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A
Adaptation: We mostly use is it when talking about climate change. It is the approach taken that accepts the potential impacts of climate change and seeks to find ways in which human beings might be able to adapt to these impacts and changes. The other approach is mitigation.
B
Maude Barlow: A Canadian author and activist with a keen interest in water resources. She is the chairperson of the Council of Canadians and also served as Senior Adviser on Water to the President of the United Nations General Assembly. She is an outspoken critic of water privatization and a vehement supporter of recognizing water as a human right.
Basel Convention: Known officially as the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, the Basel Convention is an international treaty designed to prevent and control the movement of hazardous waste from one country to another, especially from a developed country to a developing one.
Bike Lanes: Lanes on commonly used roads that are designated specifically for bicycles as a means to catalyze safer and more popular use of cycling in cities.
Basel Convention: Known officially as the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, the Basel Convention is an international treaty designed to prevent and control the movement of hazardous waste from one country to another, especially from a developed country to a developing one.
Bike Lanes: Lanes on commonly used roads that are designated specifically for bicycles as a means to catalyze safer and more popular use of cycling in cities.
Bus rapid transit (BRT): Takes part of its name from "rapid transit" which describes a high-capacity transport system with its own right-of-way, its alignment often being elevated or running through tunnels, typically using long, high capacity vehicles at short headways of a few minutes. Curitiba, Brazil is well known for its bus rapid transit system.
C
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA): A left-wing, progressive Canadian think tank that regularly publishes articles and reports on environmental matters in Canada.
Cap-and-Trade: Also known as emissions trading, it is a system of reducing pollution or emissions by placing a cap on allowable pollution. Companies that produce more pollution than the cap allows will have to purchase credits from companies that produce less pollution than the cap allows. This makes polluting more expensive for some companies, while cleaner companies are benefited economically.
Cap-and-Trade: Also known as emissions trading, it is a system of reducing pollution or emissions by placing a cap on allowable pollution. Companies that produce more pollution than the cap allows will have to purchase credits from companies that produce less pollution than the cap allows. This makes polluting more expensive for some companies, while cleaner companies are benefited economically.
Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS): a technology used to limit carbon emissions by capturing carbon dioxide at its source -- usually fossil-fuel energy plants -- and sending it to presumably safe areas, such as deep geological deposits (like exhausted oil reservoirs) or in the depths of the ocean. It is extremely expensive and largely unproven, but has the potential to significantly reduce carbon emissions and still allow for most forms of common electricity generation.
Carbon tax: A tax placed on the production of carbon-dioxide emissions. It is seen as an extremely effective way to discourage behaviour that produces carbon emissions as it uses a financial lever. The tax is usually placed at the point of sale, such as on your heating bill or in the price of gasoline. Importantly, both producers and consumers feel the brunt of a carbon tax. It is not, however, the most popular tool politically as new taxes are seldom popular.
Chernobyl Disaster: A nuclear reactor exploded in what is now the Ukrainian city of Chernobyl in 1986. The accident is the worst nuclear power accident in history and resulted in 56 direct deaths. Over 800,000 have been severely exposed to radiation and it is estimated that thousands will die because of complications with the radiation.
Clean coal: An umbrella term for a series of technologies that aim to make coal-fired electricity generation free of greenhouse gas emissions. Technologies include CCS and gasification. Many governments, specifically in coal-rich countries like the United States, are very supportive of clean coal, but many critics of clean coal argue that it is unproven and very few working examples of the technology are actually in operation.
Clearcutting: An extremely ecologically damaging method of forestry where huge swaths of forest are cut at once. Often done for safety and economic reasons, it is an unsustainable method of cutting and a big contributor to deforestation in the world.
Climate change: The change in the distribution of weather over time. Much evidence points to the unprecedented global climate change experienced in the past few centuries as being caused by human beings, primarily by releasing greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. Climate change can also be effected by natural cycles in the sun's radiation, orbital variations and plate tectonics.
