Glossary of Acronyms
One cost of engaging in global and national discussions about sustainable development is having to deal a flood of acronyms. Knowing the frustration of such discussions, we offer here a list hopefullly de-coding some of these.
ACEEE: Americans for an Energy Efficient Economy
CAA: Clean Air Act
CAFE: Corporate Average Fuel Economy
CAN: Climate Action Network
CFC: Cloroflurocarbons
CitNet: The Citizens
Network for Sustainable Development, a network of US NGOs and grassroots
organizations focused on sustainable development issues, as they apply
locally and globally. See About CitNet for more
info.
CSD: Commission on Sustainable Development (also UNCSD)
CSO: Civil society organization (in contrast to government or industry;
see also NGO)
CWA: Clean Water Act
EAP: Environmental Action Plan
ECA: Export Credit Agency; ECAs are public national agencies that
provide government-backed loans, guarantees and insurance to corporations
from their home country that seek to do business overseas in developing
countries and emerging markets. (Investment Insurance Agencies also commonly
known as ECAs)
ECE: UN Economic Commission for Europe (See UNECE)
ECO: Environmental Citizens Organization
EIA: Environment Impact Assessment
EJ: Environmental justice
EPACT: Environmental Policy Act
ESA: Endangered Species Act
ESCAP: Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific
EU: European
Union
FCCC: Framework Convention on Climate Change
FDI: Foreign Direct Investment
FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
FOE: Friends of the Earth
FOIA: Freedom of Information Act
GEF: Global Environment
Facility, established in 1991 to forge international cooperation and
finance actions to address four critical threats to the global environment:
biodiversity loss, climate change, degradation of international waters,
and ozone depletion.
GIS: Geographic Information System
GMO: Genetically Modified Organism
HAZMAT: Hazardous materials
IFI: International Financial Institutions (like the World Bank and
IMF)
IMF: International Monetary
Fund
IPM: Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting (to Commission on Sustainable
Development)
IPM: Integrated Pest Management
IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
ISO: International Organization for Standardization
LCA: Lifecyle Assessment
LEV: Low emission vehicle
NAAEC: North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation
NAAQS: National Ambient Air Quality Standards
NAS: National Academy of Sciences
NEPA: National Environmental Policy Act
NGO: Non-governmental organization (typically a non-profit organization)
NIS: Newly Independent States. Refers to the formerly Communist
countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
NOAA: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency
NTI: National Toxics Inventory
ODA: Overseas Development Assistance
OECD: Organization
for Economic Co-operation and Development
PIRG: Public Interest Research Group
POP: Persistent Organic Pollutant
PPB: Parts per billion
PrepCom: Preparatory Committee; the large meetings held to establish
agendas, themes, and other important elements of upcoming conferences;
most PrepComs currently are preparing for WSSD.
RCRA: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
SARD: Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development
SCP: Sustainable onsumption and production
SDWA: Safe Drinking Water Act
SPAC: Sustainable production and consumption
SRI: Socially Responsible Investment
TRI: Toxic Release Inventory
UN: United Nations
UNCED: The 1992 UN
Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Jainero,
Brazil. More commonly known as the original Earth Summit.
UNCSD: UN
Commission for Sustainable Development
UNECE: UN Economic
Commission for Europe, which includes North America. The ECE held
a regional PrepCom as part of the WSSD process
UNDP: UN Development
Program
UNEP: UN
Environment Program
USDA: US Department of Agriculture
USG: US Government
VMT: Vehicle miles traveled
VOC: Volatile organic compounds
WCED: World Commission on Environment and Development
WHO: World Health Organization
WRI: World Resources Institute
WSSD: World
Summit for Sustainable Development (also referred to as the Johannesburg
Summit or Earth Summit 2002)
WWF: World Wildlife Fund
ZEV: Zero emissions vehicle
