Press releases

Environmental targets to limit excess nitrogen require the large-scale deployment of dedicated nitrogen mitigation strategies to avoid a strong increase in the risk of food insecurity. Without these measures, the amount of dietary energy available to people would be greatly reduced, which would in turn lead to high food prices and an increase in the number of undernourished people.

The social cost of carbon dioxide is one of the most influential indicators of climate change as it allows us to estimate the cost of greenhouse gas emissions to humanity. A new study looks back on how ten years of scientific advancements have influenced such estimates, and explores how to resolve some of the most important outstanding gaps in existing models.

For many, an increase in living standards would require an increase in energy provision. At the same time, meeting current climate goals under the Paris Agreement would benefit from lower energy use. IIASA researchers have assessed how much energy is needed to provide the global poor with a decent life and have found that this can be reconciled with efforts to meet climate targets.

Using a novel modeling approach, new research published in Nature Ecology and Evolution reveals the location and intensity of key threats to biodiversity on land and identifies priority areas across the world to help inform conservation decision making at national and local levels.

IIASA researchers have contributed to a study that provides a new model to monitor and predict food insecurity in the coming decade. It finds that while overall global levels of food insecurity are set to decrease an increase is implied for lower income countries.

We are collectively failing to conserve the world’s biodiversity and to mobilize natural solutions to help curb global warming. A new study carried out by the Nature Map Consortium, shows that managing a strategically placed 30% of land for conservation could safeguard 70% of all considered terrestrial plant and vertebrate animal species, while simultaneously conserving more than 62% of the world’s above and below ground vulnerable carbon, and 68% of all clean water. 

A new scientific article outlines how to undertake the much needed expansion and modernization of Africa’s electricity sector. The article highlights the crucial role that international partnerships such as the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative have to play in achieving this goal.

Access to modern, reliable, and affordable energy services is a must for development and ensuring a decent quality of life. IIASA researchers used a novel bottom-up approach to analyze how access to energy services may evolve over time under different scenarios of socioeconomic growth and policy scenarios that meet climate mitigation goals.

Air pollution in India is generated more by the wealthy, while the poor suffer most of the health impact, according to a study by five IIASA researchers published in Nature Sustainability.