Search

Only a minority of the global population currently enjoy high levels of wellbeing, while many are experiencing multidimensional poverty. A new IIASA strategic initiative – JustTrans4All – aims to improve our understanding of how to make the needed transitions more just.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made painfully clear that our global infectious disease monitoring system is not up to the task. Report after report points to missed opportunities for detecting and acting on the outbreak’s early signs and the devastating resulting loss of life.

The Global Citizen Science Partnership is a network-of-networks that aims to advance the use of citizen science to support the monitoring and implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

A major qualitative and quantitative step-change is needed in science to support critical societal transformations towards a more sustainable, equitable, and resilient future. IIASA Director General Albert van Jaarsveld contributed to a new report published by the International Science Council (ISC), advocating for a concerted effort by the global science community to step up to the challenge.

New research on China suggests that declining birth rates and an aging population might not hinder future prosperity when associated with better education of the young.

Children are to face disproportionate increases in lifetime extreme event exposure – especially in low-income countries, according to new research by an international group of scientists.

The COVID-19 pandemic is already proving transformational to the global world order. As societies recover from the tragic losses, there is apprehension about the ongoing economic reconfigurations that will continue to shape our lives for a long time. Amidst these changes, what prospects lie ahead for Eurasia and its people, and how can this region collaborate towards a more resilient and more sustainable future?

Storing greater amounts of water in Brazil’s reservoirs could increase precipitation and river flow, alleviating the water and energy supply crisis in Brazil.

Environmental targets to limit excess nitrogen require the large-scale deployment of dedicated nitrogen mitigation strategies to avoid a strong increase in the risk of food insecurity. Without these measures, the amount of dietary energy available to people would be greatly reduced, which would in turn lead to high food prices and an increase in the number of undernourished people.

The social cost of carbon dioxide is one of the most influential indicators of climate change as it allows us to estimate the cost of greenhouse gas emissions to humanity. A new study looks back on how ten years of scientific advancements have influenced such estimates, and explores how to resolve some of the most important outstanding gaps in existing models.

For many, an increase in living standards would require an increase in energy provision. At the same time, meeting current climate goals under the Paris Agreement would benefit from lower energy use. IIASA researchers have assessed how much energy is needed to provide the global poor with a decent life and have found that this can be reconciled with efforts to meet climate targets.

The fairSTREAM project just launched under the auspices of the IIASA Strategic Initiatives Program, aims to develop and demonstrate a co-production methodology for including equity and justice (fairness) alongside efficiency in developing sustainable policy options across the food-water-biodiversity nexus.

Using a novel modeling approach, new research published in Nature Ecology and Evolution reveals the location and intensity of key threats to biodiversity on land and identifies priority areas across the world to help inform conservation decision making at national and local levels.

IIASA researchers have contributed to a study that provides a new model to monitor and predict food insecurity in the coming decade. It finds that while overall global levels of food insecurity are set to decrease an increase is implied for lower income countries.

IIASA Deputy Director for Science Leena Srivastava has been appointed as one of 20 world renowned energy experts who will select winners of the prestigious annual Global Energy Prize. 

We are collectively failing to conserve the world’s biodiversity and to mobilize natural solutions to help curb global warming. A new study carried out by the Nature Map Consortium, shows that managing a strategically placed 30% of land for conservation could safeguard 70% of all considered terrestrial plant and vertebrate animal species, while simultaneously conserving more than 62% of the world’s above and below ground vulnerable carbon, and 68% of all clean water. 

The European Commission (EC) has prepared a set of proposals revising EU climate, energy, and transport-related legislation, the so-called 'Fit for 55 package', aiming to deliver the EU's 2030 climate target on its way to climate neutrality in 2050. IIASA research is part of the scientific backbone that underlies the strategies laid out in the package.

A new scientific article outlines how to undertake the much needed expansion and modernization of Africa’s electricity sector. The article highlights the crucial role that international partnerships such as the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative have to play in achieving this goal.

Access to modern, reliable, and affordable energy services is a must for development and ensuring a decent quality of life. IIASA researchers used a novel bottom-up approach to analyze how access to energy services may evolve over time under different scenarios of socioeconomic growth and policy scenarios that meet climate mitigation goals.

Air pollution in India is generated more by the wealthy, while the poor suffer most of the health impact, according to a study by five IIASA researchers published in Nature Sustainability.