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What We Do
Customers
Knowledge Center
Carbon Outlook Newsletter
Biweekly newsletter by Senken's founder Adrian Wons
Blog
Start your sustainability journey with in-depth articles by experts
Reports
Read latest reports and playbooks by Senken team
Senken Tools
Free tools for sustainability managers, compliance teams, & climate leads
Webinars
Register for upcoming webinars or watch recordings
SBTi
new
2035 Reserve
Secure carbon removal supply for SBTi V2 at today's prices
OER Portfolio
Buy audit-grade carbon credits to support your SBTi OER status
Talk to an expert
Glossary
Navigate the complexities of the carbon market with Senken's library of industry terminology
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Additionality
A principle stating that the CO2 reductions or removals achieved by a project would not have occurred without the project's intervention.
Baseline Emissions
The emissions that would be released into the atmosphere under a 'business as usual' scenario, without the implementation of any specific interventions or reduction strategies.
Biochar Carbon Removal
Biochar carbon removal transforms plant waste into stable charcoal through pyrolysis, locking atmospheric CO2 in soil for centuries to fight climate change.
Biodiversity Credits
A market mechanism focussed on improving or maintaining biodiversity levels
Buffer Pool
A specified amount of carbon credits in a project that are reserved and not sold, to be used in the event of any unforeseen loss or damage that may occur to the project.
Carbon Accounting
The process of measuring and documenting the emissions of a company, entity, or product
Carbon Credits
Carbon credits are tradable certificates representing the reduction, avoidance, or removal of one tonne of CO2 from the atmosphere. They are used by companies to compensate for unavoidable emissions or to contribute towards global climate change mitigation efforts.
Carbon Neutrality
The state in which CO2 emissions are neutralised by an equal amount of CO2 being removed from the atmosphere.
Carbon Offset
A reduction in emissions that is achieved through external carbon avoidance or carbon removals, with the intention of compensating for residual emissions.
Carbon Sequestration
The process of capturing atmospheric CO2 and storing it in a different form. It can be done through both natural means as well as man-made, technological means.
Climate Benefit Equation
The climate benefit equation is used to determine the net climate benefit of a project, ensuring that claims of environmental impact are both accurate and credible. It is a crucial step in Senken’s due diligence process when selecting carbon credit projects.
Co-Benefits
Any positive outcomes that a carbon credit project generates in addition to the primary goal of emission reductions or removals, aligning with social, environmental, and economic development goals.
CO2, GHG, and CO2e
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) that is produced both naturally and through human activities. Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (CO2e) is a measure that is used to standardise and compare GHGs.
Compliance Market
A regulatory system enforced by governments where a cap is set on emissions, and the unused amount can be traded.
Conservation
Activities and projects aimed at preserving ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural carbon stocks. This often involves protecting forests, wetlands, and other natural habitats from deforestation, degradation, and other threats.
Corporate Carbon Footprint
The total amount of both direct and indirect emissions generated by a company/organisation.
Credit Retirement
Permanently removing a carbon credit from circulation after it has been used to offset/neutralise emissions.
Decarbonisation
Decarbonisation refers to the process of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by minimising the use of carbon-based fuels and increasing the adoption of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency measures, and other technologies.
Direct Air Capture (DAC)
Direct air capture (DAC) carbon removal uses chemical processes to extract CO₂ directly from ambient air and store it permanently underground, offering one of the few scalable technologies capable of reversing past emissions. This guide covers how DAC works, current costs and deployment, quality considerations for DAC carbon credits, and how organizations can integrate this technology into credible climate strategies.
Double Counting
Double counting occurs when an emission reduction or removal is claimed more than once.
Double Materiality Analysis
A sustainability assessment framework that evaluates both financial materiality (how sustainability issues affect the company) and impact materiality (how the company affects society and the environment).
Enhanced Weathering
Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) speeds up a natural geological process by crushing silicate rocks like basalt into fine powder and spreading them across farmland. When rain falls on this crushed rock, atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolves in the water to form a weak acid, which then reacts with minerals in the rock powder to create stable bicarbonate ions—the same compounds found in baking soda. These bicarbonate ions eventually wash into streams, rivers, and oceans, where they lock away CO₂ for thousands of years.
ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance)
ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. It is a framework for assessing how well companies perform in their sustainability, ethical practices, and corporate governance.
ESRS Standards
The European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) were developed as a crucial part of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) to standardise and enhance transparency in sustainability reporting across the European Union.
EU ETS
A regulatory system governing the compliance carbon credit market enforced by the European Union, where a cap is set on emissions, and the unused amount can be traded.
Fit for 55
A set of legislative proposals aimed at aligning the European Union with its ambitious climate targets, including an overall goal of achieving at least a 55% reduction in emissions by 2030.
GHG Protocol
The GHG Protocol, or the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, is the most widely used international accounting tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify, and manage greenhouse gas emissions.
Greenwashing
A deceptive marketing tactic of providing misleading information about how sustainable products, services, or practices are.
