ESS terms in HL lenses

A situation in which total environmental pressure, such as emissions or resource use, falls while GDP continues to grow.

The view that animals, or at least sentient animals, have moral rights, such as a right not to be killed or made to suffer, that should not be overridden for human benefit.

The faulty argument that something is good or right because it is natural, or bad or wrong because it is unnatural.

A legally binding agreement signed in 2002 by the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to prevent and monitor land and forest fires and cooperate on the resulting smoke haze.

An international treaty, in force since 1992, that controls the movement of hazardous wastes between countries, especially from richer to poorer countries, and since 2019 covers plastic waste.

The value people place on passing a resource or ecosystem on intact to future generations.

A legally binding agreement between two states, often used to manage a shared river, lake, border region or migratory population.

The ethical view that all living organisms have intrinsic value and moral standing, because each pursues its own good through survival and reproduction.

Legal action in national or international courts to force governments or companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to climate change or pay for climate-related harm.

The principle that all states share responsibility for protecting the global environment, but that richer states, which have caused more damage and have more resources, should take on greater obligations.

An ethical approach in which an action is right if it produces the best overall consequences, regardless of the intentions behind it.

A survey method that estimates the value of a non-market good by asking people their willingness to pay for it, or to accept compensation for its loss, in a described scenario.

A broad international agreement, legally binding on the states that ratify it, which sets out general goals and a framework for cooperation on an issue, such as the UNFCCC.

A method of appraising a project or policy by estimating all its costs and benefits in money, including environmental ones where possible, and comparing the totals.

An ecocentric philosophy, named by Arne Næss in 1973, holding that all life has value in itself, irrespective of its usefulness to humans, and calling for deep changes in human society.

A planned, democratic reduction of production and consumption, especially in high-income countries, to bring ecological footprints within biocapacity while improving well-being and equity.

An approach to economics that treats the economy as a subsystem of society and of the finite biosphere, and aims to keep its scale within the limits of natural systems.

The change in the total market value of the goods and services produced in a country over a period, usually measured as the annual percentage change in GDP.

The study of how individuals and societies produce, distribute and consume goods and services, and how they allocate limited resources between competing uses.

The attempt to attach economic values to natural resources, ecosystem services and their depletion, and to include these values in the accounts of businesses or nations.

The inclusion of environmental rights and duties in a country's constitution, such as a right to a healthy environment or rights for nature, so that they rank above ordinary laws.

A branch of economics that applies economic principles to environmental issues, treating environmental damage as a cost to be measured and corrected within the existing market economy.

The branch of ethics that studies the moral relationship between humans and the natural environment, including the moral status of non-human and non-living entities.

A hypothesis that environmental degradation rises as income per person grows and then falls once a country is rich enough, giving an inverted U-shaped curve.

The body of rules governing how people use and affect natural resources and the environment, covering resources, pollution, biodiversity and development, with the aim of improving social and ecological sustainability.

A structured set of moral principles used to judge whether actions or decisions are right or wrong, such as virtue, consequentialist or rights-based ethics.

The branch of philosophy concerned with moral principles, that is, with which behaviours are right or wrong and how people ought to act.

The value people place on simply knowing that a species, ecosystem or place exists, even if they never use or visit it.

A cost or benefit of producing or consuming a good that falls on a third party not involved in the transaction, who is neither compensated nor charged for it.

Money, credit and other financial assets that can be used to buy or invest in other forms of capital.

A market in which prices and quantities are set by the voluntary exchange between buyers and sellers, with little or no government control.

A genetic technique that makes a modification inherited at a higher rate than normal, so that it spreads through a wild population, proposed for reducing malaria-carrying mosquitoes or invasive predators.

A tax on an activity or product that harms the environment, such as carbon, landfill or plastic bags, designed to discourage the harm and make the polluter pay.

The use of marketing, advertising or public relations to make a company, product or policy appear more environmentally friendly than it really is, instead of changing harmful practices.

The knowledge, skills, health and abilities of people that allow them to produce goods and services and earn income.

Fishing that breaks national or international rules, is not reported or is misreported to the authorities, or takes place where no management rules apply, undermining the management of fish stocks.

The principal court of the United Nations, in The Hague, which settles legal disputes between states and gives advisory opinions on questions of international law, including environmental law.

