IIASA Energy, Climate, and Environment Program Director Keywan Riahi and Joeri Rogelj, a senior researcher at the institute, have been appointed to the new European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change. This new independent advisory body will provide scientific advice to underpin climate action and efforts by the European Union (EU) to reach climate neutrality by 2050.
The European Climate Law includes the establishment of a European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, composed of 15 independent senior scientific experts covering a broad range of relevant disciplines. These experts will provide independent scientific advice on EU measures and climate targets and their coherence with the European Climate Law and the EU's international commitments under the Paris Agreement.
Following an open, fair and transparent selection procedure, the Management Board of the European Environment Agency appointed the following 15 members (in alphabetical order):
- Maarten van Aalst, University of Twente
- Jette Bredahl Jacobsen, University of Copenhagen
- Constantinos Cartalis, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
- Suraje Dessai, University of Leeds
- Laura Díaz Anadón, University of Cambridge
- Ottmar Edenhofer, Technische Universität in Berlin
- Vera Eory, Scotland’s Rural College
- Edgar Hertwich, Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim
- Lena Kitzing, Technical University of Denmark
- Elena López-Gunn, ICATALIST
- Lars J. Nilsson, Lund University
- Keywan Riahi, IIASA
- Joeri Rogelj, Grantham Institute of the Imperial College London and IIASA
- Nicolaas Schrijver, Leiden University
- Jean-Francois Soussana, French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment
The Advisory Board will build on the best available and most recent scientific evidence, including the latest reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other national and international bodies. It will follow a fully transparent process and make its reports publicly available.
“It is a great honor to join the advisory board and to contribute to the European climate strategy. Europe is leading the path towards rapid greenhouse gas emissions reductions globally, and the advisory board will facilitate the policies being deeply rooted in scientific evidence,” says Riahi.
The first tasks of the Advisory Board will be to elect its chairperson and to define its work program. The Advisory Board will be supported in its work by a Secretariat hosted by the European Environment Agency.
Adapted from a press release issued by the European Environment Agency. Read the original press release here.
Background
The European Climate Law, adopted in June 2021, sets out a binding objective of climate neutrality in the EU by 2050 in pursuit of the long-term temperature goal set out in the Paris Agreement. It also provides a framework for achieving progress in pursuit of the global adaptation goal established in the Paris Agreement.
To support the achievement of these objectives the European Climate Law also provides for the establishment of a European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change. The European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change is established through an amendment of the founding regulation of the EEA.
The members of the Advisory Board are appointed in a personal capacity for a term of four years, renewable once. They will give their positions completely independently of the Member States and the EU institutions. No more than two members of the Advisory Board can hold the nationality of the same Member State.
News
24 September 2026
IIASA researcher joins Austrian Academy of Sciences working group on integrated carbon neutrality
On 15 September, Principal Research Scholar Thomas Schinko represented IIASA at a high-level event of the Commission on the De-Fossilization and Carbon Neutrality of the European Energy Systems (DEE) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OEAW). The meeting denoted the kick-off workshop of the newly established DEE Working Group "Transsectoral and Transcontinental Integration”.
23 September 2026
IIASA researchers strengthen cooperation with Kyrgyzstan on AI and industrial development
IIASA Cooperation and Transformative Governance (CAT) Research Group Leader and Senior Research Scholar Nadejda Komendantova and CAT Research Scholar Dmitry Erokhin have contributed to a series of scientific and policy forums in Kyrgyzstan in 2026. Their research on artificial intelligence in the production sector builds on IIASA’s longstanding cooperation with the country on sustainable industrial development.
10 September 2026
Emotionalization of Political Discourse: IIASA Researcher Presents Study at the Day of Parliamentary Research 2026
Dmitry Erokhin, PhD, Research Scholar at IIASA, presents a poster on the emotionalization of political discourse at the Day of Parliamentary Research 2026 at the Austrian Parliament. His study analyzes public comments on YouTube videos related to major Austrian political parties and applies sentiment and topic analysis to examine how emotions, facts, polarization, and toxicity shape online political debate. The findings provide insights into how digital media influences public perceptions of parties and democratic processes, and how parliaments can better respond to emotionally charged political communication.