UNCCD Terminology

Core contributions to multilateral institutions are funds classified as multilateral ODA (all other categories fall under bilateral ODA). The recipient multilateral institution pools contributions so that they lose their identity and become an integral part of its financial assets.

The degree of concessionality of a loan is measured by its “grant element”. The grant element is defined as the difference between the loan’s nominal value (face value) and the sum of the discounted future debt-service payments to be made by the borrower (present value), expressed as a percentage of the loan’s face value. Whenever the interest rate charged for a loan is lower than the discount rate, the present value of the debt is smaller than its face value, with the difference reflecting the (positive) grant element of the loan. Grants are wholly concessional by definition. To consult more information on the calculation of the grant element of loans, see OECD DAC Converged Statistical Reporting Directives for the Creditor Reporting System (CRS). In DAC statistics, loans are defined as concessional or non-concessional against specific grant element thresholds, which might change over time.

One of the factors recommended to estimate the infrastructural component of the Drought Vulnerability Index (DVI).The cultivated land that is equipped for irrigation, expressed as a percentage of the total cultivated land. This factor is not valid for the few countries that irrigate pastures. It is calculated by dividing the area equipped for irrigation (which is the area equipped to provide water via irrigation to crops, including full/partial controlled irrigation, equipped lowland areas and areas equipped for spate irrigation) by the cultivated area. This refers to the physical area actually cultivated and does not include land which is temporarily fallow. This factor gives an indication of the short-term coping capacity of the agriculture sector to drought. However, it does not consider if this equipment is in working order, if land is being irrigated or if there is long-term planning on the use of the water resources for irrigation to ensure long-term adaptive capacity. See also ‘Drought Vulnerability Index (DVI)’

For the purpose of UNCCD reporting,, the assessment of a country’s vulnerability to drought as represented by the Drought Vulnerability Index (DVI). See also ‘Drought Vulnerability Index (DVI)’.

A disbursement is the placement of resources at the disposal of a recipient country or agency, or in the case of internal development-related expenditures, the outlay of funds by the official sector. Disbursement may be measured in various ways at different stages of the transfer process. For financial loans and grants, subject to the availability of the necessary records, preference should be given to the stage closest to balance of payments treatment.

Any natural or human-induced factor that directly or indirectly causes a change in an ecosystem

A composite index of drought vulnerability. It is comprised of three components: social, economic and infrastructural, which are each linked to vulnerability. For the purposes of UNCCD reporting, each component can also be an arithmetically derived number consisting of social, economic and infrastructure factors, which are observable or measured variables available as global and/or national datasets.

The observable/measured variables available as global and/or country-level and sub-national datasets, which are being recommended for use in constructing the Economic Component of the Drought Vulnerability Index (DVI). These factors have been used in the scientific literature and recommended by experts to define economic vulnerability to drought.

One of the factors recommended to estimate the economic component of the Drought Vulnerability Index (DVI). Use of primary energy on a per capita basis, where primary energy refers to energy before transformation to other end-use fuels. This includes indigenous production plus imports and stock changes, minus exports and fuels supplied to ships and aircraft engaged in international transport.7 Though it does reflect climatic, geographic and economic factors, such as the relative price of energy, it is a measure of economic activity, with high-income economies consuming five times as much energy on a per capita basis than low- and middle-income economies. This factor implies that a growing economy would be more able to implement shortterm coping and long-term adaptation strategies. See also ‘Drought Vulnerability Index (DVI)’.

An environmental subsidy or similar transfer is a transfer intended to support activities that protect the environment or reduce the use and extraction of natural resources. A subsidy or similar transfer should be treated as environmental when the primary intent or purpose of the government is for resources to be used for either environmental protection or resource management purposes.

An environmental tax is a tax whose tax base is a physical unit (or a proxy of it) of something that has a proven, specific, negative impact on the environment. In practice, this definition is applied by looking at all of the various taxes levied in a country and making an assessment regarding whether the tax base in each circumstance is something that has a negative environmental impact. Since the application of this definition may vary across countries, for the purposes of international comparison of environmental taxes, lists of relevant tax bases that satisfy this definition have been developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and Eurostat. In cases where the use of the tax revenue is known, these taxes are considered “earmarked taxes”

Common equity is a share in the ownership of a corporation that gives the owner claims on the residual value of the corporation after creditors’ claims have been met. Public investors can take equity stakes directly in a company by purchasing a share of ownership, or can invest in the equity or extend a loan to a company indirectly, by investing in an equity or debt fund.

Expert Judgement is a technique in which judgement is provided based upon a specific set of criteria and/or expertise that has been acquired in a specific knowledge area, application area, or product area, a particular discipline, an industry, etc. Such expertise may be provided by any group or person with specialized education, knowledge, skill, experience, or training.

Characterizes the presence of people, society, livelihoods, ecosystem, environment, resources, infrastructure, economic or cultural assets that could be adversely affected by hazards. In the context of a spatially and temporally varying hazard, exposure can be seen as the extent to which a unit of assessment falls within the geographical range of a hazard event

A result which wrongly indicates that a particular condition or attribute is absent. For UNCCD reporting, a false negative occurs when the One-Out All-Out process has incorrectly resulted in an area being identified as degraded in the context of SDG indicator 15.3.1. See also ‘False positive’

Private foreign direct investment financial transactions (flows) comprise mainly three types of financing from the private sector: (i) acquisition or disposal of equity capital; (ii) reinvestment of earnings which are not distributed as dividends; and (iii) inter-company debt (payables and receivables, loans, debt securities). Direct investment comprises financing by an entity resident in a reporting country which has the objective of obtaining or retaining a lasting interest in an entity resident in a developing country

Within the flow categories (see Type of flow) are numerous financial instruments. Financial instruments are categorised as grants, debt instruments (concessional or non-concessional loans, reimbursable grants, bonds and asset-backed securities), equities and shares in collective investment vehicles, insurances. The financial instrument classification also includes instruments that do not necessarily generate a flow (i.e. contingent liabilities) such as guarantees.

Financial transaction or financial flow from a provider to a recipient for activities, a projects, technical assistance or investments supporting the objectives of the Convention. Provider and recipients can be, as relevant to the different indicators, public of private entities, and located or operating in the provider country, the recipient country or a third country.

The fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR) is an important biophysical variable, and is widely used in satellite-based production efficiency models to estimate gross primary production or net primary production. FAPAR is the fraction of the incoming solar radiation in the Photosynthetically Active Radiation spectral region (400-700nm) that is absorbed by a photosynthetic organism, typically describing the light absorption across an integrated plant canopy.

Refers to the social attributes and opportunities associated with being male and female, and the relationships between women and men, and girls and boys, as well as the relations between women and those between men. These attributes, opportunities and relationships are socially constructed and are learned through socialization processes. They are context/time specific and changeable. Gender is part of the broader sociocultural context.