SCR key terms

A long-term shift in the statistical distribution of weather patterns, including averages and variability, driven largely by human emissions of greenhouse gases since the industrial era.

The process by which certain atmospheric gases trap outgoing infrared radiation, warming the planet's surface and lower atmosphere above the temperature they would otherwise have.

Any atmospheric gas, such as carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrous oxide, that absorbs and re-emits infrared radiation and thereby contributes to warming of the climate system.

The observed rise in average global surface temperature, conventionally measured against a pre-industrial baseline, that results mainly from accumulating greenhouse gas concentrations.

A measure of how much global average temperature rises in response to a given increase in greenhouse gas forcing, commonly expressed as warming per doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

A common unit that converts emissions of different greenhouse gases into the amount of carbon dioxide that would produce the same warming over a stated time horizon.

A factor expressing how much heat a gas traps over a chosen period, typically 100 years, relative to carbon dioxide, used to aggregate emissions into a single comparable figure.

Meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs, balancing environmental integrity, social equity, and economic viability over the long term.

Seventeen globally agreed objectives adopted by the United Nations in 2015, covering poverty, health, climate, and ecosystems, used as a framework for aligning finance and business with social and environmental outcomes.

An accounting perspective that evaluates organisational performance across three dimensions: profit, people, and planet, rather than financial results alone.

Environmental, social, and governance criteria used to assess how an entity manages sustainability-related risks and opportunities alongside conventional financial analysis.

The principle that a firm should report both how sustainability matters affect its financial performance and how its activities affect people and the environment.

The potential for harm to assets, operations, or supply chains from climate hazards such as heatwaves, floods, droughts, storms, and sea-level rise, often split into acute and chronic forms.

The risk of financial loss arising from the shift to a low-carbon economy, including policy changes, technology shifts, litigation, and reputational or market sentiment effects.

Assets that lose value or become unviable before the end of their expected economic life, for example fossil fuel reserves that cannot be burned under decarbonisation policy.

Reporting by organisations of the governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics used to manage climate-related risks and opportunities, following frameworks such as the TCFD recommendations.

A debt instrument whose proceeds are earmarked exclusively to finance or refinance projects with clear environmental benefits, typically verified against recognised voluntary principles.

A bond whose financial terms, such as the coupon, may change if the issuer fails to meet predefined sustainability performance targets, with proceeds not restricted to green projects.

A bond structure in which the issuer commits to allocate the raised funds to specified categories of projects, forming the basis of most green and social bond frameworks.

Misrepresenting or exaggerating the environmental credentials of a product, activity, or organisation, misleading investors or consumers about actual sustainability performance.

Investment made with the explicit intention of generating measurable positive social or environmental outcomes alongside a financial return.

A structured process for identifying, measuring, and prioritising climate-related exposures, combining hazard, exposure, and vulnerability analysis to estimate potential losses.

An estimate of the potential financial loss to a portfolio or asset from climate-related risks at a given confidence level and time horizon, adapting conventional value-at-risk methods.

A technique that applies severe but plausible scenarios to a portfolio or institution to reveal vulnerabilities and capital adequacy under adverse climate or transition conditions.

A plausible, internally consistent description of future greenhouse gas pathways and associated socioeconomic and physical conditions, used to explore outcomes under uncertainty.

A family of emissions and concentration trajectories used in climate modelling, each labelled by the approximate radiative forcing in watts per square metre reached by 2100.

A set of narrative socioeconomic futures describing population, economic growth, and technology, combined with emissions pathways to produce scenarios such as SSP1-2.6 or SSP5-8.5.

The cumulative amount of carbon dioxide that can be emitted while keeping global warming below a specified temperature limit, given the near-linear relationship between cumulative emissions and warming.

A state in which the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere are balanced by removals over a defined period, achieved by deep emission cuts plus residual removal or offsetting.

An emissions reduction goal aligned with what climate science deems necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, typically validated against recognised methodological criteria.

An entity's time-bound strategy setting out how it will shift its business model, operations, and financing toward a low-carbon, climate-resilient future, including targets and capital allocation.

The potential for harm to an organisation from the degradation of ecosystems and biodiversity, and from its own dependencies on and impacts on natural capital.

The variety of living organisms and ecosystems, whose loss can disrupt ecosystem services on which businesses and communities depend, creating financial and operational exposure.

The stock of natural resources and ecosystem services, such as clean water, fertile soil, and pollination, that provide value to economies and can be degraded or depleted.

Direct greenhouse gas emissions from sources owned or controlled by an organisation, such as fuel combustion in its own boilers, furnaces, and vehicles.

Indirect greenhouse gas emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, heat, steam, or cooling consumed by an organisation.

All indirect emissions across an organisation's value chain, both upstream and downstream, including purchased goods, transport, use of sold products, and end-of-life treatment.

A tradable credit representing the reduction or removal of one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent elsewhere, used to compensate for emissions that cannot yet be eliminated.