EE-AoA Glossary

ASEF - Asia-Europe Foundation

Assessment - Formal efforts to assemble selected knowledge with a view toward making it publicly available in a form intended to be useful for decision-making (Mitchell and others 2006). By ‘formal’ the definition requires that the assessment should be sufficiently organised to identify components such as products, participants and issuing authority. ‘Selected knowledge’ indicates that the content has a defined scope or purpose and that not all information compiled and contributed is necessarily included in the report. The sources of knowledge may vary. While results from research and scientific knowledge predominate, assessments can supplement this with local, traditional or indigenous knowledge. Further, assessments can evaluate both existing information and research conducted expressly for the purpose. The definition also notes the importance of ensuring that assessments are in the public domain, as they may influence public debate and different types of decision-makers.

Assessments - Formal efforts to assemble selected knowledge with a view toward making it publicly available in a form intended to be useful for decision-making (Mitchell and others 2006). By ‘formal’ the definition requires that the assessment should be sufficiently organised to identify components such as products, participants and issuing authority. ‘Selected knowledge’ indicates that the content has a defined scope or purpose and that not all information compiled and contributed is necessarily included in the report. The sources of knowledge may vary. While results from research and scientific knowledge predominate, assessments can supplement this with local, traditional or indigenous knowledge. Further, assessments can evaluate both existing information and research conducted expressly for the purpose. The definition also notes the importance of ensuring that assessments are in the public domain, as they may influence public debate and different types of decision-makers.

BAP - Biodiversity Action Plan

CAFE - Clean Air forEurope

CBD - Convention on Biological Diversity

CEHAPE - Children's Environment and Health Action Plan forEurope

CITES - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

CLRTAP - Convention on Long-rangeTransboundaryAir Pollution

COP - conference of the parties

CORINE - Coordination of Information on the Environment

Credibility - It is concerned with whether the knowledge assembled in the assessment is believed to be valid. An assessment gains credibility and authority by virtue of its information, methods and procedures. Source: Marine AoA

DG - Directorate General

DG ENV - Directorate General for Environment of the European Commission

DG SANCO - Directorate General for Health and Consumer Protection of the European Commission

DIMESA - Directors' meeting for environmental statistics and accounts

DPSIR - The causal framework for describing the interactions between society and the environment adopted by the European Environment Agency: driving forces, pressures, states, impacts, responses (extension of the PSR model developed by OECD). Source: EEA glossary. For more information download the DPSIR/Typology matrix

E'H - Environment and health

E-PRTR - European Pollutants Release and Transfer Register

EAP - Environment Action Programme

EBD - environmental burden of disease

EBONE - European Biodiversity Observation Network

EC - European Commission

ECDC - European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

ECMWF - European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts

EEA - European Economic Association

EEAC - European Environment Advisory Committee

EEC - European Economic Community

EFTA - European Free Trade Association

EHIS - Environmental Health Information Services

EIONET - European environment information and observation network

EMAS - Eco-Management and Audit Scheme

EMEP - European Monitoring and EvaluationProgramme

EMODNET - European Marine Observation and Data Network

ENCA Network - Network of Heads of European Nature Conservation Agencies

ENEA - European Network of Environmental Authorities

ENP - European Neighbourhood Policy

EPA - United States Environmental Protection Agency

EPA Network - Network of the Heads of Environment Protection Agencies

EPER - European pollutant emission register

ESD - Education for sustainable development

ESPON2013 - European observation network for territorial development

ETC/ACC - European Topic Centre on Air and Climate Change

ETC/BD - European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity

ETC/RWM - European Topic Centre on Resource and Waste Management

ETC/WTR - European Topic Centre onWater

ETR - environmental tax reform

ETS - Emissions Trading Scheme

EU - European Union

EUCC - European Union Coastal Conservation

EUNIS - European Nature Information System

EURECA - European Ecosystem Assessment

Ecosystem - An ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant, animal, and micro-organism communities and the non-living environment interacting as a functional unit. Source: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005

Ecosystems - An ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant, animal, and micro-organism communities and the non-living environment interacting as a functional unit. Source: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) - Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is the term applied to the systematic examination of the likely impacts of development proposals on the environment prior to the beginning of any activity.

Eurostat/ESTAT - Statistical Office of the European Communities

GDP - gross domestic product

GEO - Global Environment Outlook

GEOSS - Global Earth Observation System of Systems

GHG - greenhouse gas

GHS - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globally_Harmonized_System

GMES - Global Monitoring for the Environment and Security. European Initiative for the establishment of a European capacity for Earth Observation.

