- biodiversity
means the variability among living organisms arising from all sources including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part and includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems;
- circular economy
means an economic system whereby the value of products, materials and other resources in the economy is maintained for as long as possible, enhancing their efficient use in production and consumption, thereby reducing the environmental impact of their use, minimising waste and the release of hazardous substances at all stages of their life cycle, including through the application of the waste hierarchy;
- climate change adaptation
means the process of adjustment to actual and expected climate change and its impacts;
- climate change mitigation
means the process of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1,5 °C above pre-industrial levels, as laid down in the Paris Agreement;
- ecosystem
means a dynamic complex of plant, animal, and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit;
- ecosystem services
means the direct and indirect contributions of ecosystems to the economic, social, cultural and other benefits that people derive from those ecosystems;
- energy efficiency
means the more efficient use of energy at all the stages of the energy chain from production to final consumption;
- environmentally sustainable investment
means an investment in one or several economic activities that qualify as environmentally sustainable under this Regulation;
- financial market participant
means a financial market participant as defined in point (1) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 and includes a manufacturer of a pension product to which a Member State has decided to apply that Regulation in accordance with Article 16 of that Regulation;
- financial product
means a financial product as defined in point (12) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2019/2088;
- good condition
means, in relation to an ecosystem, that the ecosystem is in good physical, chemical and biological condition or of a good physical, chemical and biological quality with self-reproduction or self-restoration capability, in which species composition, ecosystem structure and ecological functions are not impaired;
- good ecological potential
means good ecological potential as defined in point 23 of Article 2 of Directive 2000/60/EC.
- good environmental status
means good environmental status as defined in point 5 of Article 3 of Directive 2008/56/EC;
- good status
means:
- greenhouse gas
means a greenhouse gas listed in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
- groundwater
means groundwater as defined in point 2 of Article 2 of Directive 2000/60/EC;
- issuer
means an issuer as defined in point (h) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
- marine waters
means marine waters as defined in point 1 of Article 3 of Directive 2008/56/EC;
- pollutant
means a substance, vibration, heat, noise, light or other contaminant present in air, water or land which may be harmful to human health or the environment, which may result in damage to material property, or which may impair or interfere with amenities and other legitimate uses of the environment;
- pollution
means:
- soil
means the top layer of the Earth’s crust situated between the bedrock and the surface, which is composed of mineral particles, organic matter, water, air and living organisms;
- surface water
means surface water as defined in point 1 of Article 2 of Directive 2000/60/EC;
- waste hierarchy
means the waste hierarchy as laid down in Article 4 of Directive 2008/98/EC;