NAVIGATE aims to develop the Next generation of AdVanced InteGrated Assessment modelling to support climaTE policy making. 

NAVIGATE will critically improve the capability of Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) to inform the design and evaluation of climate policies by targeting major advancements in two areas: describing transformative change in the economy, in technology and in consumer goods and services, and describing distributional impacts of climate change and climate policy. By tackling existing weaknesses and lack of capabilities of the current generation of IAMs, NAVIGATE will provide new insight into how long-term climate goals can translate into short-term policy action, and how countries and sectors can work in concert to implement the Paris Agreement.

IIASA leads the work on energy demand in the NAVIGATE project and works on improving the representation of energy demand modeling for the buildings and transport sectors in the MESSAGEix-GLOBIOM framework. We also work to improve the modeling frameworks for energy-water-land nexus research and the tools to explore synergies and trade-offs between mitigation and the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Partners

NAVIGATE's sister project, Exploring National and Global Actions to Greenhouse gas Emissions (ENGAGE), is lead and coordinated by IIASA.

European Union © European Union

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No 821124.

Published papers:

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Strefler, J., Kriegler, E., Bauer, N., Humpenöder, F., Hasse, R., Dessens, O., Pye, S., Fragkos, P., Tsimpoukis, A., Madianos, M., van Heerden, R., Tagomori, I., de Boer, H.-S., van Ruijven, B. , Kishimoto, P. , Mastrucci, A. , Emmerling, J., Tavoni, M., Guivarch, C., Leblanc, F., Le Gallic, T., Baptista, L.B., Angelkorte, G., & Schaeffer, R. (2026). A mix of policies is needed to close the climate ambition gap. Environmental Research Letters 21 (15) e154032. 10.1088/1748-9326/ae8a6a.

Giannousakis, A., Schaeffer, R., Kriegler, E., Bauer, N., Strefler, J., Krey, V. , Emmerling, J., Daioglou, V., Bella, A.D., Ünlü, G. , van Ruijven, B. , van Vuuren, D., Baptista, L.B., van Heerden, R., Tavoni, M., Lefevre, J., Leblanc, F., Gallic, T.L., Angelkorte, G., Fricko, O. , Riahi, K. , de Boer, H.-S., Tolios, G., & Fragkos, P. (2026). An assessment of the alignment of the COP28 energy pledges with the Paris Agreement goals. Environmental Research Letters 21 (14) e144024. 10.1088/1748-9326/ae84e8.

Sferra, F., van Ruijven, B. , Riahi, K. , Hackstock, P., Maczek, F., Kikstra, J. , & Haas, R. (2026). DSCALE v0.1 – an open-source algorithm for downscaling regional and global mitigation pathways to the country level. Geoscientific Model Development 19 (8) 3157-3191. 10.5194/gmd-19-3157-2026.

van Vuuren, D., Harmsen, M., Tagomori, I., Bos, A., Doelman, J., de Vos, L., van der Wijst, K.-I., Ambrósio, G., de Boer, H.-S., Byers, E. , Daioglou, V., Gernaat, D., van Maanen, N., & Stehfest, E. (2026). A more complete IMAGE: enhancing the climate change impact representation in integrated assessment models. Environmental Research Letters 21 (7) e074008. 10.1088/1748-9326/ae55b9.

Vinca, A. , Awais, M. , Byers, E. , Krey, V. , & Riahi, K. (2025). Sectoral investments to achieve water, energy and land SDG under climate change uncertainty. Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability 5 (2) e025002. 10.1088/2634-4505/adc0bc.

Vivier, L., Mastrucci, A. , & van Ruijven, B. (2025). Meeting climate target with realistic demand-side policies in the residential sector. Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02348-4.

Kikstra, J. , Daioglou, V., Min, J. , Sferra, F., Soergel, B., Kriegler, E., Lee, H., Mastrucci, A. , Pachauri, S. , Rao, N. , Rauner, S., van Vuuren, D., Riahi, K. , van Ruijven, B. , & Rogelj, J. (2025). Closing decent living gaps in energy and emissions scenarios: introducing DESIRE. Environmental Research Letters 20 (5) e054038. 10.1088/1748-9326/adc3ad.

Mastrucci, A. , Boza-Kiss, B. , & van Ruijven, B. (2025). Towards net-zero emissions in global residential heating and cooling: a global scenario analysis. Climatic Change 178 (4) e85. 10.1007/s10584-025-03923-6.

Awais, M. , Vinca, A. , Byers, E. , Frank, S. , Fricko, O. , Boere, E., Burek, P. , Poblete Cazenave, M. , Kishimoto, P.N. , Mastrucci, A. , Satoh, Y., Palazzo, A. , McPherson, M., Riahi, K. , & Krey, V. (2024). MESSAGEix-GLOBIOM nexus module: integrating water sector and climate impacts. Geoscientific Model Development 17 (6) 2447-2469. 10.5194/gmd-17-2447-2024.

Pachauri, S. , Poblete Cazenave, M. , Aktas, A., & Gidden, M. (2021). Clean cooking access may stall under slow post-pandemic recovery and ambitious climate mitigation without explicit focus. Nature Energy 10.1038/s41560-021-00939-x.

Pachauri, S. , Poblete-Cazenave, M. , Aktas, A., & Gidden, M.J. (2021). Access to clean cooking services in energy and emission scenarios after COVID-19. Nature Energy 6 1067-1076. 10.1038/s41560-021-00911-9.

Mastrucci, A. , van Ruijven, B. , Byers, E. , Poblete-Cazenave, M. , & Pachauri, S. (2021). Global scenarios of residential heating and cooling energy demand and CO2 emissions. Climatic Change 168 (3-4) e14. 10.1007/s10584-021-03229-3.

Poblete-Cazenave, M. , Pachauri, S. , Byers, E. , Mastrucci, A. , & van Ruijven, B. (2021). Global scenarios of household access to modern energy services under climate mitigation policy. Nature Energy 6 824-833. 10.1038/s41560-021-00871-0.

Events

Brussels, European Commission DG CLIMA (Breydel 2, Meeting Room Floor 005 Room 374-402-416)

Accelerating Climate Action Towards a Rapid and Just Transition

Villa Grumello, Como Lake, Italy

NAVIGATE-ENGAGE Summer School 2023

Laxenburg, Austria

Vienna openmod Workshop 2023