Scientists meeting in Austria have discussed means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from land use in Europe. Speaking at the general assembly of EGU, an organisation of earth scientists, Hannes Böttcher of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis made estimations about land use changes and the resultant emissions in Europe.

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IASA is an international research institute based in Vienna that aims to provide solutions to the world's major problems, with the aim of improving "human and social wellbeing and to protect the environment."

Forest scientist Dr Böttcher's analysis provided some succour, in that it suggested that after years of pollution, EU policy makers could potentially follow words with action, by removing harmful gases from the atmosphere through planting and protecting forests and supporting better land management techniques. However, he warned that there could also be unintended negative impacts unless certain behaviours are changed.

The new estimates, based on a modelling framework that looks at shifts in population, economics, and land use and land productivity, show that Europe could potentially reduce greenhouse gas emissions from land use by more than 60 percent by 2050. A study by Dr Böttcher shows that the biggest mitigation potential lies in cutting emissions from agricultural uses such as livestock production, as well as in managing forests effectively to increase their role as a carbon sink.

While the study specifically addresses European emissions, the researchers also looked at how mitigation efforts in Europe would affect land use and emissions outside of Europe. Dr Böttcher said that, although planting forests would carry environmental benefits within Europe, this policy would potentially have impacts on other global regions as, in the modelling scenario, land would have to be cultivated elsewhere to feed Europeans and provide other necessary items, including clothes and wooden goods.

He therefore warned that mitigation measures in the land use sector are likely to impact not only on the productivity of the farming sector in Europe, but also impact upon other global regions. Unless more productive or less resource-intensive paradigms are adopted, Europe's 'land footprint' (the reliance on land outside of its borders) could grow as a result of attempts to mitigate the effects of climate change.

A report released in 2011 showed Europe has the largest 'land footprint' of all the regions investigated. According to the findings of the report, Europe's 'land footprint' is already believed to be 1.5 times its own actual land area. Upon its release, Friends of the Earth blamed the "high and rising" demand for meat, dairy, wood and other land-hungry products in Europe, including controversial biofuels, for the unfavourable results.

The environmental organisation called on policy makers in Europe to "avoid land-hungry biofuels and encourage consumption of less but better quality meat and dairy products" to address the issue.

Dr Böttcher said, "If we assume that demand doesn't change, [then] to satisfy demand, production will move outside of Europe to a large degree." This movement is known as a leakage effect. The researchers calculated that, under current patterns, this leakage effect would reduce the effectiveness of European mitigation efforts by up to 20 percent through requiring food to be grown outside the EU.