Version 4.0 of the Global Agro-ecological Zones (GAEZ) system, developed at IIASA, began in 2013 to reflect the new climate model projections of the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP), which were developed for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report and beyond. They are expected to be complete in mid-2014.
GAEZ will be among the first applications to benefit from the creation of the “best available” land cover database developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The LANDFLOW model was extended and used in the study "The impact of EU consumption on deforestation" [1]. This highlighted that agricultural products imported into Europe (period 1990-2008) accounted for over one-third of global deforestation associated with international agricultural trade. This was mainly due to livestock feed imported from South America.
In 2013 work was carried out in close cooperation with IIASA's Chinese and Indian National Member Organizations on land use efficiency and security, particularly in the light of climate change and rapid population growth.
A systematic update of the Global Agro-ecological Zones (GAEZ) system, began in 2013 and will be ready in mid-2014 More
The LANDFLOW model, developed at IIASA, was applied to estimate how deforestation is connected to agricultural production in each country and how it relates to EU consumption via international trade. More
In 2013 the Water (WAT) Program cooperated closely with IIASA's National Member Organizations (NMOs) of China and India - respectively, the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), India. More
References
[1] European Commission (2013). The impact of EU consumption on deforestation. Technical Report 2013-063.
Collaborators
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO);
European Commission(EU);
Chinese National Member Organization;
Indian National Member Organization.
Research program
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313