practicando un poco más nuestro vocabulario sobre sostenibilidad

FUENTE http://www.macmillandictionary.com/thesaurus/british/pollution#pollution_3 pollution - thesaurus entry View dictionary entry for pollution What are red words? NOUN Related thesaurus entries noise pollution NOUN 1the process of damaging the air, water, or land with chemicals or other substances Synonyms or related words for this sense of pollution Environmental issues: biodegradable, biohazard, biological control, carbon capture and storage, the carbon cycle, carbon footprint, carbon-neutral, carbon sink, carbon trading, catalytic converter... more 2chemicals and other substances that have a harmful effect on air, water, or land Synonyms or related words for this sense of pollution Pollutants: acid rain, carbon, carbon dioxide, carbon emissions, CFC, chlorofluorocarbon, contaminant, contamination, effluent, emission... more LISTA DE TERMINOS BASICOS DE SOSTENIBILIDAD Environmental issues Source http://www.macmillandictionary.com/thesaurus-category/british/Environmental-issues biodegradable adjective biodegradable substances can be separated into very small parts by bacteria so that they are not harmful to the environment biohazard noun something that may cause harm to people or to the environment, especially a poisonous chemical or an infectious disease biological control noun a method of reducing the number of harmful insects by using other insects or small animals that feed on them carbon capture and storage noun the process of collecting carbon dioxide that is produced by burning coal or oil and storing it to stop it getting into the atmosphere the carbon cycle noun the movement of carbon between living things and their environment. carbon dioxide is taken from the atmosphere and used by plants. It then moves from plants eaten as food to animals, and is returned to the atmosphere by the respiration of plants and animals and by the burning of plant material. carbon footprint noun the amount of carbon dioxide a person, organization, building, etc produces, used as a measure of their effect on the environment carbon-neutral adjective a carbon-neutral activity, company etc balances the amount of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide it produces with actions that are designed to protect the environment, for example planting trees or using less electricity carbon sink noun an ocean, forest, or other area of vegetation (=plants and trees) that helps to protect the environment by taking in large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere carbon trading noun a system that allows a company or country that reduces the amount of carbon dioxide it produces to below a particular level to sell the extra reduction as a credit to a company or country that has not reduced the amount it produces enough catalytic converter noun a piece of equipment fitted to a car in order to reduce the amount of poisonous gases that it sends into the air clean adjective clean machines and processes do not create a lot of pollution clean up to remove pollution from a place or an industrial process cleanly adverb without creating a lot of mess or pollution clean-up noun the process of removing pollution or waste from a place or an industrial process climate change noun the changes that are thought to be affecting the world’s weather so that it is becoming warmer conservation noun the management of land and water in ways that prevent it from being damaged or destroyed conservation noun the careful use of energy, water, and other resources, so that they are not wasted or lost conservation area noun an area of land that is protected from being damaged conserve verb to prevent land, water, or other natural resources from being damaged or destroyed conserve verb to use very little of something such as electricity or water so that it is not wasted contaminate verb to make something dirty, polluted, or poisonous by adding a chemical, waste, or infection contaminated adjective made dirty, polluted, or poisonous by the addition of a chemical, waste, or infection contamination noun the process of making something dirty, polluted, or poisonous by adding a chemical, waste, or infection deforestation noun the process of removing the trees from an area of land dispersant noun a chemical substance used to break up a liquid, especially oil floating on the sea, into tiny pieces so that it spreads over a wide area and causes less harm eco- prefix relating to the environment: used with some nouns and adjectives ecocide noun damage to or destruction of the natural environment, especially as caused by human activity such as pollution or war eco-friendly adjective designed to cause as little harm as possible to the environment ecological adjective working to protect the environment ecoterrorist noun someone who tries to stop or damage organizations that cause harm to the environment ecotourism noun the business of creating and selling holidays that give people the chance to learn about a natural environment, and cause as little damage to the environment as possible emissions trading noun the practice of buying and selling the right to produce chemicals and other substances that have a harmful effect on the environment endangered species noun a type of animal or plant that may soon become extinct (=disappear from the world) environmental adjective relating to the