Glossary
The Project Frame Glossary is an evolving list of terms frequently used in the context of climate solutions investing and impact assessment. A shared language promotes collaboration and adoption for increased transparency and accountability.
Rather than a comprehensive list, this library offers a starting place for terms to help us stay inclusive, accessible, and consistent.
We release work in progress to learn by doing and improve terms based on feedback. Please share your thoughts at impact@primecoalition.org.
Adaptation & Resilience (A&R) focuses on preparing communities, ecosystems, and economies for shifting conditions resulting from climate change.
Avoided emissions are defined as the “positive” impact on society when comparing the GHG impact of a solution to an alternative reference scenario where the solution would not be used. They are sometimes referred to as Scope 4 Emissions, but Project Frame does not recommend the use of this term to avoid conflation with Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 used in carbon accounting.
An attribute of impact, requiring an investor or company's thoughtful and reasonable articulation of the degree to which its support causes a change in an outcome that would have not otherwise happened (in a no-intervention or business as usual baseline scenario).
The process of allocating credit for GHG impact based on the relative contributions of various participants in the value chain.
Verification that claims of GHG impact are free from errors, omissions, or misstatements. This is also associated with third-party verification of an investor’s impact methodology and practices.
A projection of GHG emissions over time, representing what would have happened in the absence of an investment or a climate solution.
A part of an overall solution that plays a critical role in delivering GHG impact. The GHG impact will depend on the use case for the product that contains the component.
When a solution can be purchased as a whole to yield GHG impact (for example, an electric vehicle, heat pump, or more sustainably produced food product).
An intervention, product, or service that is expected to directly or indirectly remove and/ or avoid greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation solution) or strengthen the capacity of systems to avoid, adjust to, and/or recover from current and future climate shocks and stresses (adaptation and/or resilience solution).
Attributing portions of impact across the shareholders of the company that has put the proposed climate solution on the market.
The GHG emissions produced to create and sell a product, including emissions to extract materials for it, manufacture it, and distribute it.
The ratio of emissions per unit of activity or object (e.g., grams of carbon dioxide emitted per barrel of oil burned or pound of steel produced).
A solution that indirectly advances our ability to reduce emissions or adopt a direct climate solution, which will ultimately deliver or accelerate GHG impact.
Total GHG emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event or product
GWP consists of multipliers applied to greenhouse gasses such as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) to equate the impact they have on the Earth’s temperature with that of carbon dioxide (CO2) over a particular time horizon. It provides a common scale for measuring the climate effects of different gasses.
Gases that absorb infrared radiation and trap heat in the atmosphere.
The practice of making misleading or false claims about the environmental benefits of a product, service, or company, with the intention of deceiving consumers into believing that it is more environmentally friendly than it actually is.
The comparable technology, product, service, device, or process (i.e. status quo) that a proposed climate solution aims to displace in the market
How a proposed climate solution is expected to directly or indirectly result in a change in atmospheric Greenhouse Gas (GHG) concentration, either through emissions reduction compared to a defined status quo or incumbent or through GHG removal.
A cumulative accounting of all GHG emissions connected to a particular product, including materials, manufacturing, distribution, use, and disposal.
The phenomenon where improved energy efficiency leads to reduced energy use but, due to changes in behavior or other systemic factors, this reduction is partially or fully offset by increased consumption of the same or other goods or services.
Direct GHG emissions that occur from sources that are owned or controlled by the reporting company, such as emissions from combustion of fossil fuels in boilers, furnaces, and vehicles.
Indirect GHG emissions that result from the generation of purchased electricity, heat, or steam consumed by the reporting company.
All indirect emissions that occur in a company's value chain, including both upstream and downstream emissions.
Mitigation aims to reduce or prevent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This includes efforts like transitioning to renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, decarbonizing industrial processes, and scaling carbon removal technologies (which may include nature-based solutions).
The amount of GHG emissions released from the operation or use of a technology, product, or service.
The impact expected from a company or a proposed climate solution based on a realistic analysis of its business model.
The impact a proposed climate solution could have based on a standardized growth trajectory that assumes the proposed solution takes over the Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM).
The difference between GHG emissions released by a single unit of an innovation and a single unit of the incumbent technology (or representative mix of technologies).
Attributing portions of emissions reduction impact across contributors along the value chain.
An instance that quantifies the amount of product or service, which is used to track the scale of a proposed climate solution compared to an incumbent, e.g. one vehicle or one megawatt-hour of electricity generated.