GMO - Genetically modified organism

H2020 - Horizon 2020

HELCOM - Helsinki Commission - Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission

IEA - International Energy Agency

IHPA - International HCH and Pesticides Association

IMS - Indicator Management Systems

INSPIRE - Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe. established by Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2007. INSPIRE aims at making available relevant, harmonised and quality geographic information to support formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and activities which have a direct or indirect impact on the environment. Source: EC INSPIRE Geoportal http://www.inspire-geoportal.eu/index.cfm

IOMC - Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals

IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

IPPC - Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control

IRENA - International Renewable Energy Agency

Impact assessment - Assessment that identifies and characterizes the impacts of human activities and/or natural pressures on ecosystems and society. Source: Marine AoA

Impact assessments - Assessments that identify and characterize the impacts of human activities and/or natural pressures on ecosystems and society. Source: Marine AoA

Integrated assessment - Assessment that integrates across environmental, economic and social aspects, across industry sectors, and across ecosystem components (which may include land-based sources of inputs as well as land-based industries that depend on marine resources). Source: Marine AoA

Integrated assessments - Assessments that integrate across environmental, economic and social aspects, across industry sectors, and across ecosystem components (which may include land-based sources of inputs as well as land-based industries that depend on marine resources). Source: Marine AoA

JRC - Joint Research Centre (European Commission)

LIFE - EU Financial Instrument for the Environment

LRTAP - Long-rangeTransboundaryAir Pollution

Legitimacy - A measure of the acceptability or perceived fairness of an assessment. A legitimate assessment is one that has been conducted in a manner that allows users to be satisfied that their interests have been taken into account appropriately and that the process has been fair. Source: Marine AoA

MA - Millennium ecosystem Assessment

MAP - Mediterranean Action Plan

MED POL - pollution monitoring and assessment programme - Mediterranean region

MFA1 - Material Flow Analysis

MFA2 - Material Flow Accounting

Metadata - Data about data. Source: EEA glossary

NAMEA - National Accounting Matrices including Environmental accounts

NEC - National Emission Ceilings

NESIS - Network to enhance a European Environment Shared and Interoperable Information System

NFP - National Focal Point

NGO - Non-governmental organization

OECD - Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

OSCE - Organisation for Security and Co-operation inEurope

OSPAR - Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of theNorth-East Atlantic

PRELUDE - PRospectiveEnvironmental analysis of Land Use Development inEurope

PRTR - http://www.prtr.de/

Process - Institutional arrangements established to govern, guide and conduct the assessment and to ensure that the mandate and procedures are followed. Source: Marine AoA

Product - It includes both the expert reports/summaries/scenarios and underlying data and information used in the analyses. Source: Marine AoA

REACH - Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals

RTD - Research and Technological Development

Relevance - It denotes the ability of an assessment to address the particular concerns of those using it. It is also referred to as ‘salience’. An assessment is relevant if the user is aware of it and it informs his/her decisions or behaviour. Source: Marine AoA

Reportnet - Eionet’s infrastructure for supporting and improving data and information flows. Reportnet is based on a set of inter-related tools and processes which all build on the active use of the World Wide Web.

Response assessment - Assessment that identifies and evaluates measures that reduce human contributions or vulnerabilities to environmental changes. It can focus on potential future response options and evaluate their risks and likely outcomes, or they may evaluate the effectiveness of policies and measures already adopted. Source: Marine AoA.

Response assessments - Assessments that identify and evaluate measures that reduce human contributions or vulnerabilities to environmental changes. They can focus on potential future response options and evaluate their risks and likely outcomes, or they may evaluate the effectiveness of policies and measures already adopted. Source: Marine AoA.

SAICM - Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management

SCOUT - Sustainable Consumption andOUTlookand scenarios forEurope

SCP - sustainable consumption and production

SD - sustainable development

SDS - safety data sheets

SEBI - Streamlining European Biodiversity Indicators

SEEAW - System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water

SEIS - Shared Environmental Information System forEurope

SMES - Small and Medium Enterprises

SOER - The European Environment - State and outlook

Sectoral assessment - Assessment that addresses a particular sector of human activity. Source: Marine AoA

Sectoral assessments - Assessments that address a particular sector of human activity. Source: Marine AoA

Status and trend (or process) assessment - Assessments that typically describe the present and changing status of ecosystems. Source: Marine AoA

Stern report - Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change

Strategic Impact Assessment (SIA) - Strategic Impact Assessment (SIA), also known as Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), is the assessment of the wider environmental, social and economic impacts of alternative proposals at the beginning of a project.

TEEB - The Economics of Ecosystems ' Biodiversity

TERM - Transport and environment reporting mechanism

TOBIN - Tobin Tax

Thematic assessment - Assessment that focuses on a theme or issue other than a single sector of human activity. Source: Marine AoA

Thematic assessments - Assessments that focus on a theme or issue other than a single sector of human activity. Source: Marine AoA

UN - United Nations

UNCSD - United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development

UNDP - United Nations Development Programme

UNECE - United Nations Economic Commission forEurope

UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme

UNEP-WCMC - World Conservation Monitoring Centre

UNFCCC - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change