1. Sustainability: Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

    

2. Carbon Footprint: The total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly and indirectly support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2).

    

3. Renewable Energy: Energy from sources that are naturally replenishing but flow-limited, like wind, solar, and hydro power.

    

4. Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG): Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases.

    

5. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): A company’s commitment to manage the social, environmental, and economic effects of its operations responsibly and in line with public expectations.

    

6. Eco-Friendly: Not harmful to the environment.

    

7. Recycling: The process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects.

    

8. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): A collection of 17 global goals set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 for the year 2030.

    

9. LEED Certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design): A widely used green building rating system.

    

10. Energy Efficiency: Using less energy to perform the same task, thereby reducing energy waste.

     

11. Carbon Neutral: Achieving net zero carbon dioxide emissions by balancing emissions with carbon removal or simply eliminating emissions altogether.

     

12. Green Building: A building that, in its design, construction or operation, reduces or eliminates negative impacts, and can create positive impacts, on our climate and natural environment.

     

13. Biodegradable: A substance or object that can be decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms.

     

14. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): The process of evaluating the potential environmental impacts of a proposed project or development.

     

15. Circular Economy: An economic system aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resources.

     

16. Sustainable Supply Chain: Managing supply chain operations with a focus on environmental and social sustainability.

     

17. Greenwashing: Disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image.

     

18. Zero Waste: The design and management of products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials.

     

19. Green Procurement: The acquisition of goods and services that have a lesser or reduced impact on the environment.

     

20. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): The assessment of the environmental impact of a product throughout its lifecycle.

     

21. Environmental Sustainability: The responsibility to conserve natural resources and protect global ecosystems to support health and wellbeing, now and in the future.

     

22. Ecosystem Services: The many and varied benefits that humans freely gain from the natural environment and from properly-functioning ecosystems.

     

23. Carbon Offsetting: A way to compensate for emissions by funding an equivalent carbon dioxide saving elsewhere.

     

24. Climate Change: A change in global or regional climate patterns attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.

     

25. Green Innovation: The process of developing new products and services that reduce environmental impacts.

     

26. Organic: Produced or involving production without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or other artificial chemicals.

     

27. Sustainable Agriculture: Farming in sustainable ways based on an understanding of ecosystem services, the study of relationships between organisms and their environment.

     

28. Renewable Resource: A natural resource which will replenish to replace the portion depleted by usage and consumption.

     

29. Energy Conservation: The effort made to reduce the consumption of energy by using less of an energy service.

     

30. Biodiversity: The variety and variability of life on Earth, typically used as a measure of the health of biological systems.

     

31. Environmental Ethics: A part of environmental philosophy that considers extending the traditional boundaries of ethics to include non-human worlds.

     

32. Green Marketing: Marketing efforts to produce, promote, and reclaim environmentally sensitive products.

     

33. Sustainable Transportation: Forms of transport that are environmentally friendly, use reduced amounts of fuel and energy, and lower carbon emissions.

     

34. Greenhouse Effect: The trapping of the sun’s warmth in a planet’s lower atmosphere due to the greater transparency of the atmosphere to visible radiation from the sun than to infrared radiation emitted from the planet’s surface.

     

35. Ecological Footprint: A measure of human demand on the Earth’s ecosystems, comparing human demand with planet Earth’s ecological capacity to regenerate.

These terms are fundamental for businesses to understand and implement practices that contribute to environmental sustainability, supporting a shift towards more eco-friendly and socially responsible business models.