ECE’s overarching vision is to provide evidence-based, scientific roadmaps for feasible systems transformations that simultaneously meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ambitious climate change mitigation targets.
Emphasis is placed specifically on local policy decisions and actions required in the short term to put the world on track to achieve long-term targets while assuring human health, wellbeing, and the reduction of social inequalities in a socially and economically sustainable manner. The program’s systems analytical tools enable it to act as an objective scientific broker in support of sustainable transformational processes. ECE combines the research portfolios of the former Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases, Energy, and Transitions to New Technologies programs.
The ECE program is organized in five Research Groups which encompass different thematic areas of research:
ECE Research Groups
Integrated Assessment and Climate Change (IACC)
The IACC Group leads the development of tools for a new generation of “coupled” global transformation pathways that are able to represent bottom-up local constraints and opportunities at the national and sub-national scale, which is a major focus of the ECE Program.
Pollution Management (PM)
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.
Sustainable Service Systems (S3)
The S3 Group focuses on demand-side systems as entry points for sustainable transformations. The group analyses demand for energy and materials through the lens of service provision of mobility, shelter, and consumer goods, as well as how lifestyle changes can contribute to consumption reduction.
Transformative Institutional and Social Solutions (TISS)
The TISS Group explores innovative solutions to environmental issues that integrate social, institutional, and governance drivers with technological and economic considerations, with an emphasis on improving conditions for the most deprived and marginalized in society.
Themes
Nutrient cycling
Non-CO2 greenhouse gas sources
ECE Nexus
Just and Feasible Transitions
Scenario Services and Scientific Software
Access to Energy Services
Heterogeneities and Inequalities
Finance
Modeling for National Transformations
Materials
Extreme Weather and Climate Dynamics
Sustainable buildings
Stakeholder Engagement in Climate Science
Models, tools, datasets
Model for Energy Supply Strategy Alternatives and their General Environmental Impact (MESSAGEix)
The NExus Solutions Tool (NEST)
AR6 Scenario Explorer and Database
Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS)
Projects
Response of the Earth System to overshoot, Climate neUtrality and negative Emissions (RESCUE)
Energy Demand changes Induced by Technological and Social innovations (EDITS)
Staff
Matthew Gidden
Guest Senior Research Scholar (IACC, S3)
Philipp Wiederkehr
Research Intern (IACC)
David McCollum
Guest Senior Research Scholar (ECE, IACC, S3)
Oliver Fricko
Research Scholar (IACC, S3)
News
17 April 2025
Collaborating to advance sustainability science across Africa
A new special issue of the Elsevier journal, Environmental Development, highlights pioneering research addressing the continent's most pressing environmental and development challenges. The issue is the result of an ongoing collaboration between IIASA and a growing network of African and international research partners, including the IIASA Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Member Organization (SSARMO).
03 April 2025
Celebrating Research on Health at IIASA; World Health Day 2025
Researchers at IIASA are studying the direct and indirect effects of climate change on health, shedding light on healthy aging drivers and metrics and analyzing interconnections between the components of multi-dimensional national well-being.
31 March 2025
Supporting global solutions for cleaner air
Clean air is essential for health, yet many people, especially in low- and middle-income countries, breathe polluted air every day. IIASA researchers contributed advanced modeling tools and analyses to assess the feasibility and affordability of halving global exposure to high levels of outdoor air pollution by 2040 in a new World Bank Report.
Events
IIASA, Laxenburg
54TH TFIAM MEETING
Online and in Gvishiani room at IIASA (Laxenburg, Austria)
AI for Climate Science seminar series: AI applications for Climate Science
Focus
11 December 2024
Advancing climate insights with social media data
IIASA recently hosted an interdisciplinary research workshop under the LowAI project to explore how social media and digital platforms can advance climate and sustainability research. The participants tackled the challenges of leveraging digital data to shape effective climate actions and foster social change. IIASA researcher Sandeep Chowdhary shares his insights and experiences from the event.
07 November 2024
COP29 in Baku is a Climate Finance COP: It’s about justice
At the COP in Baku, Azerbaijan, nation states must decide on a new climate finance regime, that will take effect from 2025. Studies show that by 2030, a sixfold increase in international financing is needed globally, for the needed mitigation investments alone. As tensions rise over who should pay, it will be difficult to achieve new and fair targets. Success is crucial to keep the Paris Agreement within reach.
Publications
Wang, J., Wang, Y., Zhang, S. , & Yi, B. (2025). Drivers of environmental externality reduction in China's electric power industry: A spatial-temporal analysis. Journal of Environmental Management 373 e123612. 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123612. Hunt, J. , Nascimento, A., Zakeri, B. , Ilyas, A., Ramos, D.S., Kuriqi, A., Tolmasquim, M.T., de Freitas, M.A.V., Brandão, R., & Wada, Y. (2025). Optimizing hydropower generation with reservoir level management in humid regions. Energy Reports 13 856-864. 10.1016/j.egyr.2024.12.064. De Cian, E., Falchetta, G. , Pavanello, F., Romitti, Y., & Sue Wing, I. (2025). The impact of air conditioning on residential electricity consumption across world countries. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 131 e103122. 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103122. Xu, J., Ren, C., Zhang, X. , Wang, C., Wang, S., Ma, B., He, Y., Hu, L., Liu, X., Zhang, F., Lu, L., Li, S., Zhang, J., Zhu, Y.-G., Vitousek, P., & Gu, B. (2025). Soil health contributes to variations in crop production and nitrogen use efficiency. Nature Food 10.1038/s43016-025-01155-6. Deng, Z., Zhu, B. , Davis, S.J., Ciais, P., Guan, D., Gong, P., & Liu, Z. (2025). Global carbon emissions and decarbonization in 2024. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 6 (4) 231-233. 10.1038/s43017-025-00658-x.