Sustainability Essentials

AASB refers to the Australian Accounting Standards Board. In the Australian context, there is increasing regulatory and standards development pressure to require climate-related disclosures linked to financial reporting. The AASB develops and issues standards for accounting and reporting in Australia, and it is working to integrate or align climate-related disclosures with broader global frameworks such as ISSB.

An Air Quality Index (AQI) communicates how contaminated the air of a specific area or country is or how polluted it is expected to be. It is calculated as a combination of various types of pollution. Different nations have their own AQIs corresponding to other air quality standards.

Biofuels are fuels derived from biological sources. These include but are not limited to crops, new and used vegetable oils, animal fats, and various forms of waste. Biofuels can complement or replace traditional fossil fuels, although different biofuels’ greenhouse gas mitigation potential may vary considerably.

California Senate Bill 253, also called the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, mandates that certain companies doing business in California (with revenue above specified thresholds) disclose their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Scopes 1, 2, and 3) starting in 2026.

California Senate Bill 261, known as the Climate-Related Financial Risk Disclosure Act, requires entities doing business in California with revenues above $500 million to publish biennial reports on climate-related financial risks, including governance, strategy, risk management, metrics, and alignment with frameworks like TCFD or equivalent.

Carbon credits are tradable certificates (or permits) that represent either a reduction, avoidance, or removal of one metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) or another greenhouse gas. When an entity purchases a carbon credit, it may use it to offset its own emissions by retiring the credit, meaning it counts the avoided or removed emissions toward its climate mitigation goal.

A carbon footprint is a quantification of the total greenhouse gas emissions (often expressed in CO₂ equivalent) caused by an activity, organization, product, or individual over a specified period. It includes both direct and indirect emissions.

Carbon Offsets are credits purchased by an entity that represent reductions or removals of greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere (in another project or location) to compensate for its own emissions. A typical example: planting forests or investing in renewable energy projects so that you can “offset” emissions you cannot eliminate directly.

CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) is a non-profit organization that runs one of the most widely used environmental disclosure platforms. Companies, cities, and regions disclose data on climate, water, and forests via CDP’s questionnaires, which allow benchmarking, investor insight, and transparency.

A circular economy is an economic model designed to minimize waste and make the most of resources. In this system, materials and products are kept in use for as long as possible via reuse, refurbishing, remanufacturing, recycling, composting etc., and the natural environment is regenerated. It aims to decouple economic growth from resource consumption and environmental degradation.

Actions and adjustments in social, ecological, or infrastructure systems to reduce the risks of climate change impacts, to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. It involves preparing for, coping with, and recovering from climate-related events.

The capacity of a system, community, organization, or business to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from climate-related hazards in a way that reduces harm, maintains essential functions, and adapts over time.

Climate risk is the range of potential adverse effects on a company, economy, or society arising from climate change. It covers both physical risks (damage from storms, floods, heat) and transition risks (shifts in regulation, markets, technology, or social norms related to climate action).

Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF) represents a reporting company’s direct and indirect carbon dioxide equivalent emissions within a defined time period (usually a single year). Plan A’s carbon accounting methodology for calculating a company’s CCF is based on the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and has been certified by TÜV Rheinland.

A European Union directive replacing and expanding the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD). CSRD mandates that more companies (including non-EU ones with EU operations) disclose detailed sustainability information in their management reports, using standardized formats and covering value chain impacts (including Scope 3).

The process of reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other greenhouse gas emissions in an economy, sector, or organization, usually by shifting from fossil fuels to low-carbon or zero-carbon energy sources and improving efficiency.

EFRAG (European Financial Reporting Advisory Group) is a European organization that advises the European Commission on accounting and reporting standards (IFRS). For sustainability, EFRAG leads the development of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) under the CSRD.

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is a widely used standard for corporate accounting and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions. It provides guidance on how to categorize emissions into Scope 1, 2, and 3, and promotes consistency, transparency, and comparability in corporate emissions reporting.

The release of gases into Earth’s atmosphere that trap heat (like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases), contributing to the greenhouse effect and global warming. Emissions are often expressed in terms of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) to aggregate different gases.

A materiality assessment is a process for identifying and prioritizing the environmental, social, and governance issues that matter most to a company and its stakeholders. This helps focus efforts, disclosures, and resources on topics that can have significant impacts on the company’s value, reputation, risk exposure etc.