Accounting for climate impact and action is just a special case of impact accounting. We aim to make our ontology as generic as possible so that it can be applied to all forms and fields of impact accounting (i.e., to all SDGs).
Ontology
Our ontology currently comprises 15 classes and 15 axioms.
Classes
- thing
- agent
- role
- owner
- operator
- claimant
- auditor
- environment
- parameter
- state
- event
- activity
- claim (v)
- audit
- measure
- instrument
- procedure
- standard
- claim (n)
Axioms
- An agent engages in an activity.
- An activity impacts an environment.
- An environment is defined by (interrelated) parameters.
- A state is the value of a parameter P at time t.
- A procedure guides an activity.
- An activity is performed with an instrument.
- An activity has at least one input.
- An activity has at least one output.
- A claim is a statement about a (some specific) thing.
- A standard guides a claim.
- An agent enacts a role.
- An owner (role) is an agent who owns some specific thing.
- An operator (role) is an agent who operates some specific instrument.
- A claimant (role) is an agent who makes a claim.
- An auditor (role) is an agent who audits a claim.
- An event impacts and environment.
Definitions
| Class | Definition | Synonyms | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| thing | "Anything perceivable or conceivable." ["object" - ISO 9000:2015(E)] | object, entity, item | "Every individual in the OWL world is a member of the class owl:Thing. Thus each user-defined class is implicitly a subclass of owl:Thing."[1] |
| thing:claim(n) | "[A]n assertion that something is true." (OED, Google) | A report is a claim. | |
| thing:agent | "[A] person or thing that takes an active role or produces a specified effect." (OED, Google) "[The] doer of an action, typically expressed as the subject of an active verb or in a by phrase with a passive verb." (OED, Google) | ||
| thing:activity | "[A] thing that a person or group does or has done." (OED, Google) | 'activity' vs. 'action'? | |
| thing:activity:measure(v) | "[A]scertain the size, amount, or degree of (something) by using an instrument or device marked in standard units." (OED, Google) "[A]ssess the importance, effect, or value of (something)." (OED, Google) | ||
| thing:activity:claim(v) | "[S]tate or assert that something is the case..." (OED, Google) "[A]ssert that one has gained or achieved (something)." (OED, Google) | ||
| thing:activity:audit(v) | "[C]onduct a systematic review of." (OED, Google) Conduct a systematic review or assessment of something. | verify | |
| thing:environment | "[T]he surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates." (OED, Google) "[T]he setting or conditions in which a particular activity is carried on. (OED, Google) | domain (?) | |
| thing:parameter | "[A] numerical or other measurable factor forming one of a set that defines a system or sets the conditions of its operation." (OED, Google) "[A] numerical characteristic of a population, as distinct from a statistic of a sample." (OED, Google) "[A] limit or boundary which defines the scope of a particular process or activity." (OED, Google) | ||
| thing:state | "[T]he particular condition that someone or something is in at a specific time." (OED, Google) | ||
| thing:event | "[A] thing that happens or takes place,..." (OED, Google) "[A] single occurrence of a process, e.g. the ionization of one atom." (OED, Google) | ||
| thing:role | "[T]he function assumed or part played by a person or thing in a particular situation." (OED, Google) | ||
| thing:role:owner | An agent who owns a thing. "[A] person who owns something." (OED, Google) | ||
| thing:role:operator | "[A] person who operates equipment or a machine." (OED, Google) "[A] person or company that runs a business." (OED, Google) | ||
| thing:role:claimant | "[A] person making a claim, especially in a lawsuit or for a state benefit." (OED, Google) | ||
| thing:role:developer | "[A] person or thing that develops something." (OED, Google) | ||
| thing:role:auditor | "[A] person who conducts an audit." (OED, Google) "[S]omeone who vouches for another or for the correctness of a statement." ("verifier") | verifier | |
| thing:control(n) | "[T]he restriction of an activity, tendency, or phenomenon." (OED, Google) "[A] means of limiting or regulating something." (OED, Google) | ||
| thing:control:procedure | "[A]n established or official way of doing something." (OED, Google) "[A] series of actions conducted in a certain order or manner." (OED, Google) | method | |
| thing:instrument | "[A] tool or implement, especially one for precision work." (OED, Google) "[A] means of pursuing an aim." (OED, Google) "[A] measuring device used to gauge the level, position, speed, etc. of something,..." (OED, Google) "[A] thing made or adapted for a particular purpose, especially a piece of mechanical or electronic equipment." ("device" - OED, Google) "[A] plan, method, or trick with a particular aim." ("device" - OED, Google) "[A] device or implement, especially one held in the hand, used to carry out a particular function." ("tool" - OED, Google) "[A] thing used to help perform a job." ("tool" - OED, Google) | device (?) tool (?) | |
