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During a recent visit to Brazil, IIASA Director General, Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber, and Deputy Director General, Karen Lips, met with representatives from government agencies, research institutes, universities, and NGOs to explore opportunities for collaboration on some of the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges.

Two new studies published in leading scientific journals conclude that stabilizing long-term climate risks will require sustained net-negative carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions for centuries. Approaching the problem from distinct perspectives – legal and technological feasibility on the one hand, and economic optimization under uncertainty on the other – the research converges on a consistent message: reaching net zero is not enough.

The EU agri-food system is increasingly threatened by climate change while accounting for roughly one-third of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions. A new report by the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, with contributions from IIASA researchers, warns that current policies are insufficient to address rising climate risks and meet EU climate targets.

Elisa Calliari, a Senior Research Scholar in the Systemic Risk and Resilience Research Group of the IIASA Advancing Systems Analysis Program, has been awarded a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant for a new project investigating how climate change reshapes the habitability of places and how societies respond.

IIASA recently welcomed Distinguished Visiting Fellow Éliane Ubalijoro, CEO of the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), for a lecture on the importance of gender and social inclusion in forest and landscape governance and an interdisciplinary discussion on equity and sustainability.

Hands-on mini project- ‘My Future City’ for brainstorming a safer school street for children

Climate change reshapes lives, but not always the way headlines suggest. In this podcast, Roman Hoffmann joined Judith Kohlenberger to explore why most climate‑affected people stay close to home, and what that means for policy and preparedness.

In a new commentary, two deeply rooted assumptions in global demographic debates are challenged: that fertility will rebound as societies develop, and that “replacement-level fertility” is an ideal to be pursued. Drawing on the latest evidence, the authors show that neither view is supported by available data and argue that persistently low fertility can be sustainable and even economically desirable.

IIASA recently welcomed Austrian Federal Minister of Education, Science, and Research, Eva-Maria Holzleitner to Schloss Laxenburg for a high-level exchange on science diplomacy, international cooperation, and future collaboration opportunities.

  

Researchers from the Cooperation and Transformative Governance group and partner institutions presented new findings at the EGU General Assembly 2025 exploring how expertise and language complexity influence climate communication on social media.

14 Student Fellowships awarded to students studying at East African Universities.

IIASA welcomed H.E. Ambassador Nikolaus Marschik, Secretary General of the Austrian Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs (BMEIA), for a high-level visit to Schloss Laxenburg on Friday, 20 February 2026.

JoAnne Linnerooth-Bayer moderated the Festival’s second plenary panel on private initiatives for financing nature, guiding a discussion on how the private sector can help close the global financing gap for biodiversity and nature-based solutions.

IIASA contributed to a new European roadmap for biodiversity monitoring through its involvement in the Horizon 2020 project, EuropaBON. The study, proposes a comprehensive roadmap to build a modern, integrated Biodiversity Observation Network (BON) for Europe that could become a global model for biodiversity monitoring in the 21^st century.

As Europe faces increasingly severe climate impacts, the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change is calling on the EU to urgently strengthen its policy framework for effective and coherent adaptation. A new report, with contributions from IIASA researchers, highlights that adaptation and mitigation must advance together to safeguard Europe’s future.

How do people respond when the impacts of climate change hit close to home? A new study by IIASA and CMCC from the EU-funded project Adaptation AGORA (A Gathering place to cO-design and co-cReate Adaptation) reveals a striking paradox: while citizens in Catalonia show deep skepticism toward climate adaptation policies, they also demonstrate a “strong willingness to take action themselves”.

A new IIASA-led study examines growing critiques of how global climate mitigation scenarios address equity and justice and identifies key conditions for fair, feasible, and politically credible climate action.

Multiple Earth system components appear closer to destabilization than previously believed, putting the planet at increased risk of a “hothouse” trajectory driven by feedback loops that can amplify the consequences of global warming, according to new research.

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) convened the virtual workshop “Prospects of Carbon Farming in Greater Central Asia” to examine pathways for implementing carbon farming across the region. The event brought together scientists, policymakers, and practitioners to exchange evidence, share experience, and discuss pragmatic approaches to advancing carbon farming and related land-based climate solutions.