The reciprocal relationships between human populations and the environment becomes increasingly important in the light of climate change. Researchers from IIASA and Wittgenstein Centre published the Fact Sheet Climate Change and Demography, providing information for policy makers and scientists about some key areas where demography can contribute to climate research.
Human populations are at the center of climate change research. On the one hand, human activities contribute to climate change. On the other hand, changes in the climate system affect human wellbeing and livelihoods. Both the contribution to and the impact of global warming is not distributed equally across the planet. Rather, different people in different places contribute and suffer to different degrees, depending on their characteristics and their level of affluence. Climate risks are the outcome of differential exposure and vulnerability to hazards. Understanding the reciprocal relationships between human populations and climate change and how they will evolve in the future, thus, is crucial for policy design and planning, in the areas of both mitigation and adaptation.
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
Eco-Welfare Network Conference
Julia Beier participated in the first in-person Eco-Welfare Network Conference, held in Brussels from 9-11 September at the Université Libre de Bruxelles as part of the Transform-Labor project.
14 September 2026
Can a warming climate put women at greater risk?
Unusually warm periods could have a link to an increased risk of intimate partner violence against women, according to a new IIASA-led study covering 31 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The findings highlight how rising temperatures may compound existing risks of violence, with effects varying between demographic groups.