| AR4 |
The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report |
| AR5 |
The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report |
| Activity data |
Data on the magnitude of human activity resulting in emissions or removals taking place during a given period |
| ANZSIC |
Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification |
| Base year |
The first year in the reporting series |
| BEV |
Battery electric vehicle |
| BfCC |
Building for Climate Change |
| Biodiesel |
A type of biofuel similar to diesel that is made from natural elements such as plants, vegetables and reusable materials |
| Bioethanol |
A type of biofuel similar to ethanol that is made from natural elements such as plants, vegetables and reusable materials |
| Biofuels |
Any fuel derived from biomass |
| Biologically sequestered carbon |
The removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and captured by plants and micro-organisms |
| BOD |
Biological oxygen demand, the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by micro-organisms to break down biological organic matter in water |
| BRANZ |
Building Research Association of New Zealand |
| CAA |
Civil Aviation Authority |
| Carbon sink |
A natural or artificial process that removes carbon from the atmosphere |
| CEU |
Car equivalent unit |
| CFCs |
Chlorofluorocarbons |
| CH4 |
Methane |
| CNGP |
Carbon Neutral Government Programme |
| CO2 |
Carbon dioxide |
| CO2-e |
Carbon dioxide equivalent |
| COD |
Chemical oxygen demand |
| CHSB |
The Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking Index Tool |
| De minimis |
A permissible quantity of emissions that a company can leave out of its inventory, based on an insignificant GHG contribution, usually <1 per cent of an entity’s total inventory for an individual emissions source. The threshold is defined by the entity |
| Deforestation |
The clearing of forest land that is then converted to a non-forest land use |
| DESNZ |
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero - a UK government department |
| dwt |
Deadweight tonnes |
| EECA |
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority |
| Emission factor |
A coefficient that quantifies the emissions or removals of a gas per unit activity |
| Enteric fermentation |
The process by which ruminant animals digest feed and produce methane |
| FIGS |
Freight Information Gathering System |
| FOCA |
Federal Office of Civil Aviation - a Swiss government department |
| Forest land |
Land containing tree species that will reach a height of at least 5 metres, with a canopy cover of at least 30% and be of at least 1 hectare in size |
| Fugitive emissions |
The emission of gases from pressurised equipment due to leaks or unintended releases of gases, usually from industrial activities |
| GHG |
Greenhouse gas |
| GHG inventory |
A quantification of an entity’s greenhouse gas sources, sinks, emissions and removals |
| GHG Protocol |
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Accounting and Reporting Standard provides guidance for entities preparing a GHG inventory |
| GHG report |
A standalone report to communicate an entity’s GHG-related information to intended users |
| GJ |
Gigajoule (unit of measure, one billion joules) |
| Grazing off |
Cattle feeding on paddock not owned by their farmer |
| GWP |
Global warming potential, a factor describing the radiative forcing impact of one mass-based unit of a given GHG relative to an equivalent unit of carbon dioxide over a given period (typically 100 years) |
| HBFCs |
Hydrobromofluorocarbons |
| HCFCs |
Hydrochlorofluorocarbons |
| HFC |
Hydrofluorocarbon, an alternative refrigerant gas that minimises damage to the ozone hole |
| HGV |
Heavy goods vehicles |
| IATA |
International Air Transport Association |
| ICAO |
International Civil Aviation Organisation |
| Inert |
Chemically inactive (eg, plastic waste) |
| IPCC |
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |
| ISO 14064-1:2018 |
International Organization for Standardisation standard on greenhouse gases – Part 1: Specification with guidance at the organisation level for quantification and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and removals |
| kt |
Kilotonne (unit of measure, one thousand tonnes) |
| LCDB |
Land Cover Database |
| LFGR |
Landfill gas recovery |
| LM |
Lanemetre |
| LPG |
Liquefied petroleum gas |
| LUCAS |
Land Use and Carbon Analysis System |
| LULUCF |
Land use, land-use change and forestry |
| Materiality |
To be considered as having significance to an entity |
| Mature indigenous forest |
A forest comprising predominantly native species, where there are no clearly visible indications of human activities and the ecological processes are not significantly disturbed. The forest will contain large trees with multi-layered canopies and be considered a climax community |
| MBIE |
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment |
| MCF |
Methane correction factor |
| MfE |
Ministry for the Environment |
| MoT |
Te Manatū Waka Ministry of Transport |
| MPI |
Ministry of Primary Industries |
| Municipal |
landfill Landfill that accepts household waste as well as other wastes |
| NDC |
Nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement |
| NF3 |
Nitrogen trifluoride |
| N2O |
Nitrous oxide |
| NTK |
Net tonne km |
| NZ ETS |
New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme |
| NZCS |
New Zealand Climate Standards |
| NZTA |
Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency |
| ODS |
Ozone depleting substances |
| Organisational boundary |
The boundary of the entity/organisation as it applies to measurement of GHG emissions. This typically aligns with legal and/or organisational structure; a financial boundary must be drawn within this too |
| OverseerFM |
A New Zealand software platform that enables farmers and growers to estimate and improve nutrient use on farms |
| PFC |
Perfluorocarbon |
| PHEV |
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle |
| pkm |
Passenger-kilometre (unit of measure for transport) |
| Radiative forcing |
The difference between solar energy absorbed by the Earth and that radiated back to space. Human activity has impacts which alter radiative forcing |
| Refrigerants |
A substance or mixture used in a heat pump and refrigeration cycle |
| Removals |
Withdrawal of a GHG from the atmosphere by GHG sinks |
| Reporting boundary |
The emission sources included within an entity’s/organisation’s operations, including direct and indirect emission sources. It includes choosing which indirect emission sources to report |
| Reticulated gas |
A piped gas system to deliver a gas such as LPG or natural gas to a consumer |
| RUC |
Road user charge |
| Scope |
Emission sources are categorised by Scope to manage risks and impacts of double counting. There are three scopes in greenhouse gas reporting: Scope 1 (direct emissions), Scope 2 (energy indirect emissions) and Scope 3 (other indirect emissions) |
| SF6 |
Sulphur hexafluoride |
| Stationary combustion fuel |
Fuel used in an unmoving engine, eg, a power plant or boiler |
| TEU |
Twenty-foot equivalent unit |
| tkm |
Tonne-kilometre (unit of measure for freight) |
| UNFCCC |
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change |
| Unique emission factor |
A value given to an activity based on how emissions intensive it is. Experienced professionals must verify a unique emission factor. See Climate Change (Unique Emission Factors) Regulations 2009 for further information |
| Uplift factor |
Applied to account for the combined ‘real-world’ effects on fuel consumption (such as non-direct flight paths) |