This is the ultimate SAATYNTK (Sustainability Acronyms And Terms You Need To Know) list for 2026. Use this to sound like the smartest person in the room – or at least the one with the best vocab. 

Frameworks & Regulations

CSRD – Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive: The major EU law requiring companies to report on a broad range of ESG impacts and risks.

ESRS – European Sustainability Reporting Standards: The rulebook that makes CSRD actually work.

CSDDD – Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive: Auditing your supply chain so you don't accidentally, you know, fund a super villain.

SFDR – Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation: EU rules that force financial products to be transparent about their "green" claims to prevent greenwashing.

NFRD – Non-Financial Reporting Directive: The original EU framework now being replaced and expanded by the more exacting CSRD.

UK SRS – UK Sustainability Reporting Standards: Britain’s "made in the UK" rules (launching 2026) based on global ISSB standards to streamline green reporting.

SDR – Sustainability Disclosure Requirements: The UK’s specific regime of labels and rules designed to keep investment funds honest about their sustainability claims.

SEC – Securities and Exchange Commission: A study in mixed signals. While the first "green" stock exchange launched in 2025, the US financial agency has paused mandatory greenhouse gas emission reporting.

SB 253 – California’s Climate Data Act: If you do business in Cali, you’re reporting emissions. Period.

SB 261 – California’s Financial Risk Act: Cali companies with over $500 million annual turnover must report on climate issues i.e. wildfires and how they’re reducing those risks.

EUDR – EU Deforestation Regulation: Landmark - and much delayed - legislation aiming to keep coffee, cattle, wood, rubber, soy, coffee and palm oil products in the EU deforestation free.

EUGC – EU Green Claims: The "receipts or it didn't happen" law for EU eco-marketing to combat “greenwashing.”

CBAM – Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism: Importing to the UK or EU? You’ll now have to pay a carbon tax for domestic goods.

SECR – Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting: Mandatory UK report for large companies detailing the business's energy use and carbon emissions information.

ESOS – Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme: A compulsory audit for large UK businesses to find where your building is leaking cash and help reduce carbon emissions.

DMA – Double Materiality Assessment: Two-pronged report detailing the company’s impact on the world and how sustainability risks impact the company's bottom line.

IRO – Impacts, Risks, and Opportunities: The "What, Where, and Why" of your sustainability strategy.

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Carbon & Climate

GHG – Greenhouse Gases: The heat-trapping atmospheric gases responsible for global warming that we are working to reduce.

CO2e – Carbon Dioxide Equivalent: The "universal currency" used to compare the warming impact of different gases to help create a more level playing field.

Net Zero: The finish line - when we’ve balanced the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere.

SBTi – Science Based Targets initiative: The widely recognised "Gold Standard" for setting climate goals that are actually aligned with climate science.

SBT – Science Based Targets: Goals backed by maths and physics, not just a creative marketing department.

FLAG – Forest, Land, and Agriculture: Specific target-setting rules for companies whose primary impact comes from land use or farming.

Scope 1 – Direct Emissions: Gas you burned yourself (your van, your boiler, your leak).

Scope 2 – Indirect Emissions: The carbon created by the power company you pay to keep the lights on.

Scope 3 – Value Chain Emissions: Everyone else’s carbon - from your suppliers to your customers - that you’re technically responsible for.

LULUCF – Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry: A mouthful that looks at how human activity impacts the way land and trees store or release carbon.

CCS – Carbon Capture and Storage: Technology that catches carbon at the source and pumps it underground for long-term storage.

CCUS – Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage: Catching carbon and actually turning it into something useful, like concrete or vodka.

DAC – Direct Air Capture: Massive, expensive fans that suck CO2 straight out of the sky.

VCM – Voluntary Carbon Market: Divisive marketplace where companies can buy carbon offsets to compensate for their emissions (increasingly regulated in 2026).

GWP – Global Warming Potential: A scorecard for how much heat a specific greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere over a specific period compared to CO2.

IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: The UN body of scientists providing the definitive evidence and warnings on the state of the climate. When they talk, we should listen! 

COP – Conference of the Parties: The massive yearly summit where world leaders argue in fancy hotels about saving the planet negotiate global climate policy.

NDC – Nationally Determined Contributions: The formal climate action plans and targets submitted by individual countries under the Paris Agreement. Sometimes kept to. 

PPA – Power Purchase Agreement: A long-term contract to buy electricity directly from a renewable energy generator i.e. solar panels or wind turbines. 

REC – Renewable Energy Certificate: A digital "I bought green power" voucher used in the US.

REGO – Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin: The UK version of the green power voucher.

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The "Nature & Biodiversity" Newcomers

TNFD – Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures: A framework helping businesses report on their risks and impacts related to the natural world.

SBTN – Science Based Targets Network: Like SBTi, but for protecting water, land, and biodiversity instead of just air.

GBF – Global Biodiversity Framework: The global "Master Plan" to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030.

NbS – Nature-based Solutions: Actions that protect or restore natural ecosystems to address challenges like climate change (e.g., planting mangroves to prevent flooding).

BREEAM – Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method: The UK’s primary method for certifying the sustainability of buildings.

LEED – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design: The American version of the "green building" badge.

FSC – Forest Stewardship Council: A global, not-for-profit organisation that sets standards for responsible forest management. AKA the "tick" on your packaging that means your paper didn't come from an ancient, protected forest.

PEFC – Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification: Another way to prove your wood is "good" and not stolen from a rainforest, this time via an international non-profit. 

LCA – Life Cycle Assessment: Measuring a product’s impact from raw material to the moment it’s rubbish.

EPD – Environmental Product Declaration: A "nutrition label" for a product’s environmental impact – no calories, just carbon, energy and resource use.

PEF – Product Environmental Footprint: The EU’s method for calculating the environmental performance of a product.

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Green Finance

ESG – Environmental, Social, and Governance: The three key pillars used to measure the sustainability and ethical impact of a company or investment. 

ISSB – International Sustainability Standards Board: The global body creating a global baseline for sustainability disclosures to make data comparable.

IFRS – International Financial Reporting Standards: The global accounting standards that now incorporate mandatory sustainability and climate disclosures.

S1 & S2 – ISSB Standards: S1 is the "Sustainability 101" basics; S2 is the deep-dive into climate risks.

TCFD – Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures: The original climate-risk framework (now retired and merged into ISSB).

SASB – Sustainability Accounting Standards Board: Industry-specific rules that tell a miner vs. a baker what they actually need to report.

PRI – Principles for Responsible Investment: A UN-supported network of investors committed to incorporating ESG factors into their investment decisions.

SRI – Socially Responsible Investing: Putting your money where your morals are - i.e. not working with betting companies or weapons manufacturers. 

GFANZ – Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero: A massive group of banks and insurers committed to accelerating the decarbonisation of the economy.

PCAF – Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials: The maths banks use to figure out how much carbon their loans are “funding.” 

PAI – Principal Adverse Impacts: Mandatory EU disclosures detailing the negative effects an investment has on people and the planet.

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Social and People

DEI – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Making sure everyone gets an invite to the party and a seat at the table.

EDI – Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: The UK’s preferred way to say DEI.

SLV – Social Value: The extra "good" a business does for the local community that isn't just about the bottom line.

SROI – Social Return on Investment: Measuring the "happiness" or "wellbeing" created for every £1 spent on a project.

ILO – International Labour Organization: The UN agency responsible for safeguarding global workers' rights and ensuring fair, exploitation-free labor practices worldwide.

UNGP – United Nations Guiding Principles: The "Ten Commandments" for how businesses should respect human rights.

SDG – Sustainable Development Goals: The UN’s 17 core objectives designed to drive global progress, promote equity and protect the planet.

HSE – Health, Safety, and Environment: Making sure no one gets hurt on the job while minimising the organisation's ecological footprint.

CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility: Essentially a company’s conscience; it’s the commitment to making sure a business gives back to the community at least as much as it takes out.

FPIC – Free, Prior, and Informed Consent: Actually asking permission before you start digging or building on someone else’s land.

TOMS – Themes, Outcomes, and Measures: The UK’s secret formula for recording and reporting on Social Value.

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Circular and Tech

CE – Circular Economy: A system designed to retire the concept of "waste" entirely, keeping resources in a continuous loop of use, reuse and renewal. Because in a circle, there is no finish line (sorry if that sounds a little too David Brent!) 

DfE – Design for Environment: Making things that are easy to fix, upgrade or recycle from the very first design sketch.

WEEE – Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment: Imagine the Wombles (ask your parents/resident work Boomer if that goes over your head) dealt in old phones and toasters and stripped them for parts. 

EPR – Extended Producer Responsibility: A law that makes companies pay for the rubbish their products eventually become.

DPP – Digital Product Passport: A QR for your belongings that tells you its whole life story, from farm/factory to bin.

BMS – Building Management System: The building’s "brain" that stops your office from heating empty rooms at 3 AM.

EMS – Environmental Management System: Think of it as the operating system for your eco-goals – a structured framework that keeps your environmental performance on track and constantly improving.

ISO – International Organisation for Standardisation: The people who decide what the “gold standard” looks like so everyone agrees.

ISO 14001 – The Green ISO: The gold standard for proving you aren't just winging your environmental management.

ISO 50001 – The Energy ISO: The best way to prove you’re an energy-saving pro and not a power-waster.

ISO 26000 – The Social ISO: The standard for being a helpful, responsible and ethical company.

AI – Artificial Intelligence: The robot intern crunching all your 2026 sustainability data and writing all your LinkedIn posts while you sleep.

IoT – Internet of Things: Internet-connected physical objects that gather data and share it with other systems. Colloquially, sensors that snitch on your fridge for being open or your pipes for leaking.

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Leading Organisations

GRI – Global Reporting Initiative: The most widely used framework for "speaking sustainability," providing a common language so that a company’s impact is understood by investors and activists alike.

CDP – Carbon Disclosure Project: The giant, scary spreadsheet of doom where companies share their climate data with investors.

EFRAG – European Financial Reporting Advisory Group: The EU’s "think tank" that writes the rules for sustainability reporting.

UNEP – United Nations Environment Programme: The UN’s official "voice" for the planet.

WBCSD – World Business Council for Sustainable Development: A CEO-led club for big businesses trying to be less bad.

IEA – International Energy Agency: The global authority on the "big switch," tracking where our power comes from and, more importantly, exactly how fast we can retire coal for good.

WEF – World Economic Forum: The "Davos in-crowd" talking about the future of the world over expensive coffee. A favourite target of the tinfoil hat crowd for meddling in everything.

IIGCC – Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change: A gang of trillion-dollar investors using their huge influence to help push the sustainability business angle. 

CMA – Competition and Markets Authority: The UK’s watchdog that bites companies making fake green claims.

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The Best of the Rest

KPI – Key Performance Indicator: The numbers that tell you if you're actually winning or still have a lot of work to do. 

OKR – Objectives and Key Results: The big "moonshot" goals and the tiny, measurable steps to reach them.

CAPEX – Capital Expenditure: Spending big money on long-term green assets (like buying the solar panels).

OPEX – Operational Expenditure: The day-to-day costs of keeping the green stuff running (like cleaning the solar panels).

B-Corp – Certified Benefit Corporation: A company certified by B-Labs that meets high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. corporate accountability – a legal commitment to balance purpose with profit. 

TBL – Triple Bottom Line: People, Planet, and Profit – the "Holy Trinity" of sustainable business.

RACI – Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed: A roadmap to figure out who is actually doing the work and who is just watching.

TAFNF! (That’s All For Now Folks!) 

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