Informe de la Dirección Ejecutiva del IAI a la Vigésima Conferencia de las Partes, 2012

The report from the Executive Directorate of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) to the 20th Conference of the Parties (2012) details the outcomes of the second round of Cooperative Research Networks (CRNII) and the Human Dimensions Small Grants Program (SGP-HD). It highlights scientific findings on land-use change in the Plata Basin, the establishment of a Water Security Center of Excellence, and the launch of new NSF-funded grants (SGP-CRA and CRN3). The document also reports significant administrative challenges in Brazil, including severe IT connectivity issues and legal/tax disputes regarding the employment of Brazilian staff.

• The second round of Cooperative Research Networks (CRNII), spanning 2005-2012, involved 180 researchers from 97 institutions across 18 countries. The program was supported by a USD 10.324 million grant from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and secured approximately 27.6 million USD in additional funds. The networks produced 273 peer-reviewed journal articles and 72 books or book chapters.
• Research in the Plata Basin indicates that since the 1980s, low-intensity livestock lands were converted to industrial-scale cereal and oilseed production, primarily soy, driven by market signals and increased precipitation. This transition led to decreased soil and vegetation carbon, increased carbon emissions, regional climate changes, and higher flood risks in the Pampa and Chaco plains. The expansion of soy is largely independent of the biofuels sector and is driven by global food demand and technological advances in genetically modified soy.
• The Human Dimensions Small Grants Program (SGP-HD), which ran from 2006 to 2011, funded 43 researchers from 29 institutions in 10 countries with USD 1.39 million from the NSF. The program demonstrated that natural science data for policy-making must consider social impacts. A key outcome was the creation of a Center of Excellence on Water Security to integrate natural and human sciences with policy and management.
• A project funded by the MacArthur Foundation focuses on the tropical Andes (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru) to standardize methodologies for estimating climate change risks to biodiversity. Activities include installing automatic weather stations across a 4,000m altitudinal gradient, using tree-ring analysis to estimate climate conditions from the last 200 years, and conducting approximately 500 structured interviews in local communities.
• The IAI launched two new NSF grants for 2012-2018: the Small Grants for Cooperative Research in the Americas (SGP-CRA), providing USD 2,757,237 for 9 projects across 17 countries (2012-2014), and the Third Round of the Cooperative Research Networks (CRN3), allocating USD 10.5 million for 8-10 projects focused on global change and social implications.
• The IAI's Executive Directorate in Brazil faced severe operational disruptions, including unstable personnel contracts, repeated power outages that damaged servers, and extremely slow internet connectivity. Additionally, the Brazilian tax administration claimed approximately USD 300,000 in back taxes and fines for taxes the IAI asserts were already paid, and forced Brazilian staff to register as independent workers to avoid further disputes.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2012). Informe de la Dirección Ejecutiva del IAI a la Vigésima Conferencia de las Partes, 2012. https://archive.iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/iai-cop-20-directorate-report-s.pdf

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Informe de la Dirección Ejecutiva del IAI a la Vigésima Conferencia de las Partes, 2012. 2012. https://archive.iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/iai-cop-20-directorate-report-s.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Informe de la Dirección Ejecutiva del IAI a la Vigésima Conferencia de las Partes, 2012 |date=2012 |url=https://archive.iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/iai-cop-20-directorate-report-s.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2012informe, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Informe de la Dirección Ejecutiva del IAI a la Vigésima Conferencia de las Partes, 2012}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2012}, url = {https://archive.iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/iai-cop-20-directorate-report-s.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }