Glossary of terms related to
carbon footprint measurement

Non-revenue water (NRW) is the share of supplied water that produces no income, through leaks, metering errors or unbilled use. Reducing it is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve water efficiency.

CINIF is the independent Mexican council that develops the country's financial reporting standards (NIF) and, since 2024, its sustainability reporting standards (NIS).

Mobile recycling points are travelling collection units for small-volume and hazardous household waste, extending selective collection to rural areas and neighbourhoods without a fixed civic amenity site.

The material footprint quantifies the total raw materials extracted globally to satisfy the final demand of a country, sector or product, including the materials embodied in imports.

Marine litter is any persistent, manufactured or processed material that ends up, directly or indirectly, in the marine environment or on the coast, with plastics making up the largest share.

What materiality means in ESG, how single and double materiality differ under the CSRD, and how companies run a materiality assessment to prioritise their sustainability topics.

Recovering the materials in waste (recycling, composting, material recovery) as opposed to energy recovery. It ranks higher in the waste hierarchy.

The SCE was the first emissions trading system launched in Latin America; it covers energy and industry from 100,000 tonnes of CO2 a year and relies on the RENE.

What the minimum environmental flow is, why it matters for river ecosystems, how it is regulated under the EU Water Framework Directive, and the trade-offs involved in setting it.

Mining (extractive) waste includes overburden, tailings, slags and acid mine drainage. A guide to its types, environmental risks, the rules that govern it and its circular potential.

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) is the Mexican federal government department responsible for environmental policy and the management of the country's natural resources.

MITECO designs Spain's climate and energy policy and operates the official carbon footprint, offsetting and CO2 absorption registry that some companies must now use.

Municipal solid waste (MSW), also called urban waste, is the everyday waste from homes, businesses and public services. Managing it well is key to recycling targets and the circular economy.

Mandatory technical regulations issued by Mexican federal bodies that set minimum standards of quality, safety, consumer protection, public health and environmental protection.

The National Development Plan (PND) is the Mexican government's guiding document that defines, each six-year term, its social, economic and environmental development objectives and strategies.

The RENE is Mexico's national registry of greenhouse gas emissions; establishments that emit 25,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent or more per year must report.

The National Greenhouse Gas Inventory (INGEI) is Argentina's official estimate of its GHG emissions and removals, prepared using IPCC guidelines and reported to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The latest submitted series covers 1990-2022 and puts gross 2022 emissions at around 401 MtCO2e. It is a territorial, sector-based inventory, not a company-level emissions registry: Argentina does not require private companies to report their emissions.

The National Water Security Index (NWSI) is the headline metric of the ADB's Asian Water Development Outlook, summing five key dimensions to score national water security from 0 to 100.

Natural capital is the stock of nature, from forests and water to soil and biodiversity, that provides the ecosystem services on which economies and companies depend.

Nature-based carbon reduction relies on protecting and restoring forests, soils, wetlands and oceans to sequester CO2, alongside, not instead of, cutting industrial emissions.

An introduction to Nature-Based Solutions (NbS): what they are, how they are defined and certified, and how companies can use them to build climate and water resilience.

NCG 461 is the general rule with which Chile's Financial Market Commission reorganised, on 12 November 2021, the structure and content of the annual report of securities issuers, bringing corporate governance, people, suppliers and sustainability into a single document.

National mitigation and adaptation pledges that each country communicates and ratchets up every five years under the Paris Agreement.

Net-zero emissions is reached when the greenhouse gases released are balanced by an equivalent amount removed. We explain the mechanisms, standards and challenges involved.

NIS A-1 is the conceptual framework of the Normas de Informacion de Sostenibilidad (NIS), the Mexican sustainability disclosure standards issued by CINIF in 2024.

NIS B-1 is the CINIF standard that sets out the 30 Basic Sustainability Indicators (IBSO) that companies reporting under Mexican Financial Reporting Standards must disclose.

A Mexican voluntary standard (Norma Mexicana) that specifies how organisations should quantify, report and verify their greenhouse gas inventories, aligned with the GHG Protocol and ISO 14064.

NOM-001-SEMARNAT sets the maximum permissible limits for pollutants in wastewater discharges to national waters in Mexico, protecting health and aquatic ecosystems.

NOM-003-STPS-1999 is the Official Mexican Standard setting safety and hygiene conditions for agricultural work involving pesticides and fertilizers.

A Mexican Official Standard on air pollution that sets the maximum permissible emission levels of indirect-heating combustion equipment, such as boilers and furnaces, at stationary sources.

NOM-127-SSA1-2021 sets the microbiological, physical and chemical limits that drinking water supplied in Mexico must meet to protect public health.

Mexican Official Standard that establishes how to classify urban and special-handling solid waste and how to prepare the waste management plans required from producers.

Reporting obligation introduced in Spain by Law 11/2018 covering environmental, social, personnel, human rights and anti-corruption matters, with independent verification.

A clear guide to non-hazardous waste: its legal definition, how it is coded in the European Waste List, and how separate collection turns it into a secondary resource.

The non-revenue water index is the percentage of treated water that is produced and distributed but never generates revenue, due to physical leaks or apparent losses such as metering errors and unauthorised use.

The Normas de Información Financiera (NIF) are the accounting standards issued by CINIF that govern the preparation and presentation of financial statements in Mexico.

The OECD is an intergovernmental organisation of 38 member countries that produces data, analysis and policy guidance, including on climate change and carbon pricing.

OEFA is the specialised technical public body attached to Peru's Ministry of the Environment that checks corporate environmental compliance and acts as governing body of the National Environmental Assessment and Enforcement System. It was set up under Law 29325 and exercises assessment, direct supervision, enforcement and sanctioning powers.

A European Commission initiative, now law in 2026, that simplifies and narrows the scope of the CSRD and CSDDD to ease the corporate sustainability reporting burden.

Outsourcing water consumption is the net transfer of water footprint between regions through trade in water-intensive goods, shifting pressure on water resources from one place to another.

Adopted in 2015, the Paris Agreement commits 195 parties to limiting global warming and is the reference point for corporate climate action and net-zero targets.

Solid or liquid airborne particles classified by diameter, with effects on respiratory and cardiovascular health and reference values set by the WHO and the EU.

PAS 2050 was the first widely used method for calculating the carbon footprint of products over their life cycle. It paved the way for ISO 14067, the international standard now used for this purpose.

PAS 2060 was the BSI specification for declaring carbon neutrality, now withdrawn and superseded by ISO 14068-1:2023.

Pay As You Throw (PAYT) is a variable waste-charging model that ties the fee to the waste each household or business generates, rewarding source separation and prevention.

Law 30754, Peru's Framework Law on Climate Change, organises the country's climate policy. It was published on 18 April 2018 and its regulations, Supreme Decree 013-2019-MINAM, created Peru's measurement, reporting and verification system, which includes Huella de Carbono Perú and the National Registry of Mitigation Measures.

Mechanical recycling uses physical processes (shredding, washing, melting, extrusion) to turn waste into new materials without significantly altering their chemical structure.

Open-loop recycling converts recovered materials into different products, often of lower quality. It extends material life when closed-loop recycling is not technically viable.