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Glossary definitions

The IPBES glossary terms definitions page provides definitions of terms used in IPBES assessments. Some definitions in this online glossary have been edited for consistency. Please refer to the specific assessment glossary for citations/authorities of definitions. 

We invite you to report any errors or omissions to [email protected].

Concept Definition Deliverable(s)
good quality of life

The achievement of a fulfilled human life, a notion that varies strongly across different societies and groups within societies. It is a state of individuals and human groups that is dependent on context, including access to food, water, energy and livelihood security, and also health, good social relationships and equity, security, cultural identity, and freedom of choice and action. From virtually all standpoints, a good quality of life is multidimensional, having material as well as immaterial and spiritual components. What a good quality of life entails, however, is highly dependent on place, time and culture, with different societies espousing different views of their relationships with nature and placing different levels of importance on collective versus individual rights, the material versus the spiritual domain, intrinsic versus instrumental values, and the present time versus the past or the future. The concept of human well-being used in many western societies and its variants, together with those of living in harmony with nature and living well in balance and harmony with Mother Earth, are examples of different perspectives on a good quality of life.

Pollination assessment
good quality of life

within the context of the IPBES Conceptual Framework – the achievement of a fulfilled human life, a notion which varies strongly across different societies and groups within societies. It is a context-dependent state of individuals and human groups, comprising aspects such as access to food, water, energy and livelihood security, and also health, good social relationships and equity, security, cultural identity, and freedom of choice and action. “Living in harmony with nature”, “living-well in balance and harmony with Mother Earth” and “human well-being” are examples of different perspectives on a “Good quality of life”

Invasive alien species assessment
governance (modes of)

‘Modes of governance’ have been conceptualized in different ways, from hierarchies (state centric governance), networks or co- governance (a constellation of actors in varying partnership arrangements), markets (market-based instruments and incentives), voluntarism (non-binding agreements and instruments) and self- governance (including customary governance).

Sustainable use assessment
governance framework

Taken together, the institutional framing of specific economic, political decision-making and socio-cultural processes of relevance to the governance of human-human and human-nature relationships are termed governance frameworks.

Values assessment
governance options

Refers to recommendation of options to be considered in changing the government structure that would allow relevant stakeholders to ultimately determine their future.

Africa assessment
governance system

The regime under which decisions are made, and the degree to which power over a given decision is shared among actors, or across different sectors.

Scenarios and models assessment
governance

The way the rules, norms and actions in a given organization are structured, sustained, and regulated.

Global assessment (1st work programme), Invasive alien species assessment
governance

The processes of governing, whether undertaken by a government, market or other social network, whether over a family, tribe, formal or informal organization or territory and whether through the laws, norms, power or language of an organized society.

Asia-Pacific assessment
governance

The way the rules, norms and actions in a given organization are structured, sustained and regulated.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
governance

All processes of governing, whether undertaken by a government, market or network, whether over a family, tribe, formal or informal organization or territory and whether through laws, norms, power or language. It relates to the processes of interaction and decision-making among the actors involved in a collective problem that lead to the creation, reinforcement, or reproduction of social norms and institutions.

grabbing (of wild species and spaces)

Actions, policies or initiatives by which use and access rights of resources and spaces are transferred and re-allocated from collective entity to private or public entity, leading to IPLC dispossession, marginalization and exclusion and, consequently, the unsustainability of use system (Acheson, 2015; Fairhead et al., 2012; National Research Council & National Research Council (U.S.), 2002). These processes of control (whether through ownership, lease, concession, contracts, quotas, or general power) as well as commons enclosure, have two main purposes: on the one hand, productivist exploitation (speculation, extraction, land stewardship, food sovereignty); on the other hand, conservation (e.g. Protected Areas, no-take’ conservation areas, restoration of endangered habitat, resource control or nature commodification, Biodiversity offsets, REDD+, etc.), qualified either green for land conservation (Benabou, 2014), or blue for ocean conservation (Bennett et al., 2020; Clark Howard, 2018; Cormier- Salem & Bassett, 2007). Moreover, the commons, or common pool resources, cover a large set of assets, from wild species to habitats and institutions, either terrestrial and referred as large-scale land acquisition (Baker-Smith & Attila, 2016) and land grabbing, or aquatic, oceanic and coastal and referred as water (Duvail et al., 2012) or ocean grabbing.

