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Radiative forcing (RF) is the difference in a planet's incoming and outgoing radiation per square unit of surface per unit of time, i.e., power per unit area. (For Earth, this would be insolation minus earthshine-per-unit-area.) It is affected by the planet's albedo, the greenhouse effects of its atmosphere and the planet's thermal emission.
I believe the term was coined within meteorology where this net difference is a "force" regarding weather and climate.
Note that the abbreviation RF has another common technical use, for radio frequency, such as in the phrase RF interference, meaning use of radio frequencies in such a manner as to interfere with other uses.