The body of treaties, customary rules and court decisions between states that governs transboundary pollution, shared resources and global environmental problems, binding states that consent to it.

An international court in Hamburg with 21 judges, created by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which settles disputes over fishing, marine pollution and maritime boundaries and gives advisory opinions.

The Māori concept and practice of guardianship of the natural environment, carried out by kaitiaki (guardians) responsible for the long-term well-being of land, water and living things.

Aldo Leopold's ecocentric principle that an action is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community, and wrong when it tends otherwise.

A rule that governs human behaviour, made and enforced by a social or governmental authority, so that breaking it can bring a penalty such as a fine, an order to repair damage or prison.

The status of being recognised by law as able to hold rights and duties and to sue or be sued, given to companies and increasingly to natural entities such as rivers and forests.

The attempt by individuals, companies or interest groups to influence the decisions of lawmakers and governments in favour of their own interests, through meetings, donations, campaigns or funded research.

Human-made physical assets used to produce goods and services, such as machinery, tools, buildings and infrastructure.

A situation in which the free-market allocation of goods and services is inefficient and reduces society's overall welfare, for example when pollution harms others at no cost to the polluter.

The status of an entity whose interests or well-being should be taken into account when deciding how to act, so that it can be wronged by the actions of others.

The value people place on a resource that they do not use and may never see, including existence value and bequest value; it has no market price.

The value of keeping a resource available for a possible future use, such as a plant that may one day yield a medicine.

Schemes in which users or beneficiaries of an ecosystem service pay the landowners or communities who manage the land that provides it, in return for protecting or restoring it.

A country's gross domestic product divided by its population, giving average output per person; a rough measure of living standards that ignores inequality.

The principle that whoever causes pollution should bear the costs of preventing, managing and cleaning it up, rather than passing them on to society or the environment.

An approach in which responsibility for reducing a product's environmental impact over its whole life cycle is shared by the manufacturer, the retailer and the user.

The legal or customary rights to own, use, exclude others from, and sell or transfer a resource.

A later international agreement attached to a convention that adds specific, often quantified, commitments and becomes legally binding only on the states that ratify it, such as the Kyoto Protocol.

An international treaty signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971 for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, under which parties list wetlands of international importance.

The formal approval of an international agreement by a state, usually through its parliament, after which the state is legally bound by the agreement.

A UN climate framework for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, in which developing countries receive results-based payments for proven cuts in forest loss.

A situation in which environmental pressure grows more slowly than GDP, so pressure per unit of output falls but total pressure still rises.

A legal approach that recognises ecosystems, species or natural features such as rivers as holders of rights, for example to exist, regenerate and be restored, enforceable by guardians on their behalf.

An ethical approach that judges actions by whether they respect the rights of others and fulfil moral duties, regardless of their consequences; also called deontological ethics.

The capacity to have experiences such as pain and pleasure, which some ethicists treat as the condition for having moral standing.

A state that has signed an international agreement, showing its intention to be bound and agreeing not to undermine it, but which is not legally bound until it ratifies.

The fair distribution of wealth, opportunities, rights and burdens within a society, so that no group is systematically disadvantaged.

Discrimination against beings on the basis of the species they belong to, a term popularised by Peter Singer to argue that the suffering of animals deserves equal consideration.

An economy in which stocks of capital and population stay roughly constant, maintained by a low, sustainable flow of energy and materials, so it does not grow in physical size.

A model of a market in which the quantity demanded falls and the quantity supplied rises as price rises, so the price settles where the two quantities are equal.

Pollution released in one country that is carried by air, water or other means across borders, causing harm in other countries, such as smoke haze, acid deposition or river pollution.

The value people gain from using a resource, directly (timber, fish, recreation) or indirectly through the ecosystem services it provides (flood control, pollination, carbon storage).

A form of consequentialist ethics that judges as right the action producing the greatest good or well-being for the greatest number of those affected.

An ethical approach that judges actions by the character of the person who performs them, asking what a virtuous person, with qualities such as compassion and responsibility, would do.

The minimum amount of compensation a person states they would accept for the loss or destruction of an environmental good.

The maximum amount a person states they would pay to obtain or protect an environmental good, used to estimate values that have no market price.