BAB 032/19: APCC Special Report Land Use, Land Management and Climate Change

Initial situation

Land use is very closely linked to climate. On a global scale, land use is a key driver of climate change, but at the same time is strongly influenced by changes in climate conditions. Global land use is particularly associated with unprecedented sustainability challenges, such as the maintenance of food security, the loss of biodiversity or the deteriorating state of ecosystems. On the other hand, ecosystems have relevant means for climate protection, e.g. through the ability of plants to sequester and store large amounts of CO2. The 1.5 degrees report of the IPCC (2018) argues that the development and implementation of such land-based climate change mitigation strategies will be crucial for the future of socio-economic developments. Also in Austria, rural ecosystems are already strongly influenced by climate change, e.g. through higher temperatures, changing precipitation patterns and more frequent extreme events.

Objective

The APCC Special Report on Land Use, Land Management and Climate Change will systematically review, summarise and assess the current state of knowledge. An open process will be developed and followed, allowing the entire Austrian community of researchers and experts in the field of land system research to actively contribute to it.
Austrian agriculture and forestry are particularly affected by the impacts of climate change. For both sectors, different effects on productivity are known, which make self-sufficient food production increasingly difficult. One challenge is to develop adaptation strategies that do not impede climate protection or even lead to higher emissions. The Special Report will present the impacts of climate change in Austria on land use - and vice versa. Furthermore, the future role of land use for climate change adaptation and mitigation will be presented and mapped with relevant socio-economic and ecological contexts.