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PAMs
See Policies and Measures.
Pareto criterion / Pareto optimum
A requirement or status that an individual’s welfare could not be further
improved without making others in the society worse off.
Pareto improvement
The opportunity that one individual’s welfare can be improved without making
the welfare of the rest of society worse off.
Performance criteria
See standards.
Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
Among the six greenhouse gases to be abated under the Kyoto
Protocol. These are by-products of aluminium smelting and uranium enrichment.
They also replace chlorofluorocarbons in manufacturing semiconductors.
The Global Warming Potential of PFCs is 6500–9200 times that
of carbon dioxide.
PFCs
See perfluorocarbons.
Policies and Measures (PAMs)
In United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change parlance,
policies are actions that can be taken and/or mandated by a government–often
in conjunction with business and industry within its own country, as well as
with other countries–to accelerate the application and use of measures
to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Measures are technologies, processes,
and practices used to implement policies, which, if employed, would reduce
greenhouse gas emissions below anticipated future levels. Examples
might include carbon or other energy taxes, standardized fuel efficiency standards
for automobiles, etc. “Common and co-ordinated” or “harmonized”
policies refer to those adopted jointly by Parties.
Pool
See reservoir.
PPP
See Purchasing Power Parity. It also stands for polluter-pays-principle.
Precautionary Principle
A provision under Article 3 of the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change, stipulating that the Parties should take precautionary
measures to anticipate, prevent or minimize the causes of climate change
and mitigate its adverse effects. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible
damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for
postponing such measures, taking into account that policies and measures
to deal with climate change should be cost-effective so as to
ensure global benefits at the lowest possible cost.
Present value cost
The sum of all costs over all time periods, with future costs discounted.
Price elasticity
The responsiveness of demand to the cost for a good or service; specifically,
the percentage change in the quantity consumed of a good or service for a 1%
change in the price for that good or service.
Primary energy
Energy embodied in natural resources (e.g., coal, crude oil, sunlight, uranium)
that has not undergone any anthropogenic conversion or transformation.
“Primary market” and “secondary market” trading
In commodities and financial exchanges, buyers and sellers who trade directly
with each other constitute the “primary market”, while buying and
selling through the exchange facilities represent the “secondary market”.
Private costs
Categories of costs influencing an individual’s decision-making are referred
to as private costs. See also social cost, external cost, and
total cost.
Producer surplus
Returns beyond the cost of production that provide compensation for owners of
skills or assets that are scarce (e.g., agriculturally productive land). See
also consumer surplus.
Project costs
Project costs are all the financial costs of a project such as capital, labour,
and operating costs.
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)
Estimates of Gross Domestic Product based on the purchasing power
of currencies rather than on current exchange rates. Such estimates are a blend
of extrapolated and regression-based numbers, using the results of the International
Comparison Program. PPP estimates tend to lower per capita Gross Domestic
Products in industrialized countries and raise per capita Gross Domestic
Products in developing countries. PPP is also an acronym for polluter-pays-principle.
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