Lexicon 2

Question 1

Arab Spring

Answer 1

Is wave of pro-democracy protests and uprisings that took place in the Middle East and North Africa beginning in 2010 and 2011, challenging some of the region’s entrenched authoritarian regimes.

Question 2

Alternative energy

Answer 2

energy derived from biofuels, solar, wind, geothermal, or tidal power. This is contrasted with energy derived from fossil fuels (e.g., oil, coal, and natural gas).

Question 3

Biofuel

Answer 3

liquid fuel derived from plants. A prominent example is ethanol, a product of sugarcane or corn.

Question 4

Fossil fuel

Answer 4

a hydrocarbon energy source such as oil, coal, or natural gas.

Question 5

Renewable energy

Answer 5

energy derived from sources such as sunlight, wind, and water, which have a steadily replenishing supply. These sources stand in contrast to fossil fuels, which regenerate only over enormous lengths of time.

Question 6

Weather

Answer 6

refers to atmospheric conditions at a particular time in a particular location, including temperature, humidity, precipitation, cloudiness, wind, and visibility.

Question 7

Climate

Answer 7

is the average of weather patterns in a specific area over a longer period of time, usually 30 or more years, that represents the overall state of the climate system.

Question 8

Greenhouse effect

Answer 8

the buildup of heat in the atmosphere near Earth’s surface, driven by the concentration of greenhouse gases.

Question 9

Greenhouse gases

Answer 9

gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, causing global warming and climate change. The main greenhouse gases released by human activity are carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, as well as fluorinated gases used for cooling and refrigeration.

Question 10

Global warming

Answer 10

an increase in the Earth’s average surface temperature that occurs when the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases. These gases absorb more solar radiation and trap more heat, thus causing the planet to get hotter.

Question 11

Climate change

Answer 11

refers to the long-term changes in the Earth’s climate that are warming the atmosphere, ocean and land. Climate change is affecting the balance of ecosystems that support life and biodiversity, and impacting health. It also causes more extreme weather events, such as more intense and/or frequent hurricanes, floods, heat waves, and droughts, and leads to sea level rise and coastal erosion as a result of ocean warming, melting of glaciers, ad loss of ice sheets.

Question 12

The climate crisis

Answer 12

refers to the serious problems that are being caused or are likely to be caused by changes in the planet’s climate

Question 13

Industrial Revolution

Answer 13

a transition, beginning in the eighteenth century, from small-scale, largely agricultural economies to more industry-intensive ones.

Question 14

Climate feedback loops

Answer 14

Loops that happen when one change in the climate triggers further changes, in a chain reaction that reinforces itself as time goes on. Ultimately, feedback loops can trigger tipping points, at which point the changes to our planet’s climate systems become severe and irreversible.

Question 15

A tipping point

Answer 15

A threshold after which certain changes caused by climate change become irreversible. These changes may lead to abrupt and dangerous impacts with very serious implications for the future of our planet.

Question 16

Climate overshoot

Answer 16

refers to the period during which warming will have increased past 1.5° C, before falling back down.

Question 17

The Paris Agreement

Answer 17

a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015. It entered into force on 4 November 2016. Its overarching goal is to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”

Question 18

Mitigation

Answer 18

Refers to any action taken by governments, businesses, and people to reduce, sequester, or prevent greenhouse gas emissions.

Question 19

Adaptation

Answer 19

Refers to actions that help reduce vulnerability to the current or expected impacts of climate change.

Question 20

Resilience

Answer 20

The capacity of a community or environment to anticipate and manage dangerous climatic events and recover and transform after the ensuing shock, with minimal damage to societal wellbeing, economic activity, and the environment.

Question 21

Climate justice

Answer 21

Putting equity and human rights at the core of decision-making and action on climate change.

Question 22

Loss and damage

Answer 22

can refer to the unavoidable impacts of climate change that occur despite, or in the absence of, mitigation and adaptation. Importantly, it highlights that there are limits to what adaptation can accomplish; when tipping point thresholds are crossed, climate change impacts can become unavoidable.

Question 23

Net zero

Answer 23

requires us to ensure that carbon dioxide emissions from human activity are balanced by human efforts to remove carbon dioxide emissions (for example, by creating carbon sinks to absorb carbon dioxide) - thereby stopping further increases in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Question 24

Carbon removal

Answer 24

Carbon removal is the elimination of carbon emissions after they have entered our atmosphere.

Question 25

Carbon capture and storage

Answer 25

the trapping of carbon emissions just after they’ve been emitted but before they can enter our atmosphere.

Question 26

Carbon markets

Answer 26

Trading systems in which carbon is quantified into a “carbon credit” that can be bought and sold.

Question 27

Carbon offset/credits

Answer 27

used interchangeably, though they can mean slightly different things. A carbon offset broadly refers to a reduction in GHG emissions – or an increase in carbon storage (e.g., through land restoration or the planting of trees) – that is used to compensate for emissions that occur elsewhere. A carbon offset credit is a transferrable instrument certified by governments or independent certification bodies to represent an emission reduction of one metric tonne of CO2, or an equivalent amount of other GHGs (see Text Box, below). The purchaser of an offset credit can “retire” it to claim the underlying reduction towards their own GHG reduction goals.

Question 28

Carbon tax

Answer 28

a policy in which entities such as companies pay the government a fixed fee for each ton of greenhouse gases emitted. The purpose is to encourage firms to pursue technologies and practices that will reduce their emissions.

Question 29

Deforestation

Answer 29

the destruction or loss of forests. Deforestation increases greenhouse gas accumulations in the atmosphere because it eliminates trees, which naturally absorb carbon dioxide as they grow, and releases carbon from the soil.

