Terminology

  • A
    Age Determination
    The process of identifying the age of fish by counting the number of annulus or ring formation on its otolith
  • Annex I Parties/countries
    Annex I Parties/countries The group of countries listed in Annex I to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Under Articles 4.2 (a) and 4.2 (b) of the UNFCCC, Annex I Parties were committed to adopting national policies and measures with the non-legally binding aim to return their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels by 2000. The group is largely similar to the Annex B Parties to the Kyoto Protocol that also adopted emissions reduction targets for 2008–2012. By default, the other countries are referred to as Non-Annex I Parties.
  • Afforestation
    Afforestation Planting of new forests on lands that historically have not contained forests. Afforestation projects are eligible under a number of schemes including, among others, Joint Implementation (JI) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol for which particular criteria apply (e.g., proof must be given that the land was not forested for at least 50 years or converted to alternative uses before 31 December 1989).
  • Annex II Parties/countries
    Annex II Parties/countries The group of countries listed in Annex II to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Under Article 4 of the UNFCCC, these countries have a special obligation to provide financial resources to meet the agreed full incremental costs of implementing measures mentioned under Article 12, paragraph 1. They are also obliged to provide financial resources, including for the transfer of technology, to meet the agreed incremental costs of implementing measures covered by Article 12, paragraph 1 and agreed between developing country Parties and international entities referred to in Article 11 of the UNFCCC. This group of countries shall also assist countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
  • Artisanal Fishing
    (or traditional/subsistence fishing) are various small-scale, low-technology, low-capital, fishing practices undertaken by individual fishing households (as opposed to commercial companies
  • Adaptation
    The process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects. In human systems, adaptation seeks to moderate or avoid harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. In some natural systems, human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate and its effects
  • Age Composition
    The age frequencies of a given stock obtained through length frequency and otolith studies
  • Adaptive capacity
    The ability of systems, institutions, humans, and other organisms to adjust to potential damage, to take advantage of opportunities, or to respond to consequences
  • Adulterated Food
    Food where certain materials are added to its original ingredients for the purpose of reducing its quality and nutritional value or the food where some of its nutrient contents have been removed without disclosing this in its food label
  • Annex B Parties/countries
    The subset of Annex I Parties that have accepted greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets for the period 2008–2012 under Article 3 of the Kyoto Protocol. By default, the other countries are referred to as Non-Annex I Parties.
  • Atmosphere
    Atmosphere The gaseous envelope surrounding the earth, divided into five layers—the troposphere which contains half of the earth’s atmosphere, the stratosphere, the mesosphere, the thermosphere, and the exosphere, which is the outer limit of the atmosphere. The dry atmosphere consists almost entirely of nitrogen (78.1 % volume mixing ratio) and oxygen (20.9 % volume mixing ratio), together with a number of trace gases, such as argon (0.93 % volume mixing ratio), helium and radiatively active greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide (CO2) (0.035 % volume mixing ratio) and ozone (O3). In addition, the atmosphere contains the GHG water vapour (H2O), whose amounts are highly variable but typically around 1 % volume mixing ratio. The atmosphere also contains clouds and aerosols.
  • Agenda 21
    Programme of action on sustainable development adopted at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, often referred to as the “Blueprint for Sustainable Development”. Agenda 21 has 40 chapters dealing with all aspects of sustainable development including social and economic dimensions (combating poverty and promoting human health), conservation and resource management, major groups (e.g. women, indigenous people, business and unions) and means of implementation (e.g. financial resources, transfer of technology, public awareness and education).
  • B
    Brackish Water
    water that is saltier than fresh water, but not as salty as seawater
  • Beach seine
    Seines operated from the shore. Seine net is a long wall of netting with or without a bag, supported by floats and sinkers, which are operated by surrounding areas of water with potential catch. The net is operated by ropes attached to the end of wings which are used for hauling and for herding the fish.
  • By-Catch
    The part of the catch which is taken incidentally to the target species and which is discarded
  • Best environmental practice
    The application of the most appropriate combination of environmental control measures and strategies.
  • Biodiversity
    The variability among living organisms from terrestrial, marine, and other ecosystems. Biodiversity includes variability at the genetic, species, and ecosystem levels
  • Bioenergy
    Energy derived from any form of biomass such as recently living organisms or their metabolic by-products.
  • Best available technique
    Most effective and advanced technique, the environmental impacts of which are limited.
