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Policy Brief #34, October 2022. Recent net-zero pledges could take the world a long way towards meeting the Paris climate goals, but an ambition gap remains.

By capturing the fine structure of energy use, IIASA research reveals the need for targeted policy on energy access, illuminates a possible clash between access and climate, and shows that billions may be unprotected from heat stress.

Striving for excellence and designing truly innovative solutions in science requires many creative minds from different disciplines and parts of society to work together.

Options Winter 2021: Caroline Zimm joined IIASA in 2014 and is leading the IIASA Strategic Initiative Program’s Just Transitions to Net-zero Carbon Emissions for All (JustTrans4ALL) project.

Options Winter 2021: In an attempt to reduce its carbon footprint, Japan has put ambitious strategies in place to reduce energy demand. IIASA researcher Shinichiro Fujimori and his colleagues used modeling to explore potential energy system changes and their cost implications.

Options Winter 2021: Human activity is the main cause of climate change. It is also people who endure the worst of its impacts. It is a matter of utmost urgency that people are part of the solution.

Options Winter 2021: Scenarios are essential for exploring climate change. These stories of future Earth help to reveal how we might prevent global tragedy.

Options Winter 2021: The concept of systems analysis is difficult to pin down, but in fact, the flexible, shapeshifting nature of this discipline turns out to be its superpower.

Policy Brief #31, October 2021. A harmonized scenario framework can help to align national climate policies with global goals.

Policy Brief #30, October 2021. Overshooting global temperature goals is risky. New research from the ENGAGE project shows the long-term economic benefits of scenarios that avoid overshoot and points out the investments needed to make it happen.

Impact Sheet #19, January 2021. IIASA research has guided the global policymaking community in their efforts to limit global temperature increase to this ambitious goal. When the world’s attention was focussed toward the 2°C target, the institute’s sophisticated analysis mapped credible pathways towards the 1.5°C goal

Options Winter 2020: Systems science is ideally positioned to address global impacts and harness opportunities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. IIASA is actively involved in addressing emerging issues and supporting policymakers on the road to a more sustainable post-COVID world.

Options Summer 2020: Our world is in the midst of an economic transformation as labor upheavals and climate change wreak havoc on present sustainability models. Could a focus on women’s empowerment help find a way out?

Options Summer 2020: Climate change not only poses a threat to the planet and to people, it is also affecting economic stability. IIASA researchers are investigating how this can be addressed and what it will cost.

Policy Brief #24, July 2019. Investment in low-carbon energy is making a difference. IIASA research now provides decision makers with valuable data on the capital required to ramp up renewables, boost energy efficiency, redirect energy portfolios, and fill investment gaps.

Policy Brief #23, June 2019. IIASA research has found explanations for variations in estimates of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. According to the researchers, actions set out in countries’ nationally determined contributions are described ambiguously, introducing uncertainty into the stocktaking process. This poses a danger that action plans will not be strengthened sufficiently to avoid dangerous levels of climate change.

Policy Brief #22, June 2019. A study of seventeen climate and energy policies offers design guidelines for more effective policymaking and implementation.

Policy Brief #14, November 2016. Two temperatures feature prominently in the Paris Climate Agreement: 1.5°C and 2°C. New studies from IIASA reveal substantially different climate impacts under these two targets and provide a clearer understanding of the challenges and benefits of aiming low on global warming goals.