Command & Control: An approach to influencing behaviour involving regulation, enforcement and monitoring. As opposed to market-based instruments, some behaviour is discouraged through laws, enforceable through fines, penalties and even jail-time, similar to criminal offences.
Congestion Charge Zone (CCZ): A method used in urban planning to reduce traffic congestion in specific areas as well as reducing air pollution. Drivers entering the specified zone are charged a fee depending on the time of day they enter. The financial cost is meant to discourage drivers from using personal vehicles and instead use public transit. It is currently in use in London, England.
Command & Control: An approach to influencing behaviour involving regulation, enforcement and monitoring. As opposed to market-based instruments, some behaviour is discouraged through laws, enforceable through fines, penalties and even jail-time, similar to criminal offences.
Congestion Charge Zone (CCZ): A method used in urban planning to reduce traffic congestion in specific areas as well as reducing air pollution. Drivers entering the specified zone are charged a fee depending on the time of day they enter. The financial cost is meant to discourage drivers from using personal vehicles and instead use public transit. It is currently in use in London, England.
D
Deforestation: The process of destroying a forest and replacing it with something else, especially by an agricultural system
Desalination: The process of removing salt from sea water in order to make drinking water.
Drip Irrigation: See xeriscaping.
Deforestation: The process of destroying a forest and replacing it with something else, especially by an agricultural system
Desalination: The process of removing salt from sea water in order to make drinking water.
Drip Irrigation: See xeriscaping.
E
E-Waste: Electronic waste generated from discarded electronics like computers and TVs. They often contain extremely dangerous metals and chemicals that can cause severe health and environmental detriment. E-Waste is particularly controversial because much of it is created in the developed world and exported to developing countries to take it apart under extremely dangerous conditions.
Earth Hour: A global movement designed by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to raise awareness about climate change. For one specified hour during the year, participants are supposed to turn off their lights and any other energy-using technologies.
Ecological Footprint: A method used to measure the total impact one's activities and behaviours are having on the planet. After answering several questions related to transportation, living conditions, food habits, etc, participants are measured based on how much physical space is required for their lifestyle. While certainly not a measure without its flaws, it is intended to provide people with a sense of how much of an impact they are making.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): The main environmental protection branch of the United States federal government.
Environmentalism: Actions and policies that which show a concern with protecting and preserving the natural environment
Ethanol: A liquid similar in nature to gasoline in that it can be used to run internal combustion engines. Several types, like corn-based ethanol, are controversial and well-subsidized, while others like cellulosic and sugar-cane are a little less so.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): A strategy of waste management that places the responsibility of dealing with waste on the original producer of the product. For example, Dell Computers would be responsible for your old Dell once you want to get rid of it, as opposed to you or the municipality needing to deal with it. It is designed to encourage producers of products to make them less wasteful, more durable and more easily recycled or reused.
Ethanol: A liquid similar in nature to gasoline in that it can be used to run internal combustion engines. Several types, like corn-based ethanol, are controversial and well-subsidized, while others like cellulosic and sugar-cane are a little less so.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): A strategy of waste management that places the responsibility of dealing with waste on the original producer of the product. For example, Dell Computers would be responsible for your old Dell once you want to get rid of it, as opposed to you or the municipality needing to deal with it. It is designed to encourage producers of products to make them less wasteful, more durable and more easily recycled or reused.
F
Fossil Award: An award given out by environmental groups at international conferences to countries and delegations that are seen to do the most to stall progressive and positive action. Canada routinely wins.
G
Gentrification: Denotes the socio-cultural changes that occur in an area when a group of wealthier people purchase property in an otherwise less prosperous community. While it can improve infrastructure and bring prosperity & renewal to an area, it can also force out those who cannot afford to live in the area anymore.