Sustainable use assessment
grain (spatial or temporal)

see spatial scale and temporal scale”.

Scenarios and models assessment
grassland

A land cover class that includes any geographic area dominated by natural herbaceous plants (grasslands, prairies, steppes and savannahs) with a cover of 10% or more, irrespective of different human and/or animal activities (e.g. grazing).

Land degradation and restoration assessment
grassland

Ecosystem characterized by more or less closed herbaceous vegetation layer, sometimes with a shrub layer, but - in contrast to savannas - without trees. Different types of grasslands are found under a broad range of climatic conditions.

Asia-Pacific assessment
grassland

Type of ecosystem characterised by a more or less closed herbaceous (non-woody) vegetation layer, sometimes with a shrub layer, but-in contrast to savannas-without, or with very few, trees. Different types of grasslands are found under a broad range of climatic conditions.

Africa assessment
grassland

Type of ecosystem characterized by a more or less closed herbaceous (non-woody) vegetation layer, sometimes with a shrub layer, but - in contrast to savannas - without, or with very few, trees. Different types of grasslands are found under a broad range of climatic conditions.

Europe and Central Asia assessment, Americas assessment
grazing

Feeding on growing herbage, attached algae, or phytoplankton.

Sustainable use assessment
grazing land management

The strategies used by people to promote both high quality and quantity of forage for domesticated livestock.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
great acceleration

Great Acceleration refers to the acceleration of human-induced changes of the second half of the 20th century, unique in the history of human existence. Many human activities reached take-off points and sharply accelerated towards the end of the century.

Global assessment (1st work programme)
green bonds

A mode of private financing that tap the debt capital market through fixed income instruments (i.e. bonds) to raise capital to finance climate-friendly projects in key sectors of, but not limited to, transport, energy, building and industry, water, agriculture and forestry and waste.

Global assessment (1st work programme), Sustainable use assessment
green growth

Green growth means fostering economic growth and development while ensuring that natural assets continue to provide the resources and environmental services on which our well-being relies.

Global assessment (1st work programme)
green hunting

Green hunting occurs with tranquilizer dart guns and the animals are released alive. This is typically performed for veterinary procedures or translocation, and has been suggested as an alternative to lethal forms of hunting.

Sustainable use assessment
green infrastructure

Green infrastructure refers to the natural or semi-natural systems (e.g. riparian vegetation) that provide services for water resources management with equivalent or similar benefits to conventional (built) “grey” infrastructure (e.g. water treatment plants).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
green public procurement

A process whereby public authorities seek to procure goods, services and works with a reduced environmental impact throughout their life-cycle when compared to goods, services and works with the same primary function that would otherwise be procured.

Asia-Pacific assessment
green revolution

Period of food crop productivity growth that started in the 1960s due to a combination of high rates of investment in crop research, infrastructure, and market development and appropriate policy support, and whose environmental impacts have been mixed: on one side saving land conversion to agriculture, on the other side promoting an overuse of inputs and cultivation on areas otherwise improper to high levels of intensification, such as slopes.

Sustainable use assessment
green revolution

A set of research and the development of technology transfer initiatives occurring between the 1930s and the late 1960s (with prequels in the work of the agrarian geneticist Nazareno Strampelli in the 1920s and 1930s), that increased agricultural production worldwide, particularly in the developing world, beginning most markedly in the late 1960s. The initiatives resulted in the adoption of new technologies, including: new, high- yielding varieties (HYVs) of cereals, especially dwarf wheats and rices, in association with chemical fertilizers and agro-chemicals, and with controlled water-supply (usually involving irrigation) and new methods of cultivation, including mechanization. All of these together were seen as a package of practices to supersede traditional technology and to be adopted as a whole.

Land degradation and restoration assessment, Global assessment (1st work programme)
green revolution

Period of food crop productivity growth that started in the 1960s due to a combination of high rates of investment in crop research, infrastructure, and market development and appropriate policy support, and whose environmental impacts have been mixed: on.

green water

Water transpired through plants to the atmosphere.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
greenhouse gas

Those gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that absorb and emit radiation at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of infrared radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface, the atmosphere, and clouds. This property causes the greenhouse effect.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
greenhouse gas