  • Biological Studies
    The scale at which life is studied, the kinds of organisms studied, and the methods used to study them
  • Bony fish
    Fish class with calsified bone as its skeleton
  • Biological Resources
    Genetic resources, organisms or parts thereof, populations, or any other biotic component of ecosystems with actual or potential use or value for humanity
  • Biomass
    The total weight of all the fish in the stock or in a given area
  • Biofuel
    Biofuel A fuel, generally in liquid form, produced from organic matter or combustible oils produced by living or recently living plants. Examples of biofuel include alcohol (bioethanol), black liquor from the paper-manufacturing process, and soybean oil. First-generation manufactured biofuel: First-generation manufactured biofuel is derived from grains, oilseeds, animal fats, and waste vegetable oils with mature conversion technologies. Second-generation biofuel: Second-generation biofuel uses non-traditional biochemical and thermochemical conversion processes and feedstock mostly derived from the lignocellulosic fractions of, for example, agricultural and forestry residues, municipal solid waste, etc. Third-generation biofuel: Third-generation biofuel would be derived from feedstocks such as algae and energy crops by advanced processes still under development.
  • Biological Diversity
    The variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.
  • Biomass
    The total mass of living organisms in a given area or volume; dead plant material can be included as dead biomass. In the context of this report, biomass includes products, by-products, and waste of biological origin (plants or animal matter), excluding material embedded in geological formations and transformed to fossil fuels or peat.
  • C
    Catch Per Unit Effort
    The most commonly used index of relative abundance in fisheries studies and may be recorded in as the number or weight of fish caught per hook per hour, of lobsters caught per trap per day, or of demersal fish caught per hour of trawling
  • Carbon dioxide (CO2)
    A naturally occurring gas, also a by-product of burning fossil fuels from fossil carbon deposits, such as oil, gas and coal, of burning biomass, of land use changes (LUC) and of industrial processes (e.g., cement production). It is the principal anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) that affects the earth’s radiative balance. It is the reference gas against which other GHGs are measured and therefore has a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 1.
  • Carbon footprint
    Measure of the exclusive total amount of emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) that is directly and indirectly caused by an activity or is accumulated over the life stages of a product
  • Carbon cycle
    The term used to describe the flow of carbon (in various forms, e.g., as carbon dioxide) through the atmosphere, ocean, terrestrial and marine biosphere and lithosphere. In this report, the reference unit for the global carbon cycle is GtC or GtCO2 (1 GtC corresponds to 3.667 GtCO2). Carbon is the major chemical constituent of most organic matter and is stored in the following major reservoirs: organic molecules in the biosphere, carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, organic matter in the soils, in the lithosphere, and in the oceans.
  • Corals Reef
    Large underwater structures composed of the skeletons of colonial marine invertebrates called coral.Each individual coral is referred to as a polyp. Coral polyps live on the calcium carbonate exoskeletons of their ancestors
  • Catch & Effort
    The quantity of catch and the corresponding amount of effort from a certain fishing operation
  • Carbon market
    A popular term for a trading system through which countries may buy or sell units of greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to meeting their national limits on emissions, either under the Kyoto Protocol or under other agreements, such as that among members states of the European Union.
  • Carbon tax
    Tax by governments on the use of carbon-containing fuels
  • Climate system
    The climate system is the highly complex system consisting of five major components: the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the lithosphere and the biosphere, and the interactions between them. The climate system evolves in time under the influence of its own internal dynamics and because of external forcings such as volcanic eruptions, solar variations and anthropogenic forcings such as the changing composition of the atmosphere and land use change (LUC).
  • CO2-equivalent emission
    The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission that would cause the same integrated radiative forcing, over a given time horizon, as an emitted amount of a greenhouse gas (GHG) or a mixture of GHGs. The CO2-equivalent emission is obtained by multiplying the emission of a GHG by its Global Warming Potential (GWP) for the given time horizon (see Annex II.9.1 and WGI AR5 Table 8.A.1 for GWP values of the different GHGs). For a mix of GHGs it is obtained by summing the CO2-equivalent emissions of each gas. CO2-equivalent emission is a common scale for comparing emissions of different GHGs but does not imply equivalence of the corresponding climate change responses.
  • Codex
    Usually reference to a code of law. Also used as shorthand for Codex Alimentarius. A publication on food standards maintained jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
  • Certified Emissions Reductions
    CER. Unit equal to one metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent, which may be used by countries listed in Annex I of the Kyoto Protocol towards meeting their binding emission reduction and limitation commitments.
  • Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS)
    A process in which a relatively pure stream of carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial and energy-related sources is separated (captured), conditioned, compressed, and transported to a storage location for long-term isolation from the atmosphere. See also Bioenergy and carbon capture and storage (BECCS), CCS-ready, and Sequestration
  • Clean technologies
    Both process and product engineering that reduces the pollutants and environmental impacts inherent in industrial production
  • Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
    Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) A mechanism defined under Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol through which investors (governments or companies) from developed (Annex B) countries may finance greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction or removal projects in developing (Non-Annex B) countries, and receive Certified Emission Reduction Units (CERs) for doing so. The CERs can be credited towards the commitments of the respective developed countries. The CDM is intended to facilitate the two objectives of promoting sustainable development (SD) in developing countries and of helping industrialized countries to reach their emissions commitments in a cost-effective way.
  • Climate
    Climate Climate in a narrow sense is usually defined as the average weather, or more rigorously, as the statistical description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant quantities over a period of time ranging from months to thousands or millions of years. The classical period for averaging these variables is 30 years, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization. The relevant quantities are most often surface variables such as temperature, precipitation and wind. Climate in a wider sense is the state, including a statistical description, of the climate system.
  • Cartilaginous fish
    A class of fish with cartilage as its skeleton. This includes sharks, rays, and chimeras.
  • Crustacean
    Crustacean an arthropod of the large, mainly aquatic group Crustacea, such as a crab, lobster, shrimp, or barnacle
  • CO2-equivalent concentration
    CO2-equivalent concentration The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) that would cause the same radiative forcing as a given mixture of CO2 and other forcing components. Those values may consider only greenhouse gases (GHGs), or a combination of GHGs, aerosols, and surface albedo changes. CO2-equivalent concentration is a metric for comparing radiative forcing of a mix of different forcing components at a particular time but does not imply equivalence of the corresponding climate change responses nor future forcing. There is generally no connection between CO2-equivalent emissions and resulting CO2- equivalent concentrations.
  • Certified Emission Reduction Unit (CER)
    Equal to one metric tonne of CO2-equivalent emissions reduced or of carbon dioxide (CO2) removed from the atmosphere through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) (defined in Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol) project, calculated using Global Warming Potentials (GWP).
  • Clean Development Mechanism
    One of three market-based mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) whereby developed countries may finance greenhouse gas emissions-avoiding projects in developing countries, and receive credits for doing so which they may apply towards meeting mandatory limits on their own emissions
  • Carbon sequestration
    The process of removing additional carbon from the atmosphere and depositing it in other ‘reservoirs’, principally through changes in land use. In practical terms, the carbon sequestration occurs mostly through the expansion of forests
  • D
    Deforestation
    Deforestation Conversion of forest to non-forest is one of the major sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Under Article 3.3 of the Kyoto Protocol, “the net changes in greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks resulting from direct human-induced land-use change and forestry activities, limited to afforestation, reforestation and deforestation since 1990, measured as verifiable changes in carbon stocks in each commitment period, shall be sued to meet the commitments under this Article of each Party included in Annex I”. Reducing emissions from deforestation is not eligible for Joint Implementation (JI) or Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects but has been introduced in the program of work under REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
  • Desertification
    Land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities
  • E
    Environmentally Sound Management
    Defined as taking all practicable steps to ensure that hazardous waste or other wastes are managed in a manner which will protect human health and the environment against adverse effects which may result from such wastes, in terms of the Basel Convention
  • External Audit
    Is regulatory activity works to add value assistance and improvement in the achievement of objectives through a systematic approach to adjust assess the efficiency of the application of legislation and federal laws blindness in the protected area of ministry work level.
  • Ecosystem
    Dynamic complex of plant, animal, micro-organism communities and their non-living environment, interacting as a functional unit (CBD). Ecosystems are irrespective of political boundaries.