Hard-to-Abate Emissions
The residual emissions arising from sectors and processes where reducing emissions is particularly challenging.
Insetting
Integrating carbon offset projects directly into a company's own supply chain or operational process rather than investing in external projects.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a United Nations body, established to assess scientific information on climate change.
Leakage
Unintentional increase in emissions outside of a carbon credit project's scope that takes place as a result of the project's implementation.
Life Cycle Assessment
A framework for assessing the environmental impacts associated with all stages of a product's life cycle.
Marginal Abatement Cost Curve
A tool that graphically represents various emissions reduction measures and the subsequent cost or saving associated with each strategy.
Methodology
Methodologies in the voluntary carbon market act as comprehensive procedures that guide the calculation, reporting, and verification of carbon credit projects. These guidelines are crucial for maintaining the integrity and transparency of carbon markets, providing a standardised approach to quantifying the environmental impact of projects. This ensures that carbon credits are backed by real, measurable, and verifiable reductions and removals.
Mitigation Hierarchy
A structured approach for companies to minimise their emissions, aligning with the path to achieving Net Zero targets.
MRV and Digital MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification)
Carbon credit projects undergo continuous Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) in order to assess their performance and maximise their integrity.
Nature-based Solutions vs Engineered Solutions
Nature-based Solutions (NbS) make use of natural processes and ecosystems to mitigate climate change, and Technological-based Solutions (TbS) make use of engineered processes and innovative technologies to mitigate climate change.
Net Zero
The state where the residual amount of CO2 or GHG emissions have been neutralised by an equivalent amount that of emissions that have been removed.
NFRD
The Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) is a part of European Union legislation that mandates large companies to disclose non-financial and diversity information.
Offtake Agreements
Offtake agreements are contractual arrangements between a producer and a buyer to sell and purchase a project's future production. For carbon credit projects, these agreements provide companies with a guaranteed price and security in supply that might become scarce, while creating an opportunity for carbon projects to secure much-needed capital due to their proof of future sales, offering financial stability, and guaranteeing a future market for the project's outputs.
Oxford Principles
A framework designed to ensure the integrity and effectiveness of carbon offsetting efforts as part of wider strategies to achieve Net Zero emissions.
Paris Agreement
An international treaty marking a collective commitment of 196 countries to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.
Permanence
The longevity and durability of the emission reductions or removals of a project, based on the risk that the sequestered carbon could be re-released.
Pre-industrial Levels
The global atmospheric conditions concerning greenhouse gas concentrations and global temperatures that existed before the widespread impact of industrialisation, often used as the baseline scenario for climate change forecasting.
Project Developer
The entity responsible for managing the projects that actively remove, reduce, or avoid emissions.
REDD+ Carbon Credits
The acronym REDD stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation. Tropical deforestation releases about 4-5 billion tons of CO2 each year, roughly the same as all emissions from the European Union. That's why protecting these forests matters so much for climate goals.
Registry
A database that documents the issuance, sale, transaction history, and retirement of carbon credits.
Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs)
Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) are scenarios developed by scientists to model potential future emissions pathways based on varying levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Residual Emissions
The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that remain after all feasible measures to reduce a company's carbon footprint have been implemented.
Scope 1, 2, and 3 Emissions
Scope 1 emissions includes direct emissions from a company's operations, Scope 2 includes emissions from electricity usage, and Scope 3 includes all indirect emissions within the company's value chain.
Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP)
Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) are narratives developed to explore potential future global developments that could affect society's ability to mitigate and adapt to climate change. SSPs complement Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) by providing context on how societal choices could impact greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation strategies, shaping the socioeconomic landscape that leads to various emission and concentration scenarios.
Soil Carbon Sequestration
Soil carbon sequestration involves removing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it in soil, enhancing soil health and aiding in climate change mitigation.
Spot Credits
Immediate, market-based carbon credits that allow organisations and individuals to neutralise their carbon footprint. These credits are available for immediate purchase and use. Generated from projects that either reduce, avoid, or remove emissions from the atmosphere, through activities such as reforestation, biochar, blue carbon, and enhanced weathering, spot credits provide a real-time solution for carbon neutralisation needs and sustainability strategies
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
A global initiative adopted by the UN comprising of 17 interconnected goals designed to achieve a more sustainable future by 2030.
Unavoidable Emissions
The residual emissions that cannot be eliminated due to technological limitations or integral process requirements.
VCMI (Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative)
The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) helps companies make credible and transparent claims about their carbon credits and contributions towards climate targets. It was established to address concerns about the integrity of voluntary carbon markets and ensures that these markets contribute meaningfully to net zero targets by providing clear, science-based guidelines for corporate climate actions.
Vintage
A project's vintage refers to the year in which the emission avoidance or removal took place and the carbon credits were issued.
Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM)
The voluntary carbon market is a mechanism that enables companies and individuals to take responsibility and purchase carbon credits to neutralise their emissions.
