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.
Themes
Nutrient cycling
Non-CO2 greenhouse gas sources
Scenario Services and Scientific Software
Models, tools, datasets
Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS)
Global emission fields of air pollutants and GHGs
Policy applications
22 February 2023
Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP)
IIASA's GAINS model shapes international negotiations on international emission reduction accords under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution.
22 February 2023
Input to European Union Climate Policies
Since more than 10 years, IIASA's GAINS model provides scientific input to the development of the climate policy proposals of the European Commission, dealing with (a) emission projections, mitigation potentials and costs for non-CO2 greenhouse gases, and (b) interactions and synergies between climate and air pollution strategies.
22 February 2023
European Union Air Quality Policies
Since 1995, IIASA's GAINS model has provided quantitative scientific analyses for the key air quality policy initiatives of the European Commission.
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
Zbigniew Klimont
Research Group Leader and Principal Research Scholar (PM)
Carmen Marcos
Program and Project Officer (ECE, PM)
Xiuming Zhang
Research Scholar (Marie Curie Fellow) (PM)
Flora Brocza
Researcher (PM)
News
16 August 2024
Nitrogen interventions as a key to better health and robust ecosystems
Food and energy production have caused substantial nitrogen pollution, harming air and water quality and posing risks to the climate and ecosystems. A new study shows how nitrogen interventions can reduce pollution, improving health, and supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
14 August 2024
Exploring options for the sustainable management of phosphorus
Focusing on Sweden, a new IIASA study assessed the feasibility of recovering phosphorus from municipal wastewater as an alternative sustainable source of this non-renewable mineral.
30 July 2024
Cutting overlooked methane emissions central for limiting global warming
To mitigate the climate crisis, we must tackle methane emissions now. In a new article published in Frontiers in Science, an international team of researchers set out three imperatives to cut methane emissions and shared a new tool to help find the most cost-effective ways of doing so.
Events
CICERO Center for International Climate Research, Oslo
HYway Kick-off meeting
Beijing, China
Air Pollution and Climate Change Conference
Focus
30 March 2024
Transforming waste into a valuable resource
As the world marks the International Day of Zero Waste, Adriana Gómez-Sanabria highlights that the path to zero waste will require a shift in society’s current consumption and production patterns. Originally conceived to shield humanity and the environment from the fallout of our actions, waste management systems must now evolve into engines of sustainability.
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.
Publications
Guo, Y., Zhao, H., Winiwarter, W. , Chang, J. , Wang, X., Zhou, M., Havlik, P. , Leclere, D., Pan, D., Kanter, D., & Zhang, L. (2024). Aspirational nitrogen interventions accelerate air pollution abatement and ecosystem protection. Science Advances 10 (33) eado0112. 10.1126/sciadv.ado0112. Sun, Y., Jiang, Y., Xing, J., Ou, Y., Wang, S., Loughlin, D., Yu, S., Ren, L., Li, S., Dong, Z., Zheng, H., Zhao, B., Ding, D., Zhang, F., Zhang, H., Song, Q., Liu, K., Klimont, Z. , Woo, J.-H., Lu, X., Li, S., & Hao, J. (2024). Air Quality, Health, and Equity Benefits of Carbon Neutrality and Clean Air Pathways in China. Environmental Science & Technology 10.1021/acs.est.3c10076. (In Press) Bai, Z., Zhang, N., Winiwarter, W. , Luo, J., Chang, J., Smith, P., Ledgard, S., Wu, Y., Hong, C., Conchedda, G., & Ma, L. (2024). Decline in carbon emission intensity of global agriculture has stagnated recently. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121 (34) e2317725121. 10.1073/pnas.2317725121. Purohit, P. & Lindl, F. (2024). Gridded Global Emissions of SF6. 10.5281/zenodo.12708771. Shindell, D., Sadavarte, P., Aben, I., de Oliveira Bredariol, T., Dreyfus, G., Höglund-Isaksson, L. , Poulter, B., Saunois, M., Schmidt, G.A., Szopa, S., Rentz, K., Parsons, L., Qu, Z., Faluvegi, G., & Maasakkers, J.D. (2024). The methane imperative. Frontiers in Science 2 e1349770. 10.3389/fsci.2024.1349770.