Insights

Glossary

Clear definitions of the sustainability, climate, and ESG terms that matter most — from CBAM and CSRD to SBTi and PCAF. Written by Semtrio's advisory team.

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Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD)

The Non-Financial Reporting Directive was the European Union's first mandatory sustainability disclosure law, applying from the 2018 financial year until it was superseded by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.

O

Operational Control

Operational control is a greenhouse gas accounting boundary approach under which an organisation reports 100% of the emissions from operations it controls — those where it has full authority to introduce and implement operating policies — and none from operations it does not.

Organic Tie

An organic tie is an affiliation defined by 50%-or-more ownership between companies. In the Responsible Programme it determines which companies count together — for the export threshold and for who may hold the spending authority within a group.

Organizational Boundary

An organizational boundary defines which entities' emissions an organisation includes in its greenhouse gas inventory, set using either the equity share approach or one of two control approaches.

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Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR, Regulation (EU) 2025/40) is the EU's directly-binding rule set covering all packaging placed on the EU market — recyclability, recycled content, minimisation, reuse and substance limits — regardless of the packaging's material or origin.

Packaging Minimisation

Packaging minimisation is the PPWR requirement to reduce packaging to the minimum weight and volume needed for function, banning unnecessary layers and double walls. From 2030, grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging must have an empty-space ratio no higher than 50%.

Packaging Waste Control Regulation (Türkiye)

Türkiye's national regulation governing the prevention, collection, recovery and recycling of packaging waste, issued by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change. It places extended-producer-responsibility obligations on economic operators that put packaging on the market and sets national recovery and recycling targets.

Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change, adopted in 2015, under which nearly all countries commit to hold the rise in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.

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