Aligning climate zoning to ecological zoning: A harmonized classification approach

Aligning climate zoning to ecological zoning: A harmonized classification approach | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Aligning climate zoning to ecological zoning: A harmonized classification approach Philip Audebert, Eleanor Milne, Laure Sophie Schiettecatte, Martial Bernoux, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8843420/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The world will likely overshoot the Paris Agreement goal to keep the global average temperature increase below 2°C. As shifts in crop and tree species suitability as well as vegetation distribution occur in a changing climate, a new scientifically sound, consistent, and flexible approach is needed to classify global ecological and climate zones and track their shifts – however, the current global classification framework used by the IPCC is inconsistent and thus may create mitigation reporting errors and will be less useful in informing adaptation actions. This study proposes a new dynamic, globally consistent and universally applicable Global Climate Zoning (GCZ) approach based on the Holdridge Life Zone system, which can be used as a consistent land-based climatic classification for the entire agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector. The approach ensures exact correspondence with the Global Ecological Zones (GEZ), aligning with the key principles of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to allow for bottom-up reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that can be aggregated at the global level, which represents a critical improvement compared to current static climatic classification systems. Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Climate change/Climate-change mitigation Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Climate change/Climate-change impacts Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Ecological modelling Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Climate-change ecology/Phenology Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental impact Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8843420","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":615264886,"identity":"11c19206-b776-4b81-a0ee-edf87137bceb","order_by":0,"name":"Philip Audebert","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5244-4702","institution":"Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Philip","middleName":"","lastName":"Audebert","suffix":""},{"id":615264887,"identity":"3a4f7317-68aa-4899-a908-f08a83af73ac","order_by":1,"name":"Eleanor Milne","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2602-1040","institution":"Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Eleanor","middleName":"","lastName":"Milne","suffix":""},{"id":615264888,"identity":"c2667ad6-81a7-4df0-b3d8-0fab43fef41a","order_by":2,"name":"Laure Sophie Schiettecatte","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Laure","middleName":"Sophie","lastName":"Schiettecatte","suffix":""},{"id":615264889,"identity":"20bde24b-b975-4b10-8fb3-533e4af79f9e","order_by":3,"name":"Martial Bernoux","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2913-3590","institution":"Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Martial","middleName":"","lastName":"Bernoux","suffix":""},{"id":615264890,"identity":"c1c5084d-6d44-4e22-80db-667496faeec3","order_by":4,"name":"Christoph Gornott","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3933-3358","institution":"Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Christoph","middleName":"","lastName":"Gornott","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-10 16:46:33","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8843420/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8843420/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":106403660,"identity":"0567f6ac-6925-4b17-9246-ecd754bf074e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-08 09:14:43","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1721963,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"Audebertetal.NatSustainGlobalClimateZones20260210Linenumbers.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8843420/v1_covered_df7ad4b6-61f0-49b7-aee9-f7b2abbeea2f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Aligning climate zoning to ecological zoning: A harmonized classification approach","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8843420/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8843420/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The world will likely overshoot the Paris Agreement goal to keep the global average temperature increase below 2°C. 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