The

Climate
Dictionary

Natnure
Editio
Foreword
Our relationship with our natural world is broken. We are currently using
resources equivalent to 1.7 Earths, far beyond what the planet can
regenerate.

Every day, more and more people are getting involved in environmental
action. But while many terms and concepts related to biodiversity loss,
climate change and pollution will be familiar, many are also complicated,
and it can be hard to identify what information is most important.

Everyone deserves to have a voice, but this is difficult without common

understanding of the terms used to discuss what’s happening.

That is why, following the popularity of the Climate Dictionary, we have

produced this Nature Edition, a guide to the most frequently used and
important terms and concepts, keeping the facts but leaving out the jargon.

At UNDP, we have the largest nature portfolio across the UN, and we worked
with our experts to provide robust yet straightforward definitions. Our hope is
that you will read, share, and make use of it. Through greater understanding
of the interwoven nature-climate crises facing us all, we can make a stronger
push for global environmental action, together.
Midori Paxton
Global Director of
Nature, UNDP

1
Contents
A
Access and benefit sharing 4

B
Biodiversity hotspot 6
Blue economy 8

C
Carbon sink 10

D
Debt-for-nature swaps 12
E
Ecocide 14
Environmental justice 16

G
Global Biodiversity Framework 18
Green economy 20
Green jobs 22

2
I
Indigenous knowledge 24

L
Land degradation 26

N
National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) 28
Nature-based solutions 30
Nature crisis 32
Nature-positive 34

P
Planetary boundaries 36

R
Reforestation vs. Afforestation 38
Regenerative agriculture 40
Rewilding 42

3
Access and
benefit sharing
/ˈækˌsɛs/ /ˈbɛnᵻfɪt ʃɛ(ə)rɪŋ/ noun
Access and benefit sharing means the fair and equitable sharing of
the benefits that come from the use of genetic resources.

Many valuable genetic resources from plants, animals and microbes

are found in developing countries with rich biodiversity. They have
often been safeguarded by Indigenous Peoples and local communities
for generations, together with traditional knowledge about their use
and value. These resources can have many different purposes,
including medical research, agricultural innovations, and commercial
products such as cosmetics and beverages, representing significant
benefits. The benefits resulting from their use can be financial,
educational and cultural and should be shared fairly with the people
or countries that provided them.

Without agreements to guide access and benefit sharing, these

countries, Indigenous Peoples and local communities might not
receive any benefits from the commercial use of their natural
resources. In addition to protecting and promoting fairness, access
and benefit sharing agreements also encourage the conservation and
sustainable use of biodiversity.

5
Biodiversity
hotspot
/ˌbaɪoʊdəˈvərsədi ˈhɑt ˌspɑt/ noun
A biodiversity hotspot is a region with very high diversity of species
which are both irreplaceable and threatened by biodiversity loss.
Hotspots are defined as having at least 1,500 species of plants that
occur nowhere else on Earth, and which have lost at least 70 percent
of their original, natural vegetation.

Hotspots are the world’s most biologically rich areas, containing

nearly 50 percent of all unique plant species and about 35 percent of
bird, mammal, reptile and amphibian species. Yet, they are deeply
threatened.

There are currently 36 biodiversity hotspots around the world.

Although biodiversity hotspots are estimated to have once covered
more than 15 percent of the world’s land, their habitats have now
been reduced to about 2.5 percent, due to human action and
exploitation. Climate change is further destabilizing these ecosystems
and accelerating habitat loss. Protection and restoration of
biodiversity hotspots are crucial for halting and reversing nature loss,
protecting carbon sinks and preventing the collapse of ecosystems
upon which life on Earth depends.

7
Blue
economy
bluː ɪɪˈkɒnəmi/
//ˈbluː kɒnəmi/
i noun
i/
The world’s oceans – their temperature, chemistry, currents, and life
– drive global systems that make Earth habitable for humankind. Our
rainwater, drinking water, weather, climate, coastlines, much of our
food, medicines and even the oxygen in the air we breathe, are all
provided and regulated by the seas. However, because of climate
change, the health of our oceans is now at significant risk.

The "blue economy" concept seeks to promote economic development,

social inclusion, and the preservation or improvement of livelihoods
while at the same time ensuring environmental sustainability of the
oceans and coastal areas.

Blue economy has diverse components, including established

traditional ocean industries such as fisheries, tourism, and maritime
transport, but also new and emerging activities, such as offshore
renewable energy, aquaculture, seabed extractive activities, and
marine biotechnology.

