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IIASA Director General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber visited Barbados at the end of May to deepen engagement with government, academic, diplomatic, and international partners and explore new opportunities for collaboration on resilience, innovation, and sustainable development for Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Global migration has risen sharply from approximately 13 million people per year in 2000 to around 35 million people per year in 2023. This is according to a new dataset on human migration published in Nature by researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), IIASA, and the University of Hong Kong.

Social networks may help protect cognitive functioning in later life, particularly among older adults who are no longer working, according to a new IIASA-led study. Drawing on data from 27 European countries, the researchers found that social connections can help compensate for the loss of mentally stimulating interactions linked to work, with different types of relationships benefiting women and men.

As global temperatures continue to rise beyond the 1.5°C threshold, understanding the implications of climate overshoot has become one of the defining scientific and policy challenges of our time. Following the success of the inaugural Overshoot Conference in Laxenburg, Austria, the second Overshoot Conference will take place from 24–25 November 2026 in Beijing, China, bringing together leading researchers, policymakers, innovators, and communicators to advance the global dialogue on overshoot pathways and responses. 

IIASA is excited to announce that Greece has joined the Institute effective from 1 June 2026 through the Academy of Athens, Greece’s national academy and the highest research establishment in the country.

New research from IIASA and the University of Oxford provides the first quantitative evidence that drought exposure over the last 12 months is associated with increased risk of sexual, emotional, and physical violence among adolescents in Southern Africa. This risk rises substantially during cumulative droughts over two years.  

A high-level delegation from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MoST) and representatives of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Austria visited IIASA at Schloss Laxenburg on 13 May 2026 for discussions on scientific cooperation, science diplomacy, and future collaboration.

Nexus of Sustainability: Understanding of FEWSE Systems II is a 2026 Springer monograph detailing the interdependencies between food, energy, water, society, and the environment (FEWSE). It focuses on risk management, robust modeling, and sustainable development, featuring recent research of the joint research project between IIASA and National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU, Ukraine NMO at IIASA) on “Integrated modeling for robust management of food-energy-water-land use nexus for sustainable development”.

Researchers from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) contributed to the Expert Round Table on Climate Misinformation, organized within the framework of the MIP4Adapt initiative. MIP4Adapt (Mission Implementation Platform) is the central support mechanism for the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, aiding regions and local authorities in planning and implementing climate resilience strategies. It provides technical assistance, community building, and funding guidance to Charter signatories. 

IIASA recently welcomed Dame Julie Maxton, Executive Director of the Royal Society, to Laxenburg for a series of discussions focused on global challenges, science diplomacy, and the future of international research cooperation.

Persistent methane emissions from sectors such as agriculture and growing debates over the credibility of carbon offsets are creating new challenges for governments and companies pursuing net-zero commitments. New research suggests temporary carbon storage may have a scientifically valid role in helping support climate goals, if used in the right way.

Representatives from China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security visited Schloss Laxenburg in May 2026 for discussions on international research collaboration, scientific career development, and talent exchange.

IIASA Director General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber is featured in the new documentary Hirschhausen will zum Papst (Hirschhausen wants to meet the Pope), produced by Germany’s public broadcaster ARD.

A recent Table.Briefings article featuring comments by IIASA Director General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber highlights growing concerns that progress in decarbonizing the global buildings sector remains too slow to achieve international climate goals. The article discusses findings from the new UNEP and Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction 2025/2026.

IIASA has emerged as one of Austria’s standout research institutions in a new Elsevier report titled, Austria as a Science and Technology Nation, which benchmarks the country’s scientific performance in an international context.

New research by an international team of scientists finds that fully phasing out fossil fuels worldwide by 2050 would require global electricity generation to expand by roughly 60 to 80% beyond the levels projected in conventional 1.5°C climate pathways. The study also shows that eliminating fossil fuels could significantly reduce dependence on CO₂ removal technologies and underground carbon storage.

The African Human Capital Data Sheet 2026: Past Trends, Skills, and Future Pathways presents new evidence on population trends by level of education, skills, and demographic transitions across the African continent.

Tropical forests are one of the planet's most important carbon sinks – often also called "the lungs of the Earth". But their future in a high-CO₂ world remains uncertain. IIASA researchers contributed to a new study, which suggests even small understory trees in the Amazon may initially buffer climate change more strongly. Their long-term capacity to store carbon could, however, be restricted by nutrient availability, highlighting the vulnerability of these ecosystems under future climate conditions.

Within the framework of the International Vienna Energy and Climate Forum (IVECF) 2026, CircEUlar researchers Volker Krey (IIASA), Alessio Mastrucci (IIASA), Adriana Gomez Sanabria (IIASA), and Dominik Wiedenhofer (BOKU) convened a high-level Deep Dive session titled “Integrated green industrialisation strategies across the energy, material and climate nexus to achieve climate and development goals” on 10 April. The session brought together representatives from policy, industry, finance, international organisations, and research.

In April, IIASA Director General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber, visited Kazakhstan at the invitation of Yerlan Nyssanbayev, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, to participate in the Regional Ecological Summit 2026 (RES 2026).