The PM Group focusses on solving immediate and near-term environmental (health and ecosystems impacts from pollution), climate (non-CO2 greenhouse gases), and social (widening inequality gaps) problems in a cost-effective way, providing support to policymaking at local and regional scales.
The PM Group addresses sustainability challenges in the near and long term through an improved understanding of the multiple benefits of policies and their distribution across society. The group has a strong focus on the development of new approaches for multi-sectoral policy interventions to manage pollution across different media (air, water, and soil) at various scales to address near-term concerns and enable long-term transformations and their public support towards a sustainable future. In particular, the group endeavors to enhance the systems perspective approach to address and explore issues such as the interactions and environmental impacts of pollution; assessment of sources of non-CO2 greenhouse gases; mitigation opportunities; approaches to address nutrient and material cycling; options for more equitable solutions; and improved methods for estimating the health and economic benefits of policy interventions.
Models, tools, datasets
Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS)
Model for Energy Supply Strategy Alternatives and their General Environmental Impact (MESSAGEix)
ENGAGE Scenario Explorer
Projects
Finding solutions to pollution caused by shipping in Europe (EMERGE)
Development of a global integrated assessment modeling system for climate-air pollutants management focused on Northeast Asia (GUIDE)
Development of a collaborative, integrated management framework to improve future air quality in Northeast Asia (AQNEA)
Exploring National and Global Actions to reduce Greenhouse gas Emissions (ENGAGE)
Staff
Binh Nguyen
Research Scholar/Software Engineer (PM)
Chen Huang
Guest PKU-IIASA International Postdoctoral Fellow (PM)
Wolfgang Schöpp
Guest Senior Research Scholar (PM)
Shaohui Zhang
Research Scholar (PM)
News
15 November 2023
IIASA researchers again ranked among the world's most cited
IIASA is proud to announce that nine researchers associated with the institute have been recognized in the 2023 Highly Cited Researchers™ list by Clarivate.
06 November 2023
IIASA analysis underpins the IEA World Energy Outlook, revealing rapid energy transition benefits
IIASA researchers contributed to the latest edition of the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s World Energy Outlook, which shows that there are set to be almost 10 times as many electric cars on the road, renewables are nearing half of the global power mix, and much stronger policies are needed to achieve the 1.5°C target of the Paris Agreement.
30 August 2023
Performing artists and scientists take the stage at Vienna’s MuTh theatre
An Austrian choreographer, an American playwright, and a Dutch composer have collaborated with scientists to shed light on various dimensions of the ecological crisis in artistic ways. On 6 October 2023 at 20:00 CET, they will present some of their work in an engaging program titled “What We Want” at the MuTh, one of Vienna’s well-known concert halls.
Events
06 November 2023 IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria
GAINS Workshop for EECCA Countries
02 November 2023 Vienna, Austria
International Vienna Energy and Climate Forum
30 October 2023 Muscat, Oman
IIASA at the ISWA World Congress
Focus
04 October 2023
ENGAGE Summary for Policymakers
As the world faces the risks of dangerous climate change, policymakers, industry and civil society leaders are counting on Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) to inform and guide strategies to deliver on the objectives of the Paris Agreement (PA) and subsequent agreements.
03 October 2023
Stakeholder engagement in climate change solutions
Policy Brief #42, October 2023. Workshops bringing scientists together with stakeholders from various backgrounds have shown the importance of dialogue for co-designing climate pathways and highlighted the need for physical meetings and capacity building.