  • Ecosystem
    A functional unit consisting of living organisms, their nonliving environment, and the interactions within and between them. The components included in a given ecosystem and its spatial boundaries depend on the purpose for which the ecosystem is defined: in some cases they are relatively sharp, while in others they are diffuse. Ecosystem boundaries can change over time. Ecosystems are nested within other ecosystems, and their scale can range from very small to the entire biosphere. In the current era, most ecosystems either contain people as key organisms, or are influenced by the effects of human activities in their environment. Ecosystem services: Ecological processes or functions having monetary or non-monetary value to individuals or society at large. These are frequently classified as (1) supporting services such as productivity or biodiversity maintenance, (2) provisioning services such as food, fiber, or fish, (3) regulating services such as climate regulation or carbon sequestration, and (4) cultural services such as tourism or spiritual and aesthetic appreciation.
  • Emissions trading
    Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol through which Parties with emission commitments may trade units of their emissions allowances with other Parties.
  • Environmental Impact Assessment
    Process by which the environmental consequences of a proposed project or programme are evaluated and alternatives are analyzed. EIA is an integral part of the planning and decision-making processes
  • Exploitation Ratio
    Ratio between the number of individuals caught and the total number of individuals dead, over a certain period of time
  • Emissions trading
    A market-based instrument used to limit emissions. The environmental objective or sum of total allowed emissions is expressed as an emissions cap. The cap is divided in tradable emission permits that are allocated—either by auctioning or handing out for free (grandfathering)—to entities within the jurisdiction of the trading scheme. Entities need to surrender emission permits equal to the amount of their emissions (e.g., tonnes of carbon dioxide). An entity may sell excess permits. Trading schemes may occur at the intra-company, domestic, or international level and may apply to carbon dioxide (CO2), other greenhouse gases (GHGs), or other substances. Emissions 1261 Annex I Glossary, Acronyms and Chemical Symbols AI trading is also one of the mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol.
  • Emissions Reduction Unit (ERU):
    Equal to one metric tonne of CO2- equivalent emissions reduced or of carbon dioxide (CO2) removed from the atmosphere through a Joint Implementation (JI) (defined in Article 6 of the Kyoto Protocol) project, calculated using Global Warming Potentials (GWPs).
  • Ecosystem services
    Ecological processes or functions having monetary or non-monetary value to individuals or society at large. These are frequently classified as (1) supporting services such as productivity or biodiversity maintenance, (2) provisioning services such as food, fiber, or fish, (3) regulating services such as climate regulation or carbon sequestration, and (4) cultural services such as tourism or spiritual and aesthetic appreciation.
  • F
    Flaring
    Open air burning of waste gases and volatile liquids, through a chimney, at oil wells or rigs, in refineries or chemical plants, and at landfills
  • Forked Length
    The measurement taken from the anterior-most part of the fish to the end of the median caudal fin rays (Anderson and Gutreuter 1983)
  • Food Safety Index
    the project that was conducted during 2013 - 2016, to assess overall the food safety output performance of food control bodies in each emirate (and also at a federal level)
  • Fossil fuels
    Carbon-based fuels from fossil hydrocarbon deposits, including coal, peat, oil, and natural gas.
  • Fishing Mortality
    The total weight of all fish caught
  • Food hygiene
    All conditions and measures necessary to ensure the safety and suitability of food at all stages of the food chain
  • Fisheries resources
    In general, refers to elements of a natural aquatic resource (e.g. strains, species, populations, stocks, assemblages) which can be legally caught by fishing
  • Food safety
    The assurance that food will not cause harm to the consumer when it is prepared or eaten according to its intended use
  • G
    Geothermal energy
    Accessible thermal energy stored in the earth’s interior
  • Global warming
    Global warming refers to the gradual increase, observed or projected, in global surface temperature, as one of the consequences of radiative forcing caused by anthropogenic emissions.
  • Gonado-Somatic Index
    The ratio of the gonad weigth of the fish to its total weight
  • GATT
    General agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1994). One of the agreements annexed to the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
  • Gill nets
    are rectangular walls of netting kept erect by means of floats and sinkers and positioned in the swimming layer of the target fish, which catch the fish by holding them in the mesh by gilling.