Question 30

Reforestation

Answer 30

The process of replanting trees in areas that had recent tree cover but where forests were lost, due to wildfires, drought, disease, or human activity such as agricultural clearing.

Question 31

Afforestation

Answer 31

The process of planting trees in areas that have not been forested in recent history. helps restore abandoned and degraded agricultural lands, prevent desertification, create carbon sinks, and generate new economic opportunities for local communities.

Question 32

Greenwashing

Answer 32

Refers to situations where a company makes misleading claims about their positive environmental impact or the sustainability of their products and services to convince consumers that they are acting on climate change.

Question 33

Offsetting

Answer 33

an action taken as compensation for other activity. Carbon offsetting involves a country’s funding emissions reductions projects abroad instead of reducing its own emissions.

Question 34

COP

Answer 34

The annual United Nations conference dedicated to climate change. “Conference of the Parties”.

Question 35

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC)

Answer 35

An independent body founded under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Question 35

National Determined Contributions (NDCs)

Answer 35

a national action plan to contribute to the joint goals set in the Paris Agreement.In their NDCs, countries communicate actions they will take toreduce their greenhouse gas emissionsin order to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Question 36

Arbitration

Answer 36

a method of dispute resolution in which the parties submit their claims to an agreed-upon and impartial third party, who renders a decision that the parties agree to obey.

Question 37

Cease-fire

Answer 37

an agreement by one or more parties to a conflict to end military activities at a specified time, often for the purpose of allowing the pursuit of peace negotiations or the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Question 38

Cold War

Answer 38

the contest between the United States and the Soviet Union—and, by extension, capitalist democracy and communist dictatorship—that characterized international politics between the post–World War II years and the early 1990s

Question 39

Embargo

Answer 39

a ban on trade with a certain country or entity. Embargoes can restrict the trade of all goods, or target certain commodities, such as weapons.

Question 40

Genocide

Answer 40

the intentional mass destruction of a group of people based on religion, ethnicity, or another identity or characteristic. The United Nations (UN) recognized the act of genocide as a crime under international law in 1948.

Question 41

International law

Answer 41

a body of formal rules and norms considered binding among states. It is one of the organized bases upon which states interact with each other in the international system.
Sources of international law include treaties, such as formal bilateral defense pacts or the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and international customs, such as general prohibitions against slavery and genocide, many of which are also formally codified.

Question 42

Norm

Answer 42

a broadly accepted principle of behavior that may not be formally written but is generally agreed on and followed by members of a group, such as countries in the international system.

Question 43

Resolution

Answer 43

a formal document articulating an opinion or decision by a UN body.

Question 44

Sanction

Answer 44

a tool of statecraft, frequently involving economic measures such as asset freezes and trade restrictions, used to exact a certain behavior or outcome from another party.

Question 45

Sovereignty

Answer 45

supreme or absolute authority over a territory.

Question 46

Terrorism

Answer 46

the use of violence to incite fear and achieve an objective, usually a political one.

Question 47

Trusteeship

Answer 47

the supervisory administration of a territory by another country. The intention is generally to help the territory prepare for independence. One of the core functions of the United Nations, upon its founding in 1945, was to supervise various territories governed under trusteeship. Over time, all became autonomous or independent.

Question 48

UN Security Council

Answer 48

the principal UN body charged with maintaining international peace and security. The UN Security Council is the only UN body with the authority to pass resolutions that are binding tothe 193 UN member states.
It includes five permanent member states (the United States, China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom) and ten rotating members elected to two-year terms. The five permanent members have veto power over resolutions, making their agreement necessary for a resolution’s approval.

Question 49

United Nations

Answer 49

an international organization composed of 193 independent member states that aims to promote international peace and stability, human rights, and economic development. The United Nations was established in 1945 and remains the only organization with practically universal membership among the world’s countries. It includes the Security Council, General Assembly, and a range of other bodies; a secretary-general, currently António Guterres, serves as its leader.

Question 50

Veto

Answer 50

the right to reject a decision and block it from taking effect. The UN Security Council’s five permanent members (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) each have the ability to veto Security Council resolutions.

Question 51

Yugoslavia

Answer 51

a former country in Southeastern Europe. Between 1992 and 2008, Yugoslavia broke into seven independent countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia.

Question 52

Parliamentary democracy

Answer 52

is a system of government in which citizens elect representatives to a legislative parliament to make the necessary laws and decisions for the country. This parliament directly represents the people.

Question 53

Abstained Votes

Answer 53

An abstained vote means voting neither for nor against any candidate or motion.

Question 53

Presidential democracy

Answer 53

is a system in which the leader is called a President, and he or she is elected by citizens to lead a branch of government separate from the legislative branch. The President leads the executive branch of government.

Question 54

Compulsory Voting

Answer 54

Compulsory voting refers to the practice of forcing a population to vote in a given election by law.

Question 55

Democracy

Answer 55

Democracy is a term used to describe systems of government in which power ultimately lies with the people.

Question 56

First Past the Post

Answer 56

First past the post is the electoral system used in UK and US elections.Voters vote for one candidate, and the candidate with the most votes wins.

Question 56

Election Threshold

Answer 56

An election threshold is the minimum share of votes that a party or candidate must obtain in order to be permitted seats within a legislature.

Question 57

Single Transferable Vote

Answer 57

is an electoral system in which, inits simplest form, voters are able to rank candidates in order of preference. You canrankas many or as few candidates as you wish. To get elected, candidates need to reach a quota of the votes.

Question 58

Electoral treshold

Answer 58

Also called a percentage hurdle aims to counteract the “fragmentation” of a body or committee that results from allocating seats between large numbers of small lists.

Question 59

Proportional Representation

Answer 59

Proportional representation results in parliamentary seats being allocated to parties based on the percentage of the total vote they won in the election.