9
Carbon sink
/ˈkɑːbən sɪŋk/ noun
A carbon sink is any process, activity, or mechanism that absorbs
more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it releases. Forests,
oceans, and soil are the world’s largest natural carbon sinks.

Oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through marine

ecosystems and the plant and animal life they harbor. Sequestering
carbon in marine ecosystems is generally referred to as blue carbon.
Forests and soil are the other main natural carbon sinks of the planet,
storing carbon in trees and vegetation, wetlands and peat bogs, and
plant litter.

Today, human activity, like burning fossil fuels and deforestation,

causes more carbon to be released into the atmosphere than the
Earth’s natural carbon sinks can absorb, leading to global warming
and climate change. Human activities and climate change are also
causing the degradation of these natural carbon sinks, threatening
the release of the carbon they store back into the atmosphere.
Therefore, protecting carbon sinks and expanding their capability to
absorb carbon and store it long-term is a key strategy for tackling
climate change and stabilizing the climate.

11
Debt-for-nature
swaps
/dɛt fɔr ˈneɪtʃər swɑp/ noun
Debt-for-nature swaps are financial instruments that reduce a
country's external debt in exchange for commitments to protect
nature and biodiversity, tackle nature loss and the climate crisis.

Often, developing countries that are heavily indebted are also highly
vulnerable to environmental degradation and climate change. This
creates a vicious cycle in which their debt limits the investments they
can make to increase resilience to the impacts of nature loss and
climate change, leaving them even more vulnerable to consequences
of ecosystem collapse, vanishing natural resources and climate
hazards that further compound financial strain.

Debt-for-nature swaps can help countries lessen their debt burden,

while boosting their economies and contributing to their national
commitments to biodiversity, climate and land targets and goals. In
some countries, these swaps have reduced debt by up to 10 percent of
Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

It is estimated that debt-for-nature swaps could generate US$100

billion to help restore nature and advance climate action. However,
for this to happen, the volume of transactions must be scaled up
significantly.

13
Ecocide
ˌ
//ˈɛkəˌsaɪd/
/ noun
Ecocide is the devastation or destruction of nature to the detriment
of life, the ‘unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that
there is a substantial likelihood of causing severe and either
widespread or long-term damage to the environment’.

Several countries have passed national ecocide laws to deter actions

that cause serious environmental destruction, establishing personal
criminal liability for such acts. This could mean that individuals,
including corporate leaders and heads of state, could be prosecuted
and face imprisonment for causing major environmental harm.

Ecocide undermines countries and societies that depend on the

services provided by healthy ecosystems, such as clean air and
water, pollination and food, for their survival. For Indigenous
Peoples and local communities, the destruction of nature caused by
resource extraction and climate change can also threaten to
eradicate their cultures and ways of life.Ecocide also severely
compromises Earth’s ability to support future generations and their
chances of enjoying basic universal human rights.

15
Environmental
justice
/ənˌvaɪrə(n)ˈmɛn(t)l ˈdʒəstəs/ noun
Environmental justice is the goal of promoting justice and
accountability in environmental matters, focusing on the respect,
protection and fulfilment of environmental rights for both present and
future generations, and the promotion of the environmental rule of
law. It supports the principle that everyone has the right to a clean,
healthy and sustainable environment.

The triple planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change, and

pollution undermines human rights and worsens inequalities. These
interlinked crises act as threat multipliers, amplifying conflicts and
structural inequalities, and forcing people into increasingly
vulnerable situations, particularly those from communities who are
already marginalized.

The pursuit of environmental justice therefore requires equitable

solutions that respect and protect human rights and take planetary
boundaries into account. Such solutions include protecting the land
and tenure rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities,
taking action on the right to a healthy environment on a livable
planet on behalf of children and future generations, incorporating
principles of just transition into efforts to transition to a nature-
positive, low-emission future, and ensuring access to justice for
human rights violations caused by or triggered by defending against
environmental degradation and the changing climate.

17
Global
Biodiversity
Framework
/ˈɡloʊb(ə)l ˌbaɪoʊdəˈvərsədi ˈfreɪmˌwərk/ noun
The Global Biodiversity Framework is a plan developed by the United
Nations and its member countries to reach the global vision of a
world living in harmony with nature by 2050. The framework was
adopted by 196 countries in 2022 at the UN Biodiversity Conference
(COP15). It sets out 23 specific targets to be achieved by 2030, along
with four long-term goals for 2050.