  • Greenhouse gas (GHG)
    Greenhouse gases are those gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that absorb and emit radiation at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of terrestrial radiation emitted by the earth’s surface, the atmosphere itself, and by clouds. This property causes the greenhouse effect. Water vapour (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) and ozone (O3) are the primary GHGs in the earth’s atmosphere. Moreover, there are a number of entirely human-made GHGs in the atmosphere, such as the halocarbons and other chlorine- and brominecontaining substances, dealt with under the Montreal Protocol. Beside CO2, N2O and CH4, the Kyoto Protocol deals with the GHGs sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
  • Growth in Length
    The increase in body length of an organism through time
  • Greenhouse effect
    The infrared radiative effect of all infraredabsorbing constituents in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases (GHGs), clouds, and (to a small extent) aerosols absorb terrestrial radiation emitted by the earth’s surface and elsewhere in the atmosphere. These substances emit infrared radiation in all directions, but, everything else being equal, the net amount emitted to space is normally less than would have been emitted in the absence of these absorbers because of the decline of temperature with altitude in the troposphere and the consequent weakening of emission. An increase in the concentration of GHGs increases the magnitude of this effect; the difference is sometimes called the enhanced greenhouse effect. The change in a GHG concentration because of anthropogenic emissions contributes to an instantaneous radiative forcing. Surface temperature and troposphere warm in response to this forcing, gradually restoring the radiative balance at the top of the atmosphere.
  • Growth in Weight
    The increase in body weight of an organism through time
  • Gutted Weight
    The weight of the organism after the viscera or the internal organs are removed
  • Growth Parameters
    Factors that affect the growth of the organism such as availability of food, competition, water quality, etc.
  • Greenhouse gas
    Atmospheric gas that traps the heat and is responsible for warming the earth and climate change. The major greenhouse gases are carbon dioxides (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) Less prevalent – but very powerful – greenhouse gases are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). Those gases are regulated under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol. Some greenhouse gases are also regulated under the Montreal Protocol for their effect on the ozone layer.
  • Global Warming Potential (GWP)
    An index, based on radiative properties of greenhouse gases (GHGs), measuring the radiative forcing following a pulse emission of a unit mass of a given GHG in the present-day atmosphere integrated over a chosen time horizon, relative to that of carbon dioxide (CO2). The GWP represents the combined effect of the differing times these gases remain in the atmosphere and their relative effectiveness in causing radiative forcing. The Kyoto Protocol is based on GWPs from pulse emissions over a 100-year time frame. Unless stated otherwise, this report uses GWP values calculated with a 100-year time horizon which are often derived from the IPCC Second Assessment Report (see Annex II.9.1 for the GWP values of the different GHGs
  • H
    HFC
    Hydrofluorocarbons. Regulated under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol as well as under the Montreal Protocol.
  • Hazardous wastes
    Wastes that exhibit one or more hazardous characteristics, such as being flammable, oxidizing, poisonous, infectious, corrosive or ecotoxic (Basel Convention).
  • Habitat
    The place or type of site where an organism or population naturally occurs
  • I
    Immature
    The gonad is still incapable of sexual reproduction
  • IPPC
    Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Established jointly by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and UNEP in 1998 to assess the scientific technical and socio-economic impacts of climate change.
  • Industry Plants – Crushers and Quarries.
    Projects that engaged in the extraction, processing and storage and transportation of rocks, sand and include crushers and quarries.
  • ISO
    International Organization for Standardization. Non-governmental organization the members of which are national standards institutes of 156 countries. Established in 1946 to facilitate the international coordination and unification of industrial standards.
  • Invertebrates
    an animal lacking a backbone, such as an arthropod, mollusc, annelid, coelenterate, etc. The invertebrates constitute an artificial division of the animal kingdom, comprising 95 per cent of animal species and about thirty different phyla
  • J
    Joint Implementation (JI)
    A mechanism defined in Article 6 of the Kyoto Protocol, through which investors (governments or companies) from developed (Annex B) countries may implement projects jointly that limit or reduce emissions or enhance sinks, and to share the Emissions Reduction Units (ERU)
  • Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
    One of the outcomes of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). Outlines a framework for action to implement the commitments undertaken at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) including goals and timebound targets.
  • K
    Kyoto Mechanisms (also referred to as Flexibility Mechanisms)
    Market-based mechanisms that Parties to the Kyoto Protocol can use in an attempt to lessen the potential economic impacts of their commitment to limit or reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. They include Joint Implementation (JI) (Article 6), Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) (Article 12), and Emissions trading (Article 17)
  • Kyoto Protocol
    The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, at the Third Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC. It contains legally binding commitments, in addition to those included in the UNFCCC. Countries included in Annex B of the Protocol (most Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries and countries with economies in transition) agreed to reduce their anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)) by at least 5% below 1990 levels in the commitment period 2008–2012. The Kyoto Protocol entered into force on 16 February 2005.
