Extreme poverty
A severe form of poverty defined by living on less than US$2.15 per day and being unable to meet basic survival needs.
Poverty
A condition where income or resources are insufficient to meet basic needs such as food
Relative poverty
A situation where income is significantly below the national average
Absolute poverty
A fixed minimum standard of living where people lack sufficient income to meet basic needs.
HIC (High-Income Country)
A country with a GNI per capita of $14
MIC (Middle-Income Country)
A country with a GNI per capita between about $1
LIC (Low-Income Country)
A country with a GNI per capita of $1
Material Deprivation Index (MDI)
A measure of relative poverty based on access to goods and services considered essential in a society.
Biocapacity
The ability of an ecosystem to produce useful biological materials and absorb waste such as carbon emissions.
Ecological footprint
A measure of how much biologically productive land and water area a population requires to produce the resources it consumes and absorb its waste.
Ecological creditor
A country whose biocapacity exceeds its ecological footprint.
Ecological debtor
A country whose ecological footprint exceeds its biocapacity.
Carbon footprint
The total amount of greenhouse gases produced directly and indirectly by an individual
Global hectare
A standardised unit measuring biologically productive land or water area used for ecological footprint calculations.
Water stress
A situation where water demand exceeds available supply.
Water scarcity
A severe lack of water that fails to meet basic human and environmental needs.
Crude oil
A naturally occurring unprocessed fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons found underground.
Fuel
A substance burned to release energy through combustion.
Biofuel
Fuel derived from living organisms or recently living organic matter.
Grey water
Wastewater from sinks
Black water
Heavily contaminated wastewater
Green water
Precipitation stored in soil and used by plants before evaporating or transpiring.
Virtual water (embedded water)
The hidden water used in the production of goods and services.
Water footprint
The total amount of water used to produce goods and services consumed by an individual or population.