The Global Biodiversity Framework outlines a clear strategy for

countries to follow to protect and restore biodiversity. Countries
agreed to 23 targets to achieve by 2030 including commitments to
conserve 30 percent of land, sea and inland waters, restore 30 percent
of degraded ecosystems, halve the introduction of invasive species,
and reduce harmful subsidies by US$500 billion per year. In addition,
the four long-term goals focus on guaranteeing the health of species
and ecosystems and halting extinction, using biodiversity sustainably
and sharing the benefits equitably, as well as closing the biodiversity
finance gap, which currently amounts to $700 billion per year.

19
Green economy
/ɡrin iˈkɑnəmi/ noun
A green economy is an economic system that promotes human well-
being and builds social equity while reducing environmental risks and
resource scarcities. In a green economy, the focus is on achieving
sustainable development by creating decent work and green jobs,
protecting biodiversity and ecosystem services, reducing carbon
emissions and pollution, promoting resource efficiency and advancing
equity and fairness among different social groups and generations.

Green finance plays a crucial role in supporting a green economy by

providing the necessary financial flows from public and private
sources to key sectors for sustainable development such as agriculture
and fisheries, water, forests, infrastructure, energy, industry,
technology, transportation and tourism. In a green economy,
financial investments in these sectors manage environmental and
social risks, while seizing opportunities that offer both financial
returns and environmental benefits and enhancing accountability in
financial practices.

The green economy aims for triple benefits in economic,

environmental and social areas. By harmonizing regulatory
frameworks, providing public financial incentives and facilitating
green financing across sectors, countries can identify positive
synergies that help create a sustainable and inclusive economic
system that benefits both people and nature.

21
Green jobs
/ɡriːn dʒɒb/ noun
Green jobs are decent jobs that contribute to protecting and restoring
the environment and addressing climate change. Green jobs can be
found in both the production of green products and services, such as
renewable energy, and in environmentally friendly processes, such as
recycling. Green jobs help improve energy and raw material efficiency,
limit greenhouse gas emissions, minimize waste and pollution,
protect and restore ecosystems, and support adaptation to the
impacts of climate change.

As the market for green jobs is expanding, countries must ensure that
the workforce is equipped with the specific skills and education
required to carry them out. This can be achieved by investing in
training young people for future green jobs and by retraining workers
from carbon-intensive industries. The latter is a key part of ensuring
countries are pursuing a just transition and leave no one behind.

23
Indigenous
knowledge
/ɪnˈdɪdʒənəs ˈnɒlɪdʒ/ noun
Indigenous Peoples’ ways of life are inherently low-carbon and
emphasize balance between humans and the natural world. Their
traditional practices have low impact on the environment and are
responsive to it, fostering self-sustaining ecosystems.

Indigenous Peoples were among the first to notice climate change and
their knowledge and practices help navigate and adapt to its impacts.
Indigenous knowledge, which is intergenerational and community-
based, is a great source of meaningful climate solutions that can
advance mitigation, enhance adaptation, and build resilience. It can
also complement scientific data with precise landscape information
that is critical to evaluating climate change scenarios.

Indigenous Peoples and the lands they manage are essential to

protecting the world’s biodiversity. Yet they continue to be largely
excluded from almost all global decision-making processes on
tackling climate change and the nature crisis. Their collective
knowledge and valuable insights, their rights to their ancestral lands,
territories and resources, and their way of life must be recognized and
included across environmental policies and actions.

25
Land
degradation
/lænd ˌdɛɡrəˈdeɪʃən/ noun
Land degradation occurs when human activities exploit land leading to
a decline in its usefulness, biodiversity, soil fertility and overall health.
Land degradation has far-reaching consequences, disrupting rainfall
patterns, increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather
events like droughts and floods, and limiting the carbon storage
potential of ecosystems and soils. These impacts affect food security
and the social and political stability of communities and can lead to
increased poverty, conflict and migration.

If the current rate of land degradation continues, 90 percent of the

world's land could be classified as degraded by 2050. Land degradation
neutrality (LDN) is a state where the quantity and quality of land
resources needed to support ecosystem functions and services remain
stable or improve over time and across different locations and
ecosystems. Land degradation neutrality can be achieved by adopting
sustainable land management practices, transitioning to regenerative
agriculture and restoring nature and degraded ecosystems. This is
crucial to ensuring food security for a human population of over eight
billion, as current agricultural practices degrade soils up to 100 times
faster than they can regenerate through natural processes.

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

aims to achieve land degradation neutrality by halting and reversing
this trend. It supports 131 countries committed to stopping land
degradation by 2030.

