Arabic Sustainability Dictionary

Earnings call

A conference call in which management discusses a company's periodic financial results with analysts and investors.

Eco-design

Integrating environmental considerations into product design to reduce impacts across the life cycle, for example through durability, repairability and recyclability.

Ecosystem

A dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit.

Ecosystem restoration

Assisting the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded, damaged or destroyed.

Ecosystem services

The benefits people obtain from ecosystems, such as food, clean water, pollination, climate regulation and recreation.

Electrification

Replacing technologies that use fossil fuels, such as combustion vehicles and gas boilers, with electric alternatives.

Embedded emissions

Under CBAM, the direct and, where applicable, indirect greenhouse gas emissions released during the production of an imported good.

Embodied emissions

The emissions released in producing, transporting and disposing of a product, as opposed to the emissions from its use.

Emission factor

A coefficient that converts activity data into greenhouse gas emissions, such as kilograms of CO2e per litre of diesel; it should be recorded with its source and version.

Emissions offsetting

Compensating for emissions by funding or acquiring an equivalent reduction or removal of emissions elsewhere, usually through carbon credits.

Emissions trading system (ETS)

A cap-and-trade scheme in which a government caps total emissions from covered sectors and issues tradable allowances up to that cap.

Employee turnover rate

The number of employees who leave an organisation during a period divided by the average or period-end number of employees.

Energy audit

A systematic inspection and analysis of energy use in a building or process to identify opportunities to save energy.

Energy efficiency

Using less energy to deliver the same output or service.

Energy intensity

Energy consumed per unit of output or economic activity, such as gigajoules per tonne of product or per million of revenue.

Energy management system (EnMS)

A structured framework of policies, processes and targets for continually improving energy performance, commonly certified to ISO 50001.

Energy service company (ESCO)

A company that designs and implements energy-saving projects, often financed and repaid from the resulting energy savings.

Energy storage

Systems, such as batteries or pumped hydro, that store energy for later use and help balance variable renewable generation.

Energy transition

The structural shift of energy systems from fossil fuels towards low-carbon and renewable sources.

Enterprise risk management (ERM)

An integrated, organisation-wide approach to identifying, assessing, managing and monitoring risks, including ESG risks.

Enterprise value including cash (EVIC)

The sum of a listed company's market capitalisation of ordinary and preferred shares and the book value of its total debt and minority interests, without deducting cash; PCAF uses it as the denominator of the attribution factor for listed companies.

Environmental and social risk management (ESRM)

A bank's framework for identifying, assessing, categorising and monitoring the environmental and social risks of its clients and transactions.

Environmental impact assessment (EIA)

A formal process for identifying, predicting and evaluating the environmental effects of a proposed project before a decision is made.

Environmental management system (EMS)

A set of policies, processes and practices that enables an organisation to manage its environmental impacts and improve performance.

Environmental objectives

The six objectives of the EU Taxonomy: climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, water and marine resources, circular economy, pollution prevention and biodiversity and ecosystems.

Environmental pillar

The part of ESG that covers a company's interaction with the natural environment, including emissions, energy, water, waste, pollution and biodiversity.

Environmental product declaration (EPD)

A verified document, based on a life cycle assessment, that reports the environmental impacts of a product in a standardised way.

Equator Principles (EP)

A risk management framework adopted by financial institutions for determining, assessing and managing environmental and social risk in project finance.

Equity share

A consolidation approach under which a company reports emissions from each operation in proportion to its ownership share in it.

Equity story

The concise narrative a company presents to investors explaining why it is an attractive investment, increasingly including its sustainability strategy.