Business & Society Chapter 12

ISO 14000

A collection of the best practices for managing an organization's impact on the environment.

cap-and-trade program

A government strategy for reducing harmful emissions or discharges by placing a limit on their total amounts and then allowing firms to buy and sell the rights to emit or discharge specific amounts within the total limits.

climate change

Change in the statistical properties of the climate system when considered over periods of decades

recycling

Convert waste into reusable material.

affordable clean energy

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

dead zone

In a body of water, an area with extremely low oxygen concentration and very little life

greenhouse effect

Natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases

acid rain

Rain containing acids that form in the atmosphere when industrial gas emissions (especially sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides) combine with water.

ozone

a gas molecule that is made up of three oxygen atoms. layer of the atmosphere

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

a governmental agency with environmental protection regulatory and enforcement authority

Coalition for environ

a union of businesses, consumer groups, environmentalists, and other stakeholders, who have established a set of goals for environmental performance

U.S. global climate change initiative

a voluntary protocol or reporting greenhouse gases

sustainable business practices

actions a company takes to reduce their environmental impact and that may lower costs and improve competitive advantage, stakeholder relationships, and the company's reputation and branding

Single use plastics

also known as disposable plastics, these materials are used only once before they are discarded or recycled

kyoto protocol

controlling global warming by setting greenhouse gas emissions targets for developed countries

green washing

disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image.

green marketing

marketing efforts to produce, promote, and reclaim environmentally sensitive products

bioenergy

renewable energy produced by living organisms

particulate matter

the mix of both solid and liquid particles in the air

Sustainability

the potential for long term well-being of the natural environment, including all biological entities, as wall as the interaction among nature and individuals, organizations, and business strategies

biodiversity

the variety of living organisms found in a given area on Earth or on Earth as a whole and the ecological systems in which they live