Geoengineering: The process advocated by some where humans can very quickly mitigate the impacts of climate change by influencing the Earth's natural systems in a short time period. For example, by releasing sulfur-dioxide into the atmosphere to block the sun for awhile or to release algae into the oceans to absorb carbon emissions. Geoengineering is widely seen as very extreme and remarkably dangerous, as toying with the Earth's natural systems could have massive, unforeseen consequences.
GO Transit: A government owned provider of public transportation in the Greater Toronto Area. There is a comprehensive bus system, as well as a train system. It is primarily used by commuters in the GTA and Toronto.
GO Transit: A government owned provider of public transportation in the Greater Toronto Area. There is a comprehensive bus system, as well as a train system. It is primarily used by commuters in the GTA and Toronto.
Golden Horseshoe: The area surrounding the west coast of Lake Ontario, including Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Kitchener-Waterloo and even Peterborough. It is Canada's fastest growing and most diverse area and currently accounts for 25% of Canada's population, despite its disproportionately small geographic size.
Green Energy & Green Economy Act (GEA): A piece of landmark environmental legislation in Ontario that passed in 2009. It established historic programs like the feed-in-tariff, new targets for energy conservation and hopes to increase manufacturing investment in domestic renewable energy technologies.
Green Roof: A roof that is in part or in whole covered in living vegetation over a waterproofing membrane. Green roofs are used to grow food, attract wildlife, absorb rainwater and even combat the urban heat island effect.
Green Energy & Green Economy Act (GEA): A piece of landmark environmental legislation in Ontario that passed in 2009. It established historic programs like the feed-in-tariff, new targets for energy conservation and hopes to increase manufacturing investment in domestic renewable energy technologies.
Green Roof: A roof that is in part or in whole covered in living vegetation over a waterproofing membrane. Green roofs are used to grow food, attract wildlife, absorb rainwater and even combat the urban heat island effect.
Greenhouse Gases (GHGs): GHGs are the gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect and heat the earth. When the concentration of GHGs is too high, the planet begins to get warmer. The most common GHG is water vapour, but humans have little impact on that chemical. Rather, humans tend to influence GHGs like carbon-dioxide, methane and nitrous-oxide. These chemicals can have varying influence on the climate based on the time spent in the atmosphere and the amount of solar radiation retained.
H
High Speed Rail: Generally, passenger trains that operate at speeds of 110 mph or greater.
Hybrid Vehicles: Vehicles that have an engine using electricity and gasoline. As opposed to conventional internal-combustion engines, hybrids tend to get better mileage, which leads to less greenhouse gas emissions produced per mile driven. They are usually more expensive because of their fancy batteries and electric motors. A Toyota Prius is a hybrid vehicle.
High Speed Rail: Generally, passenger trains that operate at speeds of 110 mph or greater.
Hybrid Vehicles: Vehicles that have an engine using electricity and gasoline. As opposed to conventional internal-combustion engines, hybrids tend to get better mileage, which leads to less greenhouse gas emissions produced per mile driven. They are usually more expensive because of their fancy batteries and electric motors. A Toyota Prius is a hybrid vehicle.
I
Intelligent Transportation System: ITS is an acronym for "Intelligent Transportation Systems", representing the application of advanced and emerging technologies (computers, sensors, control, communications, and electronic devices) in transportation to save lives, time, money, energy and the environment.J
Joint Implementation: The mechanism known as “joint implementation,” defined in Article 6 of the Kyoto Protocol, allows a country with an emission reduction or limitation commitment under the Kyoto Protocol (Annex B Party) to earn emission reduction units (ERUs) from an emission-reduction or emission removal project in another Annex B Party, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2, which can be counted towards meeting its Kyoto target. K
Kyoto Protocol: An international treaty signed and ratified by 187 countries in the world in 1997. Under the Kyoto Protocol, developed countries committed to reducing their average greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2% at 1990 levels by 2012 in order to combat climate change. It is highly unlikely these targets will be met as the emissions from many countries have actually increased. The successor to the Kyoto Protocol is the Copenhagen Accord.
