PRISMA will improve Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) in order to develop robust policies toward the achievement of net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emission pathways.
IAMs are key in the ambition to achieve the Paris Agreement goals, which require deep structural transition of the current economy and society. In light of a rapid and full decarbonization of the economy, the ability of the IAMs to consider complex relationships and provide calibrated numerical results have become ever more important in the last decade.
PRISMA aims to improve existing large-scale IAMs and sectorial models in four key areas, namely the representation of distributional justice and efficiency, innovation and finance, climate impacts and land-use implications, and lifestyle change and circularity. The project will improve the temporal and spatial resolution of the analysis, and the representation of disruptive and structural change in the economy, with a focus on Europe, and look at the yearly and in particular near term detailed modeling of rapid decarbonization pathways.
IIASA co-leads two work packages on lifestyle, digitalization, material efficiency, and circularity as well as SDGs synergies and trade-offs, and biophysical climate impacts, respectively. Additional IIASA contributions include research on technological change and financial efforts needed in the transformation towards net-zero GHG emissions and the coordination of data handling across the project.
Partners
- Fondazione Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (Italy)
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) (Germany)
- The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) (Austria)
- PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (Netherlands)
- E3-Modelling (Greece)
- L'École nationale des ponts et chaussées (France)
- Bruegel (Belgium)
- WiseEuropa – Fundacja Warszawski Instytut Studiów Ekonomicznych i Europejskich (Poland)
- Société de Mathématiques Appliquées et de Sciences Humaines (France)
Associated Partners
- University of Geneva (UNIGE) (Switzerland)
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETH Zurich) (Switzerland)
- Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) (Switzerland)
- University of Oxford (UK)
- University of Cambridge (UK)
Funding acknowledgements
Funded by the European Union under grant agreement No. 101081604. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
© Funding Acknowledgements
Published papers:
Zakeri, B. , Surana, K., Hunt, J. , Krey, V. , & Riahi, K. (2026). The AI–energy storage nexus: opportunities for clean energy transitions. Energy and Climate Change 7 e100259. 10.1016/j.egycc.2026.100259.
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.
Andrijevic, M. , Vinca, A. , Magni, M., Jones, E.R., van Vliet, M.T.H., Werning, M. , & Byers, E. (2026). Future trends of desalination and wastewater treatment accounting for risks of maladaptation. npj Clean Water 10.1038/s41545-026-00605-3. (In Press)
Vinca, A. , Andrijevic, M. , Byers, E. , Jones, E.R., Magni, M., van Vliet, M.T.H., & Werning, M. (2026). Limited progress in drinking water and sanitation access when accounting for inequality in long-term projections. npj Clean Water 10.1038/s41545-026-00594-3. (In Press)
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.
Tebaldi, C., O'Neill, B., & Byers, E. (2026). Climate Impacts in Scenarios: Time to Close the Loop? Earth's Future 14 (3) e2025EF007622. 10.1029/2025EF007622.
Hartvig, A. , Simo, M., Fazekas, D., Fragkos, P., Fragkiadakis, K., Fragkiadakis, D., & Vrontisi, Z. (2025). Comparing economic impacts of net-zero transition with climate damage uncertainties using a dual-model approach. Environmental Research: Energy 2 (3) e035005. 10.1088/2753-3751/adef5e.
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.