Dow Jones Sustainability Index
Created in 1999, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index is one of the first global indexes watching the financial performance leading companies with an emphasis on sustainability in economic, social, and environmental capacities. The DJSIs emphasize long-term corporate performance and positive risk/returns. The DJSIs are audited using a special framework from the International Auditing and Assurance […]
Diversity
In nature, diversity is a source of ecosystem strength since failures are unlikely to eliminate all species. Therefore, the ecosystem will recover in some form and continue. In business or investing, diversity can provide a similar source of robustness against market instability or failures. Specifically, when applied to a human context, diversity refers to a […]
Distributed Collaborative Intelligence
Distributed collaborative intelligence is group collaboration within a virtual sphere of interaction, where group members can interact in real time even though they are not located within the same physical space. Examples are instant messaging capabilities, as well as group conferencing ability over the Internet. New ways of collaborating without having to travel, has significant […]
Discounted Cash Flow
A financial term referring to the value of an investment adjusted for the time value of money. Since money loses value over time, future cash to be received must be discounted to express its present value (today) in order to properly determine the value of a company or project under consideration. As the payment gets […]
Demand-Side Management
Also known as energy demand management, DSM is used in the electric utility industry as a technique to reduce peak demand under periods where the systems are constrained. This peak demand management does not necessarily decrease total energy consumption but does reduce the need for future investments in networks and/or power plants by increasing efficiency.
Debt Swap
Also referred to as a debt-for-nature swap, debt swap involves purchasing a portion of a nation’s public debt at a discount, and converting the debt into local currency to be used to finance local conservation activities, such as preserving land. This process traditionally occurs between a developing nation with large debt and one or more […]
Diminishing Marginal Utility
A concept from economics that describes decreasing utility or desire for more of the same product or service. The “law” states that the more we have of a given product the less satisfaction (or utility) we receive from each additional unit (for example, the first slice of pizza delivers more pleasure than the second and […]
Design for Environment
Design for Environment (DfE) is a process used in many industries to help organizations improve the environmental impact of their products and services throughout the development process. Each industry approaches this process differently and there are few standards. In addition, for small manufacturers, this is often seen as a time-consuming and expensive additional cost. This […]
Downcycle
Most recycled industrial nutrients (materials) lose viability or value in the process of recycling. This means they can only be used in a degraded form for components other than their original use. White writing paper, for example, is often downcycled into materials such as cardboard and cannot be used to create more premium writing paper.
Discounting
In economics, converting future dollars into their present value. This can be a misleading indicator because, for example, when damage happens far in the future, discounting can make it seem less costly, such as with pollution or nuclear waste. Also, when benefits occur far in the future, their costs are often more difficult to justify […]