L
Light Rail Transit: A form of rail-based, public transportation used in many cities. While having a lesser capacity and slower speeds than large intercity rail (like VIA or Amtrak), light rail often has higher capacity and faster speeds than typical trams and streetcars.
Light Rail Transit: A form of rail-based, public transportation used in many cities. While having a lesser capacity and slower speeds than large intercity rail (like VIA or Amtrak), light rail often has higher capacity and faster speeds than typical trams and streetcars.
M
Market-Based Instruments: Policy tools that aim to influence the pricing market and economic costs to change behaviour, such as taxes, cap-and-trade systems or subsidies.
Market-Based Instruments: Policy tools that aim to influence the pricing market and economic costs to change behaviour, such as taxes, cap-and-trade systems or subsidies.
Mitigation: We mostly use this term when talking about climate change. Mitigation is the approach that outlines ways in which humans can change their behaviour to reduce the negative impacts of climate change in the future. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions are an example of mitigation. By mitigating more climate impacts, it reduces the need to adapt, which is predicted to be far more costly than mitigation.
N
Neo-liberalism: An economic approach that favours free trade, globalization, open markets and the limited role of government. It largely relies on free-market thinking and emphasizes using the market as a means to achieve good in the world. Neo-liberal thinking does not, however, often include environmental or social considerations as one of its main priorities.
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): A regional trading agreement put into force in 1994 between Canada, the United States and Mexico as a means to encourage the free trade of goods across the three countries. It has significant influence on environmental issues because it tends to trump the environmental autonomy of many jurisdictions.
Nuclear Energy: A form of chemical energy that uses nuclear fusion to heat water and drive turbines to create electricity. Nuclear is very expensive to build and operate, extremely complex and dangerous because of its radioactive characteristics. It does not, however, have any GHG emissions and it lasts for many years. Dealing with the radioactive waste produced is a growing problem for nuclear.
O
Oil Sands: Found in northern Alberta, the Oil Sands are huge deposits of bitumen mixed in with sand, clay and other materials. There is over one trillion barrels of theoretically recoverable oil and the project constitutes one of the largest human projects in the planet's history. The projects can be seen from space and have massive environmental, economic and health costs.
Ontario Power Authority (OPA): An arms length crown corporation in charge of managing -- but not distributing or generating -- Ontario's electricity supply. It oversees Ontario's electricity system and plans for the long-term viability of the system.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD): An international organization representing the interests of 30 high-income and developed countries in the world. It promotes policies, publishes reports and often uses peer pressure techniques to implement "soft laws" or non-binding international agreements.
Ontario Power Authority (OPA): An arms length crown corporation in charge of managing -- but not distributing or generating -- Ontario's electricity supply. It oversees Ontario's electricity system and plans for the long-term viability of the system.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD): An international organization representing the interests of 30 high-income and developed countries in the world. It promotes policies, publishes reports and often uses peer pressure techniques to implement "soft laws" or non-binding international agreements.
P
Peter Gleick: is the President of the Pacific Institute based out of Oakland, California. Gleick is an engineer (PhD, Energy and Resources, UC Berkeley) and is an internationally recognized water expert.
Q
R
Rainwater Harvesting: The process of gathering, storing or accumulating rainwater. In municipalities, it is used to reduce the strain on the sewage system, while in drought-prone regions, it is a method by which residents acquire drinking water.
Rainwater Harvesting: The process of gathering, storing or accumulating rainwater. In municipalities, it is used to reduce the strain on the sewage system, while in drought-prone regions, it is a method by which residents acquire drinking water.
S
Nicholas Stern: A British economist well known for spearheading The Stern Review, a 700-page report detailing the impacts of predicted climate change on the global economy.
Subsidy: A form of financial assistance provided to individuals, businesses or groups, usually from governments. They are meant to prevent the decline of certain industries or encourage development of some others. Subsidies are widely used by governments to encourage environmentally friendly behaviour, such as providing grants for home retrofits.