Publications
Mir, K.A., Purohit, P. , Ijaz, M., Babar, Z.B., & Mehmood, S. (2024). Black carbon emissions inventory and scenario analysis for Pakistan. Environmental Pollution 340 e122745. 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122745. Chen, S., Lu, X., Nielsen, C., McElroy, M., He, G., Zhang, S. , He, K., Yang, X., Zhang, F., & Hao, J. (2023). Deploying solar photovoltaic energy first in carbon-intensive regions brings gigatons more carbon mitigations to 2060. Communications Earth & Environment 4 (1) e369. 10.1038/s43247-023-01006-x. Romanello, M., Napoli, C., Green, C., Kennard, H., Lampard, P., Scamman, D., Walawender, M., Ali, Z., Ameli, N., Ayeb-Karlsson, S., Beggs, P., Belesova, K., Berrang Ford, L., Bowen, K., Cai, W., Callaghan, M., Campbell-Lendrum, D., Chambers, J., Cross, T., van Daalen, K., Dalin, C., Dasandi, N., Dasgupta, S., Davies, M., Dominguez-Salas, P., Dubrow, R., Ebi, K., Eckelman, M., Ekins, P., Freyberg, C., Gasparyan, O., Gordon-Strachan, G., Graham, H., Gunther, S., Hamilton, I., Hang, Y., Hänninen, R., Hartinger, S., He, K., Heidecke, J., Hess, J., Hsu, S., Jamart, L., Jankin, S., Jay, O., Kelman, I., Kiesewetter, G. , Kinney, P., Kniveton, D., Kouznetsov, R., Larosa, F., Lee, J., Lemke, B., Liu, Y., Liu, Z., Lott, M., Lotto Batista, M., Lowe, R., Odhiambo Sewe, M., Martinez-Urtaza, J., Maslin, M., McAllister, L., McMichael, C., Mi, Z., Milner, J., Minor, K., Minx, J., Mohajeri, N., Momen, N., Moradi-Lakeh, M., Morrissey, K., Munzert, S., Murray, K., Neville, T., Nilsson, M., Obradovich, N., O'Hare, M., Oliveira, C., Oreszczyn, T., Otto, M., Owfi, F., Pearman, O., Pega, F., Pershing, A., Rabbaniha, M., Rickman, J., Robinson, E., Rocklöv, J., Salas, R., Semenza, J., Sherman, J., Shumake-Guillemot, J., Silbert, G., Sofiev, M., Springmann, M., Stowell, J., Tabatabaei, M., Taylor, J., Thompson, R., Tonne, C., Treskova, M., Trinanes, J., Wagner, F. , Warnecke, L. , Whitcombe, H., Winning, M., Wyns, A., Yglesias-González, M., Zhang, S., Zhang, Y., Zhu, Q., Gong, P., Montgomery, H., & Costello, A. (2023). The 2023 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: the imperative for a health-centred response in a world facing irreversible harms. The Lancet 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01859-7. (In Press) Zhang, S., Zhang, C., Cai, W., Bai, Y., Callaghan, M., Chang, N., Chen, B., Chen, H., Cheng, L., Dai, H., Dai, X., Fan, W., Fang, X., Gao, T., Geng, Y., Guan, D., Hu, Y., Hua, J., Huang, C., Huang, H., Huang, J., Huang, X., Ji, J., Jiang, Q., Jiang, X., Kiesewetter, G. , Li, T., Liang, L., Lin, B., Lin, H., Liu, H., Liu, Q., Liu, X., Liu, Z., Liu, Z., Liu, Y., Lu, B., Lu, C., Luo, Z., Ma, W., Mi, Z., Ren, C., Romanello, M., Shen, J., Su, J., Sun, Y., Sun, X., Tang, X., Walawender, M., Wang, C., Wang, Q., Wang, R., Warnecke, L. , Wei, W., Wen, S., Xie, Y., Xiong, H., Xu, B., Yan, Y., Yang, X., Yao, F., Yu, L., Yuan, J., Zeng, Y., Zhang, J., Zhang, L., Zhang, R., Zhang, S., Zhang, S. , Zhao, M., Zheng, D., Zhou, H., Zhou, J., Zhou, Z., Luo, Y., & Gong, P. (2023). The 2023 China report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: taking stock for a thriving future. The Lancet Public Health 10.1016/S2468-2667(23)00245-1. Huang, L., Zhao, B., Wang, S., Chang, X., Klimont, Z. , Huang, G., Zheng, H., & Hao, J. (2023). Global Anthropogenic Emissions of Full-Volatility Organic Compounds. Environmental Science & Technology 10.1021/acs.est.3c04106. (In Press)
Policy applications
22 February 2023
The Arctic Council
The Arctic has been warming at an alarming pace, double the global warming. Since 2008 AIR scientists have been involved in a number of activities associated with the Arctic, including contribution to the work of the Arctic Council Task Force on Short-Lived Climate Forcers, Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), The International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI).
22 February 2023
The Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC)
In the '“Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Tropospheric Ozone” of UNEP and WMO, IIASA identified 16 practical measures that would improve human health, secure crop yields and, at the same time, reduce global temperature increase in the near-term by up to 0.5 degrees.
To initiate concrete action on these measures, US State Secretary Hillary Clinton launched a 'Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short Lived Climate Pollutants' in February 2012, complementing efforts on CO2 emissions taken by countries under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. By early 2018, the Coalition was joined by more than 50 countries and more than 60 non-state partners.
22 February 2023
Task Force on Integrated Assessment Modelling (TFIAM) under the LRTAP Convention
The Task Force’s main focus is to combine information produced by the various scientific working groups of the LRTAP Convention and through computer models assist in the development of legal instruments.