  • L
    Length at First Maturity
    Mean length at which fish of a given population develop ripe gonads for the first time
  • Long line
    large number of hooks are attached to the mainline by means of branch lines
  • Length Frequency Distribution
    A graph showing the number of fish at each length (cm) of a certain catch
  • Length Weight Relationship
    Estimation the fish weight based on the known length
  • M
    Microplastic
    Small plastic pieces less than five millimeters long which can be harmful to our ocean and aquatic life
  • Marrakech Accords
    Series of decisions adopted at the seventh Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) related to the Kyoto Protocol.
  • Mitigation (of climate change)
    A human intervention to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases (GHGs). This report also assesses human interventions to reduce the sources of other substances which may contribute directly or indirectly to limiting climate change, including, for example, the reduction of particulate matter (PM) emissions that can directly alter the radiation balance (e.g., black carbon) or measures that control emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides (NOx), Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and other 1267 Annex I Glossary, Acronyms and Chemical Symbols AI pollutants that can alter the concentration of tropospheric ozone (O3) which has an indirect effect on the climate.
  • Mature
    The organism is capable of sexual reproduction
  • Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
    A global assessment of the earth’s ecosystems supported by the UN Secretary General. The MA completed its work in 2005 with the publication of its report. The acronym MEA is often used wrongly for the MA.
  • N
    National Rapid Alert System
    This system applies to information exchange on the foodborne risks reported by the relevant authorities, which are discovered or anticipated through official inspections, surveillances of outbreaks of foodborne diseases, consumer complaints and notifications from food establishments as well as those that are received through relevant regional and international networks
  • Non-Annex I Parties/countries
    Non-Annex I Parties are mostly developing countries. Certain groups of developing countries are recognized by the Convention as being especially vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change, including countries with low-lying coastal areas and those prone to desertification and drought. Others, such as countries that rely heavily on income from fossil fuel production and commerce, feel more vulnerable to the potential economic impacts of climate change response measures. The Convention emphasizes activities that promise to answer the special needs and concerns of these vulnerable countries, such as investment, insurance, and technology transfer.
  • P
    Protected Area
    A geographically defined area which is designated or regulated and managed to achieve specific conservation objectives
  • Persistent Organic Pollutants
    Also referred to as POPs. Chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods of time. Regulated under the Stockholm Convention.
  • Phytoplanktons
    Mostly microscopic, single-celled photosynthetic organisms that live suspended in water
  • Ph
    A scale used to specify how acidic or basic a water-based solution is.
  • Precautionary principle
    A provision under Article 3 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), stipulating that the Parties should take precautionary measures to anticipate, prevent, or minimize the causes of climate change and mitigate its adverse effects. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason to postpone such measures, taking into account that policies and measures to deal with climate change should be cost-effective in order to ensure global benefits at the lowest possible cost.
  • Industry Plants – Industry Field
    Projects operating in the cement industry.
  • R
    Renewable energy (RE)
    Any form of energy from solar, geophysical, or biological sources that is replenished by natural processes at a rate that equals or exceeds its rate of use. For a more detailed description see Bioenergy, Solar energy, Hydropower, Ocean, Geothermal, and Wind energy.
  • Resilience
    The capacity of social, economic, and environmental systems to cope with a hazardous event or trend or disturbance, responding or reorganizing in ways that maintain their essential function, identity, and structure, while also maintaining the capacity for adaptation, learning, and transformation (Arctic Council, 2013).
  • Reforestation
    Planting of forests on lands that have previously sustained forests but that have been converted to some other use. Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, reforestation is the direct humaninduced conversion of non-forested land to forested land through planting, seeding, and/or human-induced promotion of natural seed sources, on land that was previously forested but converted to nonforested land. For the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, reforestation activities will be limited to reforestation occurring on those lands that did not contain forest on 31 December 1989.
  • Rio Declaration
    Shorthand for the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development adopted at the Rio Conference, the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992. Set of 27 Principles on sustainable development.
  • S
    Sustainable use
    Use in a way and at a rate that does not lead to the long-term degradation of the environment, thereby maintaining its potential to meet the needs and aspirations of present and future generations.
  • Sink
    Any process, activity or mechanism that removes a greenhouse gas (GHG), an aerosol, or a precursor of a GHG or aerosol from the atmosphere
  • Sound management
    Taking all practicable steps to ensure that management takes place in a manner which protects human health and the environment against the adverse effects of activities, processes, products or substances.