Subsistence Agriculture: Agricultural practices done as a means to feed the growers as opposed to selling commercially. It was the primary form of agriculture for centuries, but now exists almost exclusively in the developing world.
Sustainable Transportation Systems: The term refers to any means of transport with low impact on the environment, and includes human or animal muscle-powered vehicles, low-carbon fueled vehicles, any kind of vehicle using a renewable source of energy for its propulsion. The most common usage of green transport is walking.
Sustainable Trent (ST): An environmental student group at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Both Tim and Chris have been members of ST in one way or another over the course of their time at Trent.
David Suzuki: A world renowned Canadian environmental activist best known for his TV show The Nature of Things. He is an author, speaker, scientist and academic and is seen as one of the main faces of the environmental movement.
T
Tragedy of the Commons: A concept developed by Garrett Harden in 1968, it explains a situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently, and solely and rationally consulting their own self-interest, will ultimately deplete a shared limited resource even when it is clear that it is not in anyone's long-term interest for this to happen.
Triple Bottom Line: An approach to accounting that uses environmental and social factors in addition to financial factors when measuring the performance of companies or organizations. Typically, companies only consider the financial aspects of their performance, while ignoring the environmental and social performance.
U
UNESCO: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, a specialized agency designed to collaborate the influence of all three factors.
Urban Heat Island (UHI) Effect: The effect seen where urban centres are on average considerably warmer than the surrounding rural areas because the materials used in urban centres, such as concrete, are able to retain a lot of heat.
Urban planning: integrates land use planning and transport planning to improve the built, economic and social environments of communities. It is also the branch of architecture dealing with the design and organization of urban space and activities.
Urban Renewal: A process in which parts of an urban centre are torn down and rebuilt as condos and high rises as a means to revitalize a neighbourhood by bringing investment, redevelopment and people with higher incomes. Also known as gentrification, it can lead to severe displacement of less well to do people who had previously been living in the neighbourhood and new construction has negative environmental impacts.
User-Pay: An approach to products and behaviour that puts the burden of cost on the consumer. Simply, you pay for what you use. For example, a user-pay system on waste would mean consumers would pay more money if they disposed more product. For water use, consumers pay more if they use more water. It can reduce demand, but does little to influence the behaviour of suppliers.
Urban planning: integrates land use planning and transport planning to improve the built, economic and social environments of communities. It is also the branch of architecture dealing with the design and organization of urban space and activities.
Urban Renewal: A process in which parts of an urban centre are torn down and rebuilt as condos and high rises as a means to revitalize a neighbourhood by bringing investment, redevelopment and people with higher incomes. Also known as gentrification, it can lead to severe displacement of less well to do people who had previously been living in the neighbourhood and new construction has negative environmental impacts.
User-Pay: An approach to products and behaviour that puts the burden of cost on the consumer. Simply, you pay for what you use. For example, a user-pay system on waste would mean consumers would pay more money if they disposed more product. For water use, consumers pay more if they use more water. It can reduce demand, but does little to influence the behaviour of suppliers.
V
W
Waste-to-energy: Waste-to-energy is a euphemism for incineration, which is that process where a plant will burn municipal solid waste using thermal treatment which in turn can be used to generate electricity.Willingness to Pay: An alternative method used to value goods and services whereby the value given is based off how much people are willing to pay to use that good or service. It is frequently used for environmental services, such as national parks, as a means to gauge an economic value of those parks.
X
Xeriscaping: Also known as drip irrigation, it is a method of agriculture or landscaping that requires very little water and uses indigenous & drought-resistant plants and crops.
Xeriscaping: Also known as drip irrigation, it is a method of agriculture or landscaping that requires very little water and uses indigenous & drought-resistant plants and crops.
Y
Z
David Zetland: A natural resource economist at the University of California-Berkeley that specializes in the relationship between economics and water. He is an advocate of water pricing, allocation of property rights to water and maintains a very popular and active blog, Aguanomics.
