison to fossil fuel use) as plants recapture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

• Carbon credits are a key component of national and international emissions trading schemes that have been implemented to mitigate global warming. They provide a way to reduce emissions on an industrial scale by capping total annual emissions and letting the market assign a monetary value to any shortfall through trading. Credits can be exchanged between businesses or bought and sold in international markets at the prevailing market price. Credits can be used to finance carbon reduction schemes between trading partners like Enviro Africa (link to what we do)and Ecosecurities (link to our technical expertise pg8) and around the world.

• Climate change –any change in climate over time.

Another definition is that used by the UNFCCC: “change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere”

• CDM/Clean Development Mechanism- Article 12 of the UNFCCC Kyoto Protocol.

It is a flexibility mechanism designed to assist developing countries to achieve sustainable development. 
It permits industrialized countries to finance emission reductions projects in developing countries and receive credit for doing so. 

• Desertification-Land degradation in arid, semi arid and sub humid areas.

Land degradation includes, soil erosion, deterioration of physical, chemical, economic and or biological properties of the soil, long term loss of natural vegetation.

• Energy efficiency – using less energy to provide the same level of energy service. E.g.: Home insulation to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve the same temperature and Fluorescent lights as opposed to incandescent lights. 

• Emission Reductions-Measurable reduction of the release of GHG’s into the atmosphere from a specific activity over a specified area for a specific period of time.

• ERPA/ Emission Reduction Purchase Agreement-A binding agreement which governs the purchase and sale of emissions reductions. 

• Fossil Fuel-Solid, liquid or gaseous fuels formed in the ground after millions of years by chemical and physical changes in plant and animal residues under high temperature and pressure. Oil, natural gas and coal are fossil fuels. www.drivingethanol.org/ethanol_facts/glossary.aspx

• Global warming- increase in the average temperature of the Earth air and oceans. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-twentieth century is very likely due to the observed increase in man-made greenhouse gas concentrations. 

• GHG’s/ Green house gases-Gases produced by human activity. The Kyoto protocol lists these as:

Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N20), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC’s), Perfluorocarbons (PFC’s) and Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)

• Integrated waste management – Employing several waste control and disposal methods e.g.: reduction of the waste source, recycling (and re-use), incineration and land filling

• Kyoto Protocol-International legally binding agreement to reduce GHG’s.  This agreement entered into force on February 16 2005

• Mitigation –Specific actions to cut emissions of GHG’s. e.g use of renewable energy in place of fossil fuels, expanding forests to produce carbon sinks to remove C02 from the atmosphere 

• Renewable energy – The use of natural resources such as sunlight. Wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat which can be naturally replenished. Technologies include: solar power, wind power, hydro electricity, biomass and biofuels

• Reforestation – replanting of forests which were converted to other uses

• Semi Arid-Regions of moderately low rainfall- 100-250mm precipitation per year

• Sub humid- Regions where moisture in normally less than under humid conditions but still sufficient for the production of many agricultural Natural vegetation is mostly tall grasses. Annual rainfall varies from 20 inches to 60 inches. 

• Sustainable development- Development that meets the needs of the present generation without negatively impacting the development of future generations.

• UNDP-United Nations Development Program is the UN's global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. www.undp.org
  
  
• UNFCCC/United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change-International legal framework adopted in June 1992 Rio Earth summit on climate change.  It Commits parties to stabilize human green house gas emissions. The parties to the UNFCCC adopted the Kyoto protocol in 1997 and it came into force in February 2005.