27
National Biodiversity
Strategies and
Action Plans (NBSAPs)
/ˈnæʃən(ə)l ˌbaɪoʊdəˈvərsədi ˈstrædədʒi
ˈækʃən plæns/ noun
National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) are national
plans that guide the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in a
country, developed under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

NBSAPs are essential tools for countries to design and prioritize actions
to protect nature and integrate them into national decision-making,
economic planning and public policy. They play a particularly crucial
role in mainstreaming environmental action and conservation across
different sectors of public policy, which is central to achieving each
country’s commitments made under the Global Biodiversity Framework
and the goals of the CBD. Incorporating mainstreaming as a major
feature of the NBSAPs is important because many national
environmental focal points are not present in the most influential
departments or ministries.

NBSAPs supports countries to align to the 23 targets and four goals of

the Global Biodiversity Framework, addressing the need to integrate
biodiversity values into government policies, encouraging businesses to
assess and disclose their impacts on biodiversity, promoting sustainable
consumption, setting clear financial and resource goals that align to a
nature-positive future, and ensuring equity, inclusivity and gender
justice in biodiversity actions.

Each country that is a signatory to the CBD has to develop an NBSAP,

according to its context and capabilities. Since 1993, 191 countries have
developed at least one NBSAP.

29
Nature-based
solutions
/ˈneɪtʃə(r) beɪst səˈluːʃns/ noun
Nature-based solutions are actions to protect, conserve, restore, and
sustainably use and manage ecosystems to support climate change
adaptation and mitigation efforts, preserve biodiversity, and enable
sustainable livelihoods. They are actions that prioritize the
importance of ecosystems and biodiversity and are designed and
implemented with the full engagement and consent of local
communities and Indigenous Peoples, who hold generational
knowledge on protecting nature.

Nature-based solutions are used in many ways, across terrestrial,

freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems. Restoring wetlands
protects communities from floods, while conserving mangrove forests
supports food sources and minimizes the impact of storms. Forests
absorb carbon dioxide, allow biodiversity to thrive, increase water
security, and combat landslides, while urban parks and gardens help
cool down cities and limit the impact of heatwaves. Regenerative
agriculture practices increase the amount of carbon captured by the
soil and restore its health and productivity.

Nature-based solutions are seen as a win-win for people and nature,

addressing multiple problems at once. They can create jobs, provide
new and more resilient livelihood opportunities, and increase income
while also protecting the planet and addressing climate change.

31
Nature crisis
/ˈneɪtʃər ˈkraɪsᵻs/ noun
The nature crisis refers to the rapid and dangerous decline of the
world’s natural resources and stability of our ecological systems over
the past century. It is driven by human activities such as deforestation,
overfishing and pollution, which are linked to unsustainable patterns
of production and consumption and a growing human population. At
its roots, the nature crisis stems from the ways we underestimate the
value of nature in our global systems and daily lives.

Humanity is currently using resources equivalent to 1.7 Earths, which

is far beyond what the planet’s ecosystems can regenerate. This
consumption is much higher in high-income countries than in low- or
middle-income ones and drives the triple planetary crisis of
biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution.

Nearly two million of Earth’s estimated eight million species of plants,

insects and animals face the threat of extinction, and over 75 percent
of ice-free land, 66 percent of marine environments and 85 percent of
wetlands have been significantly altered by human actions. To shift
from nature-negative to nature-positive, humanity must conserve and
restore a lot more of the planet’s land, water and oceans, adopt
regenerative agriculture practices, transition to sustainable patterns
of production and consumption, and assign financial values to
nature’s services so that they can be prioritized in policies and
investments.

33
Nature Positive
/ˈneɪtʃər ˈpɑzədɪv/ proper noun
Nature Positive is a global goal to halt and reverse nature loss by
2030 on a 2020 baseline and achieve full recovery by 2050. In simple
terms it means ensuring more nature in the world in 2030 than in
2020 and continued recovery after that.

Actions and strategies to achieve the Nature Positive goal focus on

enhancing the resilience of ecosystems, protecting and enriching
biodiversity, storing carbon, supporting access to natural resources
and reducing health risks for societies to benefit both human well-
being and the health of the planet.

Nature Positive requires a shift away from nature-negative practices

that degrade nature towards those that restore and sustain it,
ensuring that nature's benefits are maintained and protected. By
securing nature's vital contributions, a transition to Nature Positive
supports sustainable socio-economic development and moves
humanity in the direction of a harmonious relationship between
human activities and nature’s ecological systems.

Ultimately, reaching Nature Positive will strengthen the resilience of

both people and planet, offering a future where ecological health and
human thriving go hand in hand.

