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
Chris Heyes
Emeritus Research Scholar (PM)
Keywan Riahi
Program Director and Principal Research Scholar (ECE); Principal Research Scholar (IACC, PM, S3, TISS)
Younha Kim
Research Scholar (PM)
Gregor Kiesewetter
Senior Research Scholar (PM)
News
12 April 2023
Peking University delegation visits IIASA
A delegation from Peking University, led by the President, Qihuang Gong, visited IIASA to discuss strengthening research collaborations with IIASA scientists.
24 March 2023
Urgent need to ramp up climate action to secure a liveable future for all
IIASA researchers contributed to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released earlier this week. The report highlights that there are multiple feasible and effective options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to human-caused climate change, and they are available now.
28 February 2023
Indian Ambassador visits IIASA
H.E. Ambassador Jaideep Mazumdar, Permanent Representative of the Republic of India to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna, recently visited IIASA to meet with IIASA Director General Albert van Jaarsveld.
Events
29 November 2022 Laxenburg, Austria (IIASA) and Online
GAINS Model Community meeting
23 November 2022 Laxenburg, Austria (IIASA) and Online
GUIDE-Global Project International Workshop
21 November 2022 Laxenburg, Austria (IIASA)
AQNEA Project 3rd year International Workshop
Focus
22 February 2023
Centre for Integrated Assessment Modelling (CIAM)
Since 1999 IIASA has been hosting the Centre for Integrated Assessment Modelling (CIAM), one of the four centres assigned for the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) of the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution.
22 February 2023
GAINS analyses for the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference - COP15 in Copenhagen
As input to the climate negotiations at COP15 in Copenhagen 2009, IIASA has developed a coherent international comparison of greenhouse gas mitigation efforts among Annex I Parties in 2020. This web site provides interactive access to an on-line calculator, underlying input data, and documentation of the methodology.
22 February 2023
Pollution Management in Developing Countries
There is an urgent need in the developing world for increased support on pollution management in order to respond to the magnitude of the threat to human health and economies. Responding to pollution is a challenge that is solvable in the near term to save lives and unlock economic opportunity through action at the local, national, regional and global levels.
The methods developed by the IIASA AIR program offer an integrated perspective on cost-effective policy interventions that improve air quality, reduce negative health impacts, and deliver benefits for a wide range of development goals.
Publications
Kiesewetter, G. , Klimont, Z. , Ru, M., & Slater, J. (2023). National Assessment of the Cost of Inaction of Tackling Air Pollution in Thailand. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and the United Nations Environment Programme , Laxeburg, Austria.
Wagner, F. , Slater, J., Kiesewetter, G. , & Klimont, Z. (2023). Guide to Assessing the Costs of Inaction of Tackling Air Pollution. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and the United Nations Environment Programme , Laxeburg, Austria.
Aldis, M., Posch, M. , & Aherne, J. (2023). Normative Mineralogy of 1170 Soil Profiles across Canada. Minerals 13 (4) e544. 10.3390/min13040544.
Zhai, S., Jacob, D.J., Pendergrass, D.C., Colombi, N.K., Shah, V., Yang, L.H., Zhang, Q., Wang, S., Kim, H., Sun, Y., Choi, J.-S., Park, J.-S., Luo, G., Yu, F., Woo, J.-H., Kim, Y. , Dibb, J.E., Lee, T., Han, J.-S., Anderson, B.E., Li, K., & Liao, H. (2023). Coarse particulate matter air quality in East Asia: implications for fine particulate nitrate. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 23 (7) 4271-4281. 10.5194/acp-23-4271-2023.
Winiwarter, W. , Peters, G., Thompson, R., & EYE-CLIMA consortium (2023). EYE-CLIMA: developing inverse modelling approaches for monitoring national GHG inventories. In: EGU General Assembly 2023, 23-28 April 2023, Vienna.
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.
