Informe de la Dirección Ejecutiva del IAI

The IAI report for 2009-2010 highlights a transition toward active science communication and synthesis, despite severe financial crises caused by member state payment arrears. Scientific achievements include regional climate modeling for South American megacities, analysis of carbon loss in the La Plata Basin, and studies on Andean biodiversity and tropical cyclones. The institute also focused on capacity building through training institutes in Costa Rica, Argentina, and Chile, while managing critical infrastructure needs and diplomatic relations with host country Brazil.

• The IAI faced a severe financial crisis between August 2009 and May 2010 due to unpaid member contributions, leading to temporary salary suspensions, the cancellation of all travel, and a budget deficit of $400k. As of the report date, $1.75 million remained owed, with the United States accounting for 46%, Venezuela 13.6%, and Mexico 8% of the debt.
• Research in the La Plata Basin indicates that crop expansion over the last 25 years caused a soil carbon decrease of approximately 30%, with an annual loss rate of 28 million metric tons of carbon. The report notes that allowing natural vegetation to recover is more effective for carbon offsetting than using biofuel crops, as carbon released from soil during corn-for-ethanol growth cancels out 50 years of bio-alcohol carbon gains.
• The CRN2017 project developed an online emissions database for Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Lima, Medellín, Santiago, and São Paulo to create automated emission scenarios. Additionally, the Meteorological Directorate of Chile now provides chemical weather forecasts for Santiago based on this project's work.
• Studies on tropical dry forests show that productivity is increasing in Brazil but decreasing in Bolivia. In Costa Rica, the report finds that protected areas were less effective at preventing logging than commonly believed, as many were established in inaccessible areas that were already under low threat.
• Analysis of the high Andes using a 700-year tree-ring record revealed a period of significant drought in the 14th century that coincided with the abandonment of open pre-Inca villages in favor of fortified sites and local wars. In Chile, river flows have shown a slight decreasing trend over the last 100 years.
• The IAI is working to amend its agreement with Brazil to align with newer legislation for international institutions. Currently, the agreement lacks tax exemptions on salaries, resulting in an annual tax burden that exceeds Brazil's own contribution to the Institute.
• The SGP-HD004 project found that the adaptation capacity of farmers and local governments in the Mendoza (Argentina), Choquecota (Bolivia), and Elqui (Chile) basins is too limited to efficiently counter climate change and extreme events, citing weak institutional coordination and a lack of early warning systems.
• The IAI's Data and Information System (DIS), based on the Mercury system from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), is at risk of suspension due to budget restrictions that prevented the payment of a $10k annual subscription for 2010-2011.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2010). Informe de la Dirección Ejecutiva del IAI. https://archive.iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/iai-cop-17-directorate-report-s.pdf

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Informe de la Dirección Ejecutiva del IAI. 2010. https://archive.iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/iai-cop-17-directorate-report-s.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Informe de la Dirección Ejecutiva del IAI |date=11 May 2010 |url=https://archive.iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/iai-cop-17-directorate-report-s.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2010informe, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Informe de la Dirección Ejecutiva del IAI}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2010}, month = may, url = {https://archive.iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/iai-cop-17-directorate-report-s.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }