Asset manager. A company that manages pools of capital on behalf of third parties.

Areas of high biodiversity value.ttt Areas not subject to legal protection but recognized for important biodiversity features by a number of governmental and non-governmental organizations. These include habitats that are a priority for conservation (often defined in National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans prepared under the Convention on Biological Diversity). In addition, several international conservation organizations have identified particular areas of high biodiversity value.

Commercial bank. This type of bank accepts and manages deposits from households, firms and governments and uses a portion of those deposits to earn interest by making loans and holding securities.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). An “umbrella” concept that not only benefits a company's financial bottom line, but also its environmental and social bottom line. CSR initiatives should go beyond minimum legal compliance.98,99

Corporate Value Chain. This depicts all activities a company engages in while doing business. It can be used as a framework to identify the positive and negative social impacts of those activities.33

Critical Natural Habitat. This concept is for example used by Goldman Sachs in their environment policy. It includes 1) existing protected areas and areas officially proposed by governments as protected areas (e.g., reserves that meet the criteria of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) classifications); 2) areas initially recognized as protected by traditional local communities (e.g., sacred groves); 3) sites that maintain conditions vital for the viability of these protected areas (as determined by the environmental assessment process); and 4) sites identified on supplementary lists prepared by the World Bank or an authoritative source determined by IFC's Environment Division.

Ecosystem.100 A contraction of “ecological” and “system”, refers to the collection of biotic and abiotic components and processes that comprise and govern the behaviour of some defined subset of the biosphere. Elements of an ecosystem may include flora, fauna, lower life forms, water and soil.

Extra-financial issues. These are fundamentals that have the potential to impact a company's financial performance or reputation in a material way, and include environmental, social and governance issues. However, these issues are generally not part of traditional fundamental analysis in investment research.


High Conservation Value Forest. High Conservation Value Forests are for example used by ABN AMRO for their sector-guidelines. It includes the following attributes: a) forest areas containing globally, regionally or nationally significant concentrations of biodiversity values (e.g., endemism, endangered species, refugia); and/or large landscape level forests, contained within, or containing the management unit, where viable populations of most if not all naturally occurring species exist in natural patterns of distribution and abundance; b) forest areas that are in or contain rare, threatened or endangered ecosystems; c) forest areas that provide basic services of nature in critical situations (e.g., watershed protection); d) forest areas fundamental to meeting basic needs of local communities (e.g., subsistence, health) and/or critical to local communities' traditional cultural identity (areas of cultural, ecological, economic or religious significance identified in cooperation with such local communities).

Insurance company. A company that sells insurance, which can be defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a potential loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium, to its clients.

Invasive species. This refers to a subset of introduced species or non-native species that are rapidly expanding outside of their native range. Invasive species can alter ecological relationships among native species and can affect ecosystem function and human healthError! Bookmark not defined.


Investment bank. This type of bank provides a range of financial and investment related services, advising clients on security issues, acquisitions and disposals of businesses, arranging and underwriting new issues, distributing securities and running fund management companies.

Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs). These types of products comprise all goods derived from forests of both plant and animal origin other than timber. NTFPs contribute to household income and subsistence and are of cultural importance in many rural societies.102

Payments for Environmental Services. This constitutes a voluntary transaction where a well-defined ecosystem service (or a land-use likely to secure that service) is being ‘bought’ by a (minimum one) ecosystem service buyer from a (minimum one) ES provider if and only if the ES provider secures ES provision (conditionality).103

Protected area.uuu A geographically defined area that is designated, regulated, or managed to achieve specific conservation objectives.

Recourse/non-recourse. Refers to the right, in an agreement, to demand payment from the person who is taking on an obligation. A full recourse loan refers to the right of the lender to take any assets of the borrower if repayment is not made. Non-recourse is when the pay-back of a certain loan is fully determined by the revenue generated by a specific activity/project and the bank or lender is not entitled to access the borrower's principal assets in the event of default.

Reinsurance company. Reinsurance involves the risks borne by insurance companies being taken on by another company or companies. In essence, reinsurers insure insurers.

Sell-side research houses. These firms buy and sell stock for their customers and make a profit through fee, commissions and research.

Sustainable Development. Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.104

Stakeholder. From a corporate perspective, a stakeholder can be defined as “any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievements of the company's objectives”.105

ttt G3 Global Reporting Guidelines:

uuu G3 Global Reporting Guidelines:

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