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The report analyzes the impact of the Green-Blue County Program on forest cover in 28 selected counties in São Paulo State, Brazil, amidst expanding sugarcane production. Using multiple and simple linear regression models, the study examines the relationship between forest cover changes and various socioeconomic, agricultural, and policy indicators. While the quantitative models showed limited statistical significance in explaining forest cover variability, the analysis suggests that 'green' certified counties generally experienced higher forest preservation and restoration compared to 'non-green' counties. The report concludes that the program's broad scope and the low weighting of forest-specific directives may limit its direct impact on vegetation cover, and suggests that more targeted policies and primary data collection are needed to better understand land use drivers.

The report examines how the expansion of commodities, forestry, and biofuels—particularly sugarcane—affects soil carbon stocks in the La Plata Basin. It highlights that converting native vegetation to agriculture generally reduces carbon stocks, though no-tillage systems can mitigate these losses. Case studies in the Brazilian Cerrado demonstrate that pre-harvest burning of sugarcane and the removal of crop residues negatively impact soil bacterial communities and mycorrhizal associations, respectively.

The Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) and the Belmont Forum are coordinating the Collaborative Research Action (CRA) on Climate, Environment and Health (CEH). The first round of CEH funding, launched in 2019, provided over 12 million euros and in-kind contributions from 13 funding agencies across 10 countries to support 9 projects involving 69 researchers from 20 countries. A second round of funding (CEH2) is currently being developed through a scoping process involving virtual workshops in the Americas from July to September 2021 to identify science and funding priorities.

The document details the implementation of twelve CRN II projects focused on environmental change, biodiversity, and climate risks across the Americas. Key activities include the establishment of research sites in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina, the development of geospatial databases for Caribbean coastal scenarios, and the analysis of tropical cyclones and paleotempestology. The IAI Directorate emphasizes interdisciplinary cooperation, such as linking biodiversity projects and integrating fishery information systems to improve policy relevance.

The IAI Directorate Report details the organization's efforts to bridge science and policy in the Americas, focusing on biodiversity, water security, and climate adaptation. It highlights the establishment of the Science-Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC), the progress of the Third Collaborative Research Network (CRN3), and the results of a MacArthur Foundation project on Andean biodiversity hotspots. The report also outlines capacity-building seminars in Panama and Uruguay, and the IAI's engagement with global entities like Future Earth and IPBES.

The IAI's financial statements for 2007 and 2008 show a total asset value of $3,222,661 as of June 30, 2008. The institute is funded through voluntary contributions from member nations and grants from agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), IDRC, and MacArthur. Key activities include the Collaborative Research Network (CRN) and various Training Institutes. The independent audit by BDO Trevisan concluded that the financial statements present the institute's position fairly in accordance with US accounting principles.

The IAI financial statements for 2009 and 2010 report a total asset value of 3,179,158 USD as of June 30, 2010. The organization's activities are funded by member nations and international agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), to support global change research in the Americas. The independent audit by BDO Trevisan Auditores Independentes concluded that the financial statements present the Institute's position fairly in accordance with US accounting principles.

The 'Satellite Data to Monitor Regional Environmental Change' course is a 20-hour self-paced online program for Latin American researchers. It focuses on using Google Earth Engine to analyze multi-decadal satellite records, with specific applications in tropical forest health, deforestation, forest fire monitoring, and climate projection. The curriculum is divided into five modules covering image processing, time series analysis, vector data calculations, land cover change, and the creation of public-facing interactive applications.

The document outlines the objectives of ANDEX (Regional Hydroclimatic Program for the Andes), an initiative under the GEWEX and WCRP frameworks. It identifies critical threats to the Andean region, including climate change, deforestation, and land-use changes, which jeopardize the water and food security of approximately 90 million people. ANDEX aims to bridge the gap between the scientific community and operational services to improve hydro-meteorological monitoring and forecasting. The program focuses on two primary goals: improving water security for Andean populations and reducing risks from high-impact hydroclimatic events through evidence-based tools and regional cooperation.

The document details the application of MODIS satellite imagery and automated algorithms to track land use dynamics in the La Plata River Basin. It focuses on the transition of agricultural frontiers—from deforestation to intensification—and the use of remote sensing to estimate evapotranspiration and water balance. A case study in Mato Grosso demonstrates how these tools can map the expansion of soybean and sugarcane, the adoption of double-cropping systems, and the resulting impacts on natural biomes like the Cerrado and Amazon forest.

