Climate Change & Security Glossary
Disclaimer
This glossary is a compilation of external sources prepared by the NATO Climate Change and Security Centre of Excellence (NATO CCASCOE). They do not necessarily reflect the policy or the opinion of the NATO CCASCOE, NATO or any government. The NATO CCASCOE may not be held responsible for any loss or harm arising from the use of information contained in this publication and is not responsible for the content of the external sources, including external websites referenced in this publication.
Methodology
NATO has long recognized the need for its members and partners to be able to communicate clearly and unambiguously with each other, since in political, civilian and military activities, misunderstandings can lead to inefficiency and may even have more serious consequences.
Whenever possible, adopt existing definitions found in the following sources:
- NATO sources. When determining the correct definition to use, first check what definitions may already be in use for the relevant concept or similar concepts. Search in NATOTerm as well as in NATO documents, such as policy documents, doctrine and other documents that describe the concept in its context.
- Reference dictionaries. If no suitable definition is found in NATO sources, consult the Oxford English Dictionary for English and Le Petit Robert for French (latest editions). If the definitions in both reference dictionaries convey the same notion and correspond to the concept you wish define, use them rather than create new definitions. In that particular case, there is no need to submit a terminology proposal. If, on the other hand, the definitions contained in the reference dictionaries are too different, use the most suitable one to submit a terminology proposal.
- Other terminological reference sources. If neither the NATO sources nor the reference dictionaries contain a suitable definition, whenever possible use a definition approved by relevant standardization bodies in the order of precedence laid down below:
- international, e.g. the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the Internet Engineering TaskForce (IETF), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), theInternational Telecommunication Union (ITU);
- regional, e.g. the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), theEuropean Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), theEuropean Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI);
- national, e.g. the Association française de normalisation (AFNOR), the BritishStandards Institute (BSI), the Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN);
- from the private sector, e.g. industry associations.
For questions related to the Glossary, please contact scde.branch@ccascoe.org.