Climate Change

Do you know your GHGs from your SDGs?

Climate change jargon is full of abbreviations that can help us keep up to date with global efforts to tackle the escalating climate crisis.

COP

Conference of the Parties. The COP brings together almost every country on Earth for global summits to review efforts to get runaway climate change under control. COP meetings have been taking place for nearly three decades, and 2021 will be the 26th summit—giving it the name COP26—in Glasgow, Scotland.

GHGs

Greenhouse gases. GHGs are gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and are responsible for warming the planet and causing climate change. Earth’s major GHGs are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N20).

IPCC

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The IPCC is widely recognized as the most credible existing authority on human-induced climate change. It does not conduct original research, but rather publishes regular scientific reports on climate change, its implications, and potential future risks.

MPAs

Marine protected areas. MPAs support economic resources, biodiversity conservation, and species protection in a designated area of ocean. Environmentally damaging activities are restricted. While nations work to address climate change, MPAs are vital for providing coastal communities with resilience.

SDGs

Sustainable Development Goals. Adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, the SDGs are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a “blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet.” Goal 13 is focused on combatting climate change and its impacts.

SIDS

Small Island Developing States. SIDS are a distinct group of remote and low-lying islands facing unique social, economic, and environmental challenges. The ocean under their control is, on average, 28 times the size of the country’s landmass. As a result of climate change, SIDS are particularly vulnerable to biodiversity loss and sea level rise.

UNFCCC

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Often referred to simply as “the Convention,” the UNFCCC has the ultimate goal of preventing greenhouse gas concentrations from causing dangerous human interference with the climate system. The Convention has 197 members (“Parties”) and is the parent treaty of the critical 2015 Paris Agreement.