The CRN program established multidisciplinary international research networks to study climate variability, ecosystem functioning, and human dimensions of global change in the Americas. Key achievements include the development of high-resolution climate reconstructions using tree rings, the identification of critical soil degradation thresholds in semiarid regions, and the creation of disaster risk databases for ENSO events. The program emphasized capacity building, supporting over 600 students and producing hundreds of peer-reviewed publications, while fostering South-South and North-South scientific collaborations.

The document outlines the vulnerability of South Africa's agricultural sector to climate change, highlighting risks such as increased temperatures, water scarcity, and extreme weather events. It details the specific threats to livestock, crops, and biodiversity, particularly in the eastern Mpumalanga and Limpopo regions and the Highveld. The report emphasizes that small-scale and subsistence farmers, women, children, and the elderly are most at risk. To address these challenges, it advocates for a transition toward agroecology, the redistribution of land and water, and the protection of grasslands and forests to maintain carbon sinks and ecosystem services.

The document assesses how climate variability and anthropogenic factors drive resource scarcity and conflict in Africa, focusing on the African Union's response and specific regional crises in the Lake Chad Basin, Lesotho, the Nile Basin, the Niger Delta, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, and Uganda.

The report details how the cashew boom in Côte d'Ivoire has transformed diverse savannas into 'green deserts,' leading to significant primary forest loss and threatening endangered species like the Western chimpanzee. It highlights a dangerous trade-off where increased cash income from cashews has replaced traditional food crops, leaving rural households vulnerable to market crashes and food insecurity. Additionally, it documents health risks for factory workers, primarily women, who suffer caustic burns from cashew nut shell oil. The authors call for full supply chain traceability and stricter regulations in consuming markets like the US and EU to prevent deforestation-linked imports.

This report provides a spatial analysis of disaster incidence in Central America and the Dominican Republic between 1950 and 2020. It identifies that hydrometeorological events, specifically floods and landslides, are the most recurrent threats, often coinciding with high-density urban areas and coastal zones. The study highlights a significant increase in recorded disasters since 1990, peaking in 2010. It further correlates disaster risk with physical variables, noting that 70.7% of records occur below 1,000 meters above sea level and that a high percentage of critical territories are located in areas with medium to high population density. The analysis also observes a decline in forest cover and an increase in pasture land from 1990 to 2018, linking these land-use changes to increased disaster vulnerability.

The document argues that while SADC has significant potential for sugarcane-based ethanol production to reduce petroleum import dependency, regulatory uncertainty—specifically the lack of blending mandates and pricing formulas—is the primary barrier to investment. It suggests that a regional market could leverage South Africa's demand and the production capacity of other member states, potentially creating millions of jobs and providing significant electricity co-generation.

The document outlines how LEAP models land-use change and resource availability, specifically for Biomass Energy Strategies (BESTs) and renewable energy assessments.

The document provides a detailed technical walkthrough of the Settings menu in LEAP, covering the Scope & Scale, Years, Calculations, Costs, Optimization, IBC, Internet, Mapping, Folders, and Scripts tabs. It explains how users can enable specific analysis modules—such as energy demand, transformation, and environmental effects—and configure critical parameters like base years, discount rates, and optimization solvers. The guide also details the integration of the Impact Benefit Calculator (IBC) for health and climate impact modeling and the use of GIS shape files for geographical mapping of results.

The document provides a step-by-step procedure for activating land-based resource calculations in LEAP, starting with enabling the 'Land-Use Change and Land-Based Resources' option in the Scope & Scale settings. It details the necessity of defining land types and regions, as well as configuring resource properties in the General: Fuels screen. The guide notes that enabling these settings reveals new branches in the main tree for specifying land areas and conversions, and that the available variables under the Resources branch vary depending on whether the user is analyzing wood resources or other renewable energy forms like solar, wind, and biomass.

The Community Action Plan (CAP) for Wetlar Inn and Nar Myittar village focuses on preserving a 6.0 ha permanent swamp wetland in the Upper Chindwin Basin of Myanmar. The plan addresses threats such as deforestation, land use change, and biological resource overexploitation by implementing a community-led governance framework through Village Working Committees (VWC). Key strategies include the creation of conservation zones, the promotion of sustainable livelihoods like pig farming and groundnut cultivation to reduce dependence on wetland resources, and a comprehensive Communication, Education, Participation and Awareness (CEPA) programme. The plan includes a detailed monitoring framework to track water quality, biodiversity, and land use changes to ensure the long-term ecological integrity of the site.