natural world and the effect that human activity has on it environmental adjective intended to help or protect the environment environmental accounting noun a way of calculating the cost of a business decision that includes all its good and bad effects on, for example, the environment and people’s health, as well as the direct costs environmentally adverb in a way that affects the environment or is related to it environmentally friendly adjective designed not to harm the natural environment environmentally sensitive area noun an area where the natural environment can easily be harmed feed-in tariff noun a payment made by the government to someone who produces energy that is renewable (= that can be replaced and is never completely used up) global warming noun the slow increase in the temperature of the Earth caused partly by the greenhouse effect increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere green adjective designed to protect the environment or to limit damage to the environment green adjective used about places in which the environment is protected green adjective green issues are issues that affect the environment green verb to change a place or activity in a way that protects the enviroment or limits damage to the enviroment green audit noun an examination of what a company is doing to prevent its business activities from harming the environment green belt noun an area of land around large cities where no buildings are allowed in order to protect the countryside the greenhouse effect noun the process in which heat is unable to escape from the atmosphere and causes the temperature of the Earth to rise. The rise in temperature is called global warming. greening noun the process of taking a greater interest in environmental issues and acting to protect the environment greenly adverb in a way that does not harm the environment greentailing noun the business of selling products that are not harmful to the environment greentailing noun the use of products that are not harmful to the enviroment in business greenwash noun activities by a business or other organization that are intended to show that the organization is concerned about the environment naturalise a British spelling of naturalize naturalize verb to encourage plants to grow or animals to live in an area where they are not usually found nature reserve noun an area of land that is protected so that people cannot harm the animals and plants that live there the nitrogen cycle noun the series of processes by which nitrogen in the atmosphere is changed into nitrogen compounds in soil from and taken in by plants. These compounds spread into the atmosphere when the plants decay or are eaten by animals and are passed from their bodies as waste. They are then changed back into nitrogen in the atmosphere. non-renewable adjective non-renewable types of energy exist in limited amounts, and when these are all used there will be none left ozone-friendly adjective chemicals that are ozone-friendly do not cause pollution that damages the ozone layer poison verb to create pollution that damages part of the environment pollute verb to make air, water, or land too dirty and dangerous for people to use in a safe way polluter noun a person or company responsible for causing pollution pollution noun the process of damaging the air, water, or land with chemicals or other substances preservation noun the process of working to protect something valuable so that it is not damaged or destroyed preservation noun involved in preservation preserve verb to take care of a place or building in order to prevent it from being harmed or destroyed protected adjective used about animals, plants, and other things that the law prevents people from harming rainforest noun a forest in a tropical region of the world where it rains a lot. Rainforests are considered to be important environmental areas and many people want them to be protected by law reclaim verb to improve an area of land so that it can be used recyclable adjective able to be recycled recycle verb to change waste materials such as newspapers and bottles so that they can be used again recycling noun the process of changing waste materials such as newspapers and bottles so that they can be used again reforestation noun the act of putting new trees into a place where the original trees have been cut down reintroduce verb to return a type of animal or plant to an area where it lived in the past so that it can continue to develop there release verb to let a substance or energy spread into the area or atmosphere around it, especially as part of a chemical reaction release noun a situation in which something such as a chemical is spread into the area or atmosphere around it renewable adjective renewable energy and natural materials replace themselves by natural processes, so that they are never completely used up reprocess verb to process a waste substance so that it can be used again reserve noun an area of land where wild animals or plants are officially protected sanctuary noun a special area where animals live in a natural environment protected from people U-value noun a measure of how well a part of a building, for example a window or a roof, prevents heat from escaping sustainable adjective using methods that do not harm the environment sustainable development noun the development of a country or region that does not