  • Strategic environmental assessment
    Procedure for incorporating environmental consideration into national policies, plans and programmes. Sometimes referred to as “strategic environmental impact assessment”.
  • Sustainable development
    Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
  • Sequestration
    The uptake (i.e., the addition of a substance of concern to a reservoir) of carbon containing substances, in particular carbon dioxide (CO2), in terrestrial or marine reservoirs. Biological sequestration includes direct removal of CO2 from the atmosphere through land-use change (LUC), afforestation, reforestation, revegetation, carbon storage in landfills, and practices that enhance soil carbon in agriculture (cropland management, grazing land management). In parts of the literature, but not in this report, (carbon) sequestration is used to refer to Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS).
  • Sanitary measures
    Measures to protect the health of the consumer in the country from risks linked to food additives, contaminants, toxins or pathogenic microorganisms in food or from risks emerged by diseases transmitted by plants, animals, plant or animal products, or other risks
  • SIDS
    Small Island Developing States. Low-lying coastal countries that share similar development challenges and concerns about the environment, especially their vulnerability to the adverse effects of global climate change. Agenda 21 recognized that SIDS and islands supporting small communities are a special case both for environment and development. Currently 41 SIDS are included in the list used by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
  • State of Environment Report
    It is a report that monitor the environmental situation and the pressures caused by the immediate and future challenges, the report documents the efforts to address these pressures and challenges
  • SAICM
    Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management. Approach developed on the basis of an open-ended consultative process involving representatives of all stakeholder groups, jointly convened by the Inter- Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC), the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) and UNEP. Adopted in 2006.
  • Strategic environmental assessment
    Procedure for incorporating environmental consideration into national policies, plans and programmes. Sometimes referred to as “strategic environmental impact assessment”.
  • Sustainability
    A dynamic process that guarantees the persistence of natural and human systems in an equitable manner. Sustainable development (SD): Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (WCED, 1987)
  • T
    Type II Partnership
    A multi-stakeholder partnership involving, inter alia, governments, non-governmental organizations, businesses, universities, and/or other institutions. Type of partnership launched at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) to implement commitments embedded in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.
  • Turbidity
    A measure of the degree to which the water loses its transparency due to the presence of suspended particulates
  • Technology Transfer
    Transmission of know-how, equipment and products to governments, organizations or other stakeholders. Usually also implies adaptation for use in a specific cultural, social, economic and environmental context
  • U
    Uncertainty
    A cognitive state of incomplete knowledge that can result from a lack of information or from disagreement about what is known or even knowable. It may have many types of sources, from imprecision in the data to ambiguously defined concepts or terminology, or uncertain projections of human behaviour. Uncertainty can therefore be represented by quantitative measures (e.g., a probability density function) or by qualitative statements (e.g., reflecting the judgment of a team of experts)
  • United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
    The Convention was adopted on 9 May 1992 in New York and signed at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro by more than 150 countries and the European Community. Its ultimate objective is the ‘stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system’. It contains commitments for all Parties under the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’. Under the Convention, Parties included in Annex I aimed to return greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions not controlled by the Montreal Protocol to 1990 levels by the year 2000. The convention entered in force in March 1994. In 1997, the UNFCCC adopted the Kyoto Protocol
  • V
    Vulnerability
    The degree to which a community, population, species, ecosystem, region, agricultural system or some other quantity is susceptible, or unable to cope with, adverse effects.
  • Voluntary Contribution
    A contribution of any kind that unlike assessed contributions is not assessed under a binding international agreement, including the furnishing of funds for other financial support, services of any kind (including the use of experts or other personnel), or commodities, equipment, supplies or other material
  • W
    Wildlife
    Living things that are neither human nor domesticated
  • Wetlands
    Areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters
  • Wetlands
    areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters
  • Z
    Zooplanktons
    Type of heterotrophic plankton that range from microscopic organisms to large species, such as jellyfish. Zooplankton are found within large bodies of water, including oceans and freshwater systems
  • ن
    نوع السماد
    أي مادة تقع ضمن الأسمدة ومصلحات التربة الزراعية التي يشملها هذه اللائحة.
  • نهج تحوطي/ مبدأ تحوطي
    نهج / مبدأ لا يجوز، وفقاً له، اتخاذ عدم اليقين العلمي الكامل ذريعة لتأجيل العمل عندما يكون هناك خطر إلحاق ضرر جسيم أو لا رجعة فيه على البيئة أو صحة الإنسان