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Press Releases

Research concept

12 March 2024

Pioneering project investigating crisis effects on social systems wins FWF Emerging Fields Funding

The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) has awarded the Resilience and Malleability of Social Metabolism (REMASS) project funding of over six million euros for the next five years. This is an important milestone for this new field of research, which is being carried out by scientists from several Austrian institutions including IIASA.
SSP Human Core background

07 March 2024

Populations of the future: updated tool helps to visualize projections

New projections of population and human capital provide insights into what our future could look like all the way until the year 2100 under different developmental scenarios. The findings are presented in datasets compiled by IIASA scientists in partnership with the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital.
Dreamstime CO2

29 February 2024

New SSP Extensions Explorer launched in open access

The International Committee on New Integrated Climate Change Assessment Scenarios (ICONICS) and IIASA have launched a new Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) Extensions Explorer as part of the ICONICS webinar series.
Energy security

29 February 2024

Improving energy security with policies focused on demand-side solutions

Energy systems essential to supporting our everyday activities face increasing threats from wars, pandemics, climate change, and other unexpected events. An international team of researchers found that demand-oriented solutions have a significantly greater potential to reduce our vulnerability to energy crises compared to supply measures.
Morocco West Africa

28 February 2024

A reliable food supply in West Africa requires smarter planning for low-yield events

Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) aims to create a world free of hunger. Africa is not making enough progress towards achieving this target with about 20% of the population experiencing ongoing hunger. In a new study, IIASA researchers developed a model to demonstrate how the reliability of food supply in West Africa can be enhanced in a cost-effective way by accounting for low-yield events.
Madagascar farmers

26 February 2024

Prosocial preferences can provide better risk management for smallholder farming communities amid rising climate risks

Research conducted by scientists from IIASA and Princeton University suggests that a combination of insurance subsidies and policies that promote “prosocial preferences” ― decision-making preferences that account for community wellbeing ― can help facilitate optimal climate risk management and reduce economic losses.     
Dreamstime_Co2

08 February 2024

IIASA research informs the European Commission's recommendation for 90% greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2040

The European Commission set an ambitious mid-term target, supported by an extensive Impact Assessment, paving the way to climate neutrality by 2050.
High with low_image_blue_2

24 January 2024

Less is more: less greenhouse gases, lower energy consumption, higher wellbeing

A new commentary, published by members of the Energy Demand Changes Induced by Technological and Social Innovations (EDITS) network, coordinated by IIASA, highlights that switching the focus from how energy is supplied to how energy is consumed can be a more effective approach to reducing carbon emissions with the added benefit of improving wellbeing for all.
Earth from space at night

23 January 2024

Fostering global cooperation to safeguard critical Earth system functions

Tipping elements of the Earth system should be considered global commons, researchers argue in a new paper published in the renowned journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).