Press releases

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Press Releases

Yellow rice fields and farm buildings in mountains of Nepal

02 December 2021

A package of policies can help smallholder farmers adapt to a changing climate

A project by researchers from Princeton University and IIASA investigated how different climate scenarios and policy interventions could affect smallholder farmers in Nepal who stand to lose up to a quarter of their income by 2050 due to the effects of climate change.

Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA)

Exploratory Modeling of Human-natural Systems (EM)

African women and children in refugee camp

30 November 2021

Climate action can lessen poverty and inequality worldwide

Climate change disproportionately affects the world’s most vulnerable populations. Not only are these effects compounding and magnifying existing inequalities, but the impacts will increase in severity over time, affecting both current and future generations. A new international study shows that the redistribution of revenues from a carbon tax can promote equity and protect marginalized populations.

Energy, Climate, and Environment (ECE)

Pollution Management (PM)

Transformative Institutional and Social Solutions (TISS)

29 November 2021

Exploring pathways to reduce the economic and environmental risks of climate change

Allowing global temperatures to rise beyond maximum thresholds and then trying to bring them back down again through mitigation strategies is risky. A new study by an international team of researchers explored the physical and macroeconomic impacts associated with mitigation pathways with different levels of temperature overshoot.

Energy, Climate, and Environment (ECE)

Integrated Assessment and Climate Change (IACC)

Sustainable Service Systems (S3)

Thermometer showing high temperature against a burning background

29 November 2021

Why we must avoid temperature overshoot

A new international study coordinated by IIASA shows how near-term mitigation can help to prevent an overshoot in global temperatures, thereby reducing climate risks and bringing long-term economic gains.

Energy, Climate, and Environment (ECE)

Integrated Assessment and Climate Change (IACC)

Pollution Management (PM)

Sustainable Service Systems (S3)

World map on blue background with SDG icons in different colors

25 November 2021

Crowdsourcing data to monitor progress on the SDGs

Monitoring progress on our way to successfully achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is key to their achievement, but there are significant data gaps that make this crucial exercise difficult. A new IIASA-led study explored the use of a citizen science tool known as Picture Pile to see how it could contribute to SDG monitoring.

Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA)

Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability (NODES)

12 November 2021

Agriculture and conservation objectives do not have to be at odds

Crop and livestock production are among the main drivers of biodiversity loss globally. Due to the ever-increasing demand of land for food production, reverting global biodiversity decline and feeding the world is one of the greatest challenges of our time. A new study finds that integrating food production and biodiversity conservation within a single spatial planning framework can minimize these trade-offs to the benefit of both nature and people.

Biodiversity and Natural Resources (BNR)

Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation (BEC)

Family stranded on small island in flood

10 November 2021

A climate policy framework to deal with existential climate risk

As the impacts of climate change become more severe and limits to adaptation draw near, vulnerable communities will need different kinds of finance to build resilience and transform how they protect themselves. Work by IIASA researchers has culminated in a new policy brief, which lays out a finance framework for such climate risk and provides relevant model insight to inform international debates around adaptation and Loss and Damage.

Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA)

Systemic Risk and Resilience (SYRR)

Powerplant sensing plumesof smoke into the air

04 November 2021

Cutting ammonia emissions is a cost-effective way to prevent air pollution deaths

Tackling pollution from the emission of nitrogen compounds, particularly ammonia, could reduce many of the 23.3 million years of life that were lost prematurely across the world in 2013 due to nitrogen-related air pollution, an international study led by Chinese scientists has discovered using a modeling framework, including the IIASA GAINS model.

Energy, Climate, and Environment (ECE)

Pollution Management (PM)

01 November 2021

Global climate change impacts on crops expected within 10 years

Climate change may affect the production of maize (corn) and wheat by 2030 if current trends continue, according to a new international study that included researchers from IIASA, NASA, and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). Maize crop yields are projected to decline by 24%, while wheat could potentially see growth of about 17%.

Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA)

Exploratory Modeling of Human-natural Systems (EM)

Biodiversity and Natural Resources (BNR)

Agriculture, Forestry, and Ecosystem Services (AFE)