Greenhouse gases are those gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that absorb and emit radiation at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of terrestrial radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface, the atmosphere itself, and by clouds. This property causes the greenhouse effect. Water vapour (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) and ozone (O3) are the primary greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. Moreover, there are a number of entirely human-made greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as the halocarbons and other chlorine- and brominecontaining substances, dealt with under the Montreal Protocol. Beside CO2, N2O and CH4, the Kyoto Protocol deals with the greenhouse gases sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
greenhouse gas

Greenhouse gases are those gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that absorb and emit radiation at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of terrestrial radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface, the atmosphere itself, and by clouds. This property causes the greenhouse effect. Water vapour (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) and ozone (O3) are the primary greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. Moreover, there are a number of entirely human-made greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as the halocarbons and other chlorine- and bromine containing substances, dealt with under the Montreal Protocol. Beside CO2, N2O and CH4, the Kyoto Protocol deals with the greenhouse gases sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs).

Sustainable use assessment
grey water

Any wastewater that is not contaminated with faecal matter.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
gross primary production

Total terrestrial Gross Primary Production (GPP) is the total mass of carbon taken out of the atmosphere by plant photosynthesis.

Land degradation and restoration assessment
gross primary productivity

The amount of carbon fixed by the autotrophs (e.g. plants and algaes).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
observing

Observing is defined as a non-extractive practice that is based on the observation of wild species. The observation can imply some interaction with the wild species, such as the activities of wildlife tourism and whale watching or no interaction with the wild species, such as photography.

Sustainable use assessment
ocean acidification

See acidification.

Americas assessment, Global assessment (1st work programme), Europe and Central Asia assessment
oceanic gyre

Large system of rotating ocean currents. There are five major gyres: the North and South Pacific Subtropical Gyres, the North and South Atlantic Subtropical Gyres, and the Indian Ocean Subtropical Gyre (NOAA, 2018c).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
oceanic oxygen minimum zones

Oxygen-deficient layers in the ocean water column. OMZs correspond to subsurface oceanic zones reaching ultra-low values of O2 concentration (Paulmier & Ruiz-Pino, 2008).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
oil spill

An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution.

Asia-Pacific assessment
old-growth forest

From an ecological point of view, old-growth forests are a stage of forest development characterized by large/old trees and structural complexity including live and dead trees, and vertical and horizontal heterogeneity (including a multi-layered canopy). The structural diversity of old growth forests often supports distinctive/specialist biodiversity; large/old trees are keystone components of the ecosystem (Lindenmayer et al., 2012). In addition, the long-period of forest development without stand replacement disturbance allows many poor-dispersing species to accumulate (IUFRO, 2018). Other definitions can be found based on economic and social perspectives (Hilbert & Wienscczyk, 2007).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
oligotrophic

Nutrient-poor environment (IUCN, 2012a).

Global assessment (1st work programme)
oligotrophic

Nutrient-poor environment.

Sustainable use assessment
one biosecurity

interdisciplinary approach to biosecurity policy and research that builds on the interconnections between human, animal, plant, and environmental health to effectively prevent and mitigate the impacts of invasive alien species. It provides an integrated perspective to address the many biosecurity risks that transcend the traditional boundaries of health, agriculture, and the environment. Individual invasive alien plant and animal species often have multiple impacts across sectors: as hosts of zoonotic parasites, vectors of pathogens, pests of agriculture or forestry, as well as threats to biodiversity and ecosystem function

Invasive alien species assessment
one health

The One Health Initiative is a movement to forge co-equal, all inclusive collaborations between physicians, osteopathic physicians, veterinarians, dentists, nurses and other scientific-health and environmentally related disciplines.

Asia-Pacific assessment
one health

an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals, and ecosystems. It recognizes the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the wider environment (including ecosystems) are closely linked and interdependent (One Health High-Level Expert Panel

Invasive alien species assessment
ontology

The philosophical study of the nature of being, becoming, existence, or reality, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations.

Global assessment (1st work programme)
ontology

The study or concern about what kinds of things exist - what entities there are in the universe. It is a branch of metaphysics,.

Pollination assessment
open ocean pelagic systems

Marine ecosystems in the light-flooded (euphotic) zone.

Global assessment (1st work programme)
opportunity cost

The added cost of using resources (as for production or speculative investment) that is the difference between the actual value resulting from such use and that of an alternative (such as another use of the same resources or an investment of equal risk but greater return).

Land degradation and restoration assessment
opportunity cost

The foregone benefits of carrying out one activity in favor of another, or giving up their initial preferred land-use plan.

Americas assessment