| thing:instrument:standard | "[A] level of quality or attainment." (OED, Google) "[A] required or agreed level of quality or attainment." (OED, Google) "[S]omething used as a measure, norm, or model in comparative evaluations." (OED, Google) "[P]rinciples of conduct informed by notions of honour and decency." (OED, Google) | ||
| process | "[A] series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end." (OED, Google) "[A] natural series of changes." (OED, Google) "[A] systematic series of mechanized or chemical operations that are performed in order to produce something." (OED, Google) | ||
| project | "[A]n individual or collaborative enterprise that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim." (OED, Google) "[A] proposed or planned undertaking." (OED, Google) | ||
| methodology | "[A] system of methods used in a particular area of study or activity." (OED, Google) | ||
| indicator | "[A] thing that indicates the state or level of something." (OED, Google) | ||
| constraint | "[A] limitation or restriction." (OED, Google) | ||
| condition(n) | "[A] situation that must exist before something else is possible or permitted." (OED, Google) | ||
| requirement | "[A] thing that is needed or wanted." (OED, Google) "[A] thing that is compulsory; a necessary condition." (OED, Google) | ||
| reputation | "[T]he beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something." (OED, Google) "[A] widespread belief that someone or something has a particular characteristic." (OED, Google) |
Application of the ontology
TODO: this table is a work in progress and still needs A LOT of work.
Ontology (What are the 'things' that the accounting system should know about? What are the defining properties or characteristics of each 'thing'?) | Epistemology (How will the accounting system get information about these things and their attributes?) | Semiology (How will each of the things be represented in the accounting system?) | |
|---|---|---|---|
Agents |
| An agent asserts their identity though digital signatures Agents provide proofs of their properties through verified credentials Other parties can verify agent properties and make claims about their methods and results | Digital signature Verified credentials Validation claim by third party |
| Role | See: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/CHEBI_50906 Definition "A role is particular behaviour which a material entity may exhibit."^^xsd:string | ||
Activities |
* An audit is a special type of activity where the input is a claim and the output is an evaluation of that claim. | Ex ante: An agent asserts their intentions to act in a Projet Design Document (PDD) Ex post: An agent describe their actions in a Projet Design Document (PDD) The activity and its results and impacts are documented by the agent at intervals in a monitoring report (MR) |
Consider a token for an activity that contains all the essential elements in column 1. Such a token must have a time limit and proof of life requirements (e.g. minimum process data feed to confirm it is ongoing) IPCC |
| Environments |
| ||
States |
*State as in environmental state (not political state) | Parameters/indicators for states Parameters/indicators delivered by agents via PDDs and MRs |
|
| Parameters |
(Emission factors are parameters, for example.) |
| |
| Standards |
|
| |
| Claims |
| ||
Epistemology
We know about things through direct participation in them or through representations.
For things we experience directly we do not need any further assurance that they are true.
Protobuf implementation (example)
UML diagram (hosted on Lucidchart; login required)
Hedera Hashgraph Guardian implementation (example)
(TODO: add files)
Code resources
TODOs and next steps:
- Add a definition and example to each of the classes in Protégé. Also do it on this page.
- For discussion: Where do we list the natural processes that lead to climate change? Should there be an event class? An event is like an activity but without the intention of a HUMAN agent. An accident is an event but it is not an activity.
- Align the ontology with OWL specifications and syntax.
- Expand the second and third… n levels of the ontology, as necessary.
- Embed ontology into BFO and its extensions. Some useful resources: BFO 6-part video series. Perhaps check if we should not rather go with AFO.
- See if we can use any of these ontologies for the spatial classes: W3C, DBpedia
- Can we / should we try to align our ontology with ISDA CDM?
- Develop tools for applying the ontology (see our GitHub repo for what has already been done).
- Get industry entities to test our ontology & tools. Possible testers:
- Incorporate the following aspects about roles into our ontology: they are context-specific; they are sometimes mutually exclusive; a role restricts the set of activities that an agent can perform in the context within which they enact the role; some roles require the enacting agent to have met certain requirements to be allowed to enact the role in that context.