35
Planetary
boundaries
/ˈplænəˌtɛri ˈbaʊnd(ə)ris/ noun
Planetary boundaries define the Earth's limits of resources and
protective systems that create a safe operating space for humanity.
Planetary boundaries quantify the vulnerability of Earth’s life-
supporting systems and explain the constraints on economic and
population growth necessary to also maintain a stable environment.
These boundaries challenge dominant economic views of an Earth
with limitless capacity, highlighting that our development and
survival are bound by ecological limits.

Nine processes regulate the stability and resilience of the Earth’s

system and there is a quantified planetary boundary for each. As of
2023, six boundaries—climate change, biosphere integrity, land
system change, freshwater use, biogeochemical flows and novel
entities (like human-made chemicals and plastics)—have already
been crossed, posing serious risks to humanity and all life on Earth.
Ocean acidification is also approaching a critical threshold.

37
Reforestation
vs. Afforestation
/ˌriːfɒrɪˈsteɪʃn/ noun /əˌfɒrɪˈsteɪʃn/ noun
Forests provide immense benefits by removing carbon dioxide and
pollutants from the atmosphere, preventing soil erosion, filtering
water, and housing half of the world’s land species of animals, plants
and insects. Reforestation and afforestation are two of the most
effective nature-based solutions in fighting climate change and
limiting its impacts.

Reforestation is the process of replanting trees in areas that had

recent tree cover but where forests were lost, due to wildfires,
drought, disease, or human activity such as agricultural clearing.
Afforestation is the process of planting trees in areas that have not
been forested in recent history. Afforestation helps restore abandoned
and degraded agricultural lands, prevent desertification, create
carbon sinks, and generate new economic opportunities for local
communities.

39
Regenerative
agriculture
/rɪˈdʒenərətɪv ˈæɡrɪkʌltʃə(r)/ noun
Regenerative agriculture is a way of farming that nurtures and
restores soil health, and therefore reduces water use, prevents land
degradation, and promotes biodiversity. By minimizing land
ploughing, practicing rotating crops, and using animal manure and
compost, regenerative agriculture ensures that the soil stores more
carbon, conserves more moisture, and is healthier due to thriving
fungal communities.

Intensive agriculture is responsible for a third of global greenhouse

gas emissions, uses 70 percent of the fresh water we consume, and
leads to soil degradation through its use of heavy machinery,
chemical fertilizers, and pesticides. It is also the biggest contributor to
biodiversity loss. By contrast, regenerative agriculture helps lower
greenhouse gas emissions, conserves water, and restores land.
Moreover, healthy soil produces more food and better nutrition and
has other positive impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity.

41
Rewilding
/ˌriːˈwaɪldɪŋ/ noun
Rewilding is the mass restoration of ecosystems that have been
damaged by human activity. More than conservation, which focuses
on saving specific species through dedicated human intervention,
rewilding refers to setting aside large areas for the natural world to
regenerate in on its own terms. This sometimes requires the
reintroduction of key species that have been driven extinct in a
particular region, such as beavers, wolves, or large herbivores, who
help shape entire ecosystems.

Rewilding can help combat climate change by removing more carbon

dioxide from the atmosphere through healthy natural processes such
as natural woodland regeneration. It also helps prevent species
extinction by creating nature-rich habitats that allow wildlife to
adapt to climate change and migrate as warming intensifies.

43
UNDP’s Nature Pledge is the largest global offer of support to countries to achieve the
goals and targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework, aligned to the Sustainable
Development Goals. It works with over 140 countries through 340+ projects to develop
National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), Biodiversity Finance Plans
(BIOFIN) and implement widespread environmental action. Learn more at undp.org/nature
and follow at @UNDPClimate.

UNDP’s Climate Promise is the UN system’s largest portfolio of support on climate action,
working with more than 140 countries and territories and directly benefiting 37 million
people. This portfolio implements over US$2.3 billion in grant financing and draws on
UNDP’s expertise in adaptation, mitigation, carbon markets, climate and forests, and
climate strategies and policy. Visit our website at climatepromise.undp.org or follow at
@UNDPClimate.

UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty,
inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in
170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet.
Learn more at undp.org or follow at @UNDP.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not
necessarily represent those of the United Nations, including the UN Development
Programme, or UN Member States.

Copyright: ©UNDP 2024. All rights reserved. One United Nations Plaza, New York, NY
10017, USA.

Illustrations: Omer Kavuk

United Nations Development Programme
1 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017

www.undp.org
undp.org/nature
climatepromise.undp.org

@UNDP
@UNDPClimate