QCRIP Glossary

Direct greenhouse gas emissions from sources owned or controlled by the organization, including fuel combustion in company vehicles, on-site manufacturing processes, and fugitive emissions from refrigeration systems.

Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating, and cooling consumed by the organization. Calculated using location-based or market-based methods.

All other indirect emissions in the value chain, including purchased goods/services, business travel, employee commuting, transportation, distribution, product use, and end-of-life treatment. Represents 70-90% of total footprint for most organizations.

Emissions per unit of economic output or activity, typically measured as tons CO2e per million dollars revenue (tCO2e/$M) or per unit produced. Used to track decarbonization efficiency independent of business growth.

Universal unit expressing the warming potential of different greenhouse gases relative to carbon dioxide. Methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and fluorinated gases are converted to CO2e using Global Warming Potential (GWP) factors.

Short-term, event-driven climate hazards including hurricanes, floods, wildfires, heatwaves, and storms. Result in immediate asset damage, supply chain disruption, and business interruption.

Long-term gradual climate changes including sea level rise, sustained temperature increases, precipitation pattern shifts, and chronic water stress. Cause gradual asset devaluation and operational degradation.

Financial risks from policy changes, technology shifts, market dynamics, and reputation impacts during the transition to a low-carbon economy. Includes carbon pricing, stranded assets, and regulatory compliance costs.

Maximum expected financial loss from climate-related events at a given confidence level over a specified time horizon. Quantum algorithms enable probabilistic risk quantification across correlated scenarios.

Critical threshold where climate system undergoes abrupt, irreversible change. Examples include Arctic ice sheet collapse, Amazon rainforest dieback, and Atlantic meridional overturning circulation shutdown. Quantum walks detect early warning signals.

Framework for climate-related financial risk disclosure across four pillars: Governance, Strategy, Risk Management, and Metrics & Targets. Mandatory in many jurisdictions for listed companies and financial institutions.

EU regulation requiring comprehensive sustainability reporting for large companies and listed SMEs. Mandates double materiality assessment covering environmental, social, and governance impacts.

Framework for setting corporate emission reduction targets aligned with climate science and Paris Agreement goals. Requires 1.5°C pathway with near-term (5-10 years) and net-zero (2050) targets.

World's most widely used sustainability reporting standards. Modular framework covering economic, environmental, and social topics with disclosure requirements for energy, emissions, water, waste, and biodiversity.

Global disclosure system for environmental impact management. Companies report climate, water, and forest data annually. Scored A to D based on disclosure quality, awareness, management, and leadership.

Process identifying sustainability topics most significant to enterprise value and stakeholders. Double materiality considers both financial impact on company (outside-in) and company's environmental/social impact (inside-out).

Achieving balance between greenhouse gases emitted and removed from atmosphere. Requires 90-95% absolute emission reductions with remaining 5-10% neutralized through permanent carbon removal (not offsets).

Market-based instrument representing the environmental attributes of 1 MWh renewable electricity generation. Used for Scope 2 market-based accounting and voluntary renewable energy procurement.

Long-term contract (10-25 years) to purchase renewable electricity at fixed price directly from generator. Provides price certainty, emission reductions, and additionality for corporate renewable energy goals.

Permanent extraction and storage of CO2 from atmosphere through natural or technological solutions. Includes direct air capture (DAC), enhanced weathering, biochar, and afforestation. Required for net-zero residual emissions.

Quantum algorithm for solving combinatorial optimization problems. Applied to renewable energy portfolio optimization, supply chain routing, and grid balancing with exponentially faster solutions than classical methods.

Quantum phenomenon where two or more qubits become correlated such that measuring one instantly affects the other. Used in QCRIP to model climate risk correlations across geographies, sectors, and hazard types.

Quantum algorithm providing quadratic speedup for Monte Carlo probability estimation. Applied to disaster risk quantification, scenario analysis, and climate VaR calculation with 100x fewer samples.

Quantum analogue of classical random walk demonstrating quantum speedup for graph search and pattern detection. Used for climate tipping point identification and supply chain network analysis.

Hybrid quantum-classical algorithm for finding ground state energy of quantum systems. Applied to carbon pricing optimization and emission trading scheme equilibrium calculation.

Quantum search algorithm providing quadratic speedup for unstructured database search. Applied to climate scenario database queries and optimal mitigation strategy identification.

Assets suffering unexpected write-downs, devaluations, or premature retirement due to climate-related policy, technology, or market changes. Common in fossil fuel infrastructure, high-emission facilities, and coastal real estate.

Cost per ton of CO2 emissions imposed through carbon tax or emissions trading system. Used to internalize climate externalities and incentivize emission reductions. Projected to reach $75-$150/ton by 2030.

Internal carbon price used for investment decisions and scenario analysis, representing future regulatory costs. Typically set higher than current market price to prepare for transition risks.

Lost revenue and increased costs from climate-induced operational disruption. Calculated as days of downtime multiplied by daily revenue and fixed costs, with supply chain ripple effects.