use more natural resources than can be replaced and so does not harm the environment toxic adjective poisonous and harmful to people, animals, or the environment unleaded adjective unleaded petrol does not contain lead and is therefore less harmful to people and to the environment unsustainable adjective unsustainable farming methods, industries etc damage the environment because they use up more energy, wood, coal etc than can be replaced naturally the water cycle noun the continuous process by which water in seas, rivers, soil, living things etc evaporates into the atmosphere, where it forms clouds that produce rain or snow so that it goes back into the seas, rivers, soil etc again zero carbon adjective not causing carbon emissions (=carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide in the atmophere) ecoterrorism noun ecotourist noun environmentalism noun naturalization noun reclamation noun sustainability noun toxicity noun

Palm oil giant vows to spare most valuable Indonesian rainforest

source http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/feb/09/pal-oil-giant-most-valuable-indonesian-rainforest The West Kalimantan province of Borneo, Indonesia. Greenpeace has said it will monitor Golden Agri-Resources to ensure it keeps to its promise. Photograph: Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images The world's second biggest palm oil company has agreed to halt deforestation in valuable areas of Indonesian forest, bowing to pressure from western food processors and conservationists. Golden Agri-Resources Limited has committed itself to protecting forests and peatlands with a high level of biodiversity, or which provide major carbon sinks, as part of an agreement with conservation group the Forest Trust. However, the agreement announced on Wednesday will still leave GAR free to exploit other areas of forest, and land that is judged to be of lower conservation value. Greenpeace, which has strongly criticised GAR in the past for its alleged destructive activities, is expected to keep a close watch on the company to ensure it lives up to its promises. Bustar Maitar, head of Greenpeace's campaign to protect Indonesian forests, said: "This could be good news for the forests, endangered species like the orangutan and for the Indonesian economy. "On paper, the new commitments from Golden Agri are a major step towards ending their involvement in deforestation. And if they do make these changes, large areas of forests will be saved. But now they've actually got to implement these plans, and we're watching closely to make sure this happens." Scott Poynton, executive director of the Forest Trust, a Geneva-based not-for-profit organisation that helps companies improve their environmental sustainability, added: "Today's agreement represents a revolutionary moment in the drive to conserve forests. "It's about going to the root causes of deforestation – we have shown that the destruction of forests is anchored deeply in the supply chains of the products we consume in industrialised nations, and we are showing we can do something about that." He said pressure from Nestlé, which last year drew up a set of sustainability guidelines and signalled that it would not accept palm oil from sources connected to deforestation, had been instrumental in bringing GAR to the table. Franky Wijaya, chief executive of GAR, said: "As a leading player in the palm oil industry, we are committed to playing our role in conserving Indonesia's forests and look forward to working with all stakeholders including the government of Indonesia, other key players in the palm oil industry, NGOs and local communities to find the common ground for sustainable palm oil production. "Our partnership with the Forest Trust allows us to grow palm oil in ways that conserve forests and that also respond to Indonesia's development needs, creating much needed employment while building shareholder value." GAR, which has annual revenues of $2.3bn, is the biggest palm oil company in Indonesia – the world's biggest palm oil producing country. The oil is used in an ever-increasing variety of consumer products, from cosmetics to biscuits, generating a market worth $20bn a year. These rewards have driven the clearance of large areas of tropical forest to make way for the plantations. Under the agreement, GAR will not use areas of forest and peatland that are classified as "high conservation value" or as "high carbon stock", meaning they store large amounts of carbon and should be preserved. However, the definitions of these terms have not yet been precisely set. Poynton said an initial aerial assessment of forest cover had set out "go" and "no-go" areas, with GAR free to exploit the former. The "no-go" areas will be reassessed to find whether they should be regarded as valuable. Experts in Indonesia will be asked to judge whether GAR forests have "high conservation value" under guidance from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, a coalition of the palm oil industry and conservation groups. The agreement also fell short of setting out how much land GAR may use for new palm planting. Poynton said that if the agreement was successful, it could help turn Indonesia into a role model for sustainable development. Indonesia has played a strong role in international climate change negotiations, since hosting the Bali conference in 2007.