Carbon pollution pricing: options for a Federal Greenhouse Gas Offset System, chapter 22
Glossary
Accuracy:
ISO 14064-2 principle which states, "reduce bias and uncertainties as far as is practical."
Aggregators:
Project Proponents who pool similar projects or project activities together in order to manage the project registration and credit creation process on behalf of many independent parties.
Completeness:
ISO 14064-2 principle which states, "include all relevant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals. Include all relevant information to support criteria and procedures."
Conservativeness:
ISO 14064-2 principle which states, "use conservative assumptions, values, and procedures to ensure that GHG emission reductions or removal enhancements are not over-estimated."
Consistency:
ISO 14064-2 principle which states, "enable meaningful comparisons in GHG-related information."
Crediting periods:
Specify the number of years an offset project is allowed to generate Offset Credits.
Offset Credit:
a credit issued to a Project Proponent by the Minister under regulations made pursuant to section 195 of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (GGPPA) representing one tonne of CO2e reduced or removed from the atmosphere by the offset project.
Federal Offset Protocol:
a consistent and approved approach for quantifying the GHG emission reductions, or removal enhancements for a given project type. A Federal Offset Protocol also provides requirements for project planning and operating expectations, including monitoring and data management requirements. These requirements must be followed by a Project Proponent when implementing and reporting on an offset project and are verified.
Functionally Equivalent:
The quantity and quality of the services or products in the project must be equivalent to the quantity and quality of the services in the baseline scenario.
GHG sink:
process that removes a GHG from the atmosphere
GHG reservoir:
component, other than the atmosphere, that has the capacity to accumulate GHGs and to store and release them
GHG project:
activity or activities which cause GHG reductions or removal enhancement from a baseline.
GHG removal enhancement:
achieved by capturing and permanently storing CO2 in a reservoir, or increasing the amount of CO2 removed from the atmosphere in biological sinks such as forests.
Leakage:
may occur when the efforts to achieve GHG reductions result in release of GHGs in another location (thereby resulting in no net GHG reductions).
Monitoring:
continuous or periodic assessment of GHG emissions, GHG removals, or other GHG related data.
Program Authority:
oversees the administration of an offset system. For the Federal GHG Offset System, this is Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Project Proponents:
recognized as “persons that are responsible for the projects” under section 195 of the Act, who apply to register the project, and implement the project in a manner that satisfies requirements related to eligibility, monitoring or estimation, quantification, data management, and reporting. They must also engage and pay for an accredited Verification Body to confirm the reductions achieved by the project.
Relevance:
ISO 14064-2 principle which states, "select the GHG SSRs, data and methodologies appropriate to the needs of the intended user."
Reporting period:
the length of time covered by an offset project report for which the registered offset project is requesting an issuance of corresponding offset credits.
Reversal:
occurs when a quantity of the GHG reductions or removal enhancements as part of an offset project, and for which offset credits have been issued, are subsequently released into the atmosphere.
Start date:
The date at which the offset project activity starts.
Transparency:
ISO 14064-2 principle which states, "disclose sufficient and appropriate GHG-related information to allow intended users to make decisions with reasonable confidence."
Verification Bodies:
conduct the verification and must be free from conflict of interest and accredited to ISO 14065 by ANSI, SCC or another recognized accreditation body.
Verification:
independent assessment as to whether the emission reductions or removal enhancements claimed from the project have been monitored or quantified as specified in the appropriate Federal Offset Protocol and that the quantity of Offset Credits claimed in the Project Report is fair and accurate.
Validation:
an assessment by an independent third party of the reasonableness of the assumptions and methods used to quantify the expected emission reductions or removals for an offset project prior to implementation.
