Key Climate Terms Explained

Essential terminology you need to understand Climate news. Each term is explained in plain language with context for how it appears in current reporting.

Carbon Credit

A tradable certificate representing one ton of CO2 emission reduction

ESG

Environmental, Social, and Governance criteria for investment decisions

Net Zero

Achieving balance between greenhouse gas emissions and removals

Scope 1/2/3 Emissions

Direct (1), energy-related (2), and supply chain (3) emissions

Carbon Capture

Technologies that capture CO2 from the atmosphere or point sources

Stay Informed

These terms appear frequently in Climate reporting. Bookmark this page as a quick reference when reading our latest intelligence briefs.

Terms are sourced from stories that clear our classification pipeline at a minimum 35 percent relevance threshold. According to that methodology, reviewed July 2026, this follows multi-source corroboration standards recommended by journalism research bodies such as the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.