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More than you might think. A badly chosen holiday destination can leave everyone frustrated, just as poorly designed disaster plans can leave communities devastated; although the consequences are not comparable, the decision-making processes have similar characteristics. The MEDiate project is building a novel Decision Support System (DSS) – a digital toolbox which helps policy-makers test strategies before disaster strikes. IIASA is not only helping to design models and frameworks behind this system, but also ensuring that every stakeholder participates in the discussion. Even the best technical solution won’t work if there is nobody supports it.

Researchers from IIASA and partner institutions in the EU funded PARATUS project introduce a new generation of modeling tools that help not only better understand but also reduce systemic risk and vulnerability to multiple, possibly cascading, natural and man-made hazards. Instead of relying on traditional independent hazards’ analysis and static risk mapping, the IIASA PARATUS team from CAT-ASA group develops novel dynamic modeling approaches enabling to analyze and project how hazards’ patterns and vulnerability dimensions can evolve over time as functions of vulnerability drivers—and how risk-informed policy choices regarding the drivers can reduce risks and vulnerability of all kinds.

Although many policymakers might still not realize it, disasters like floods, hurricanes, or earthquakes are not isolated events. Their impacts can spread much wider, disrupting power supply, cutting off roads, or even worse – delaying logistics and your next Amazon delivery by weeks. The latest deliverable in the PARATUS Project sets out to build a clear methodology for assessing systemic risks across the case studies chosen earlier in this project.

At the International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV 2025), IIASA researchers highlighted the critical role of cultural context in combating climate change disinformation. Presenting the Adaptation AGORA project, they showcased a suite of innovative digital tools, including a mobile app and a dedicated Disinformation Academy, designed to empower citizens and build climate resilience through inclusive, participatory governance. The project moves beyond top-down approaches to co-create adaptation strategies that are both scientifically robust and socially legitimate.

A recent Financial Times special report on climate-related research funding features IIASA Director-General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber in his role as a past Blue Planet Prize laureate. The article highlights the urgent need to better connect scientific evidence, policy action, and public communication to drive meaningful climate solutions.

Several IIASA researchers were among the nearly 60,000 participants at COP30 in Belém, a diverse gathering of global leaders, industry, youth, and non-state actors. This year also saw record participation from Indigenous people, with more than 3,000 representatives highlighting their crucial role as guardians of biodiversity.

Fast and decisive mitigation of methane emissions remains one of the few options the world still has to limit global warming in the next few decades. Today, mid-way through COP30, high-level representatives at the Global Methane Pledge (GMP) Ministerial released the Global Methane Status Report 2025, a comprehensive assessment of global progress and remaining gaps in efforts to cut methane. The report’s findings are underpinned by analyses conducted by IIASA researchers.

In a recent Tagesspiegel feature exploring the meaning of “I don’t have another land,” IIASA Director-General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber offers a powerful reminder that humanity also has no “second planet.” His contribution links historical memory with the urgent global challenge of protecting Earth’s life-support systems.

Against the backdrop of negotiations at COP30 in Belém, a group of leading climate scientists has released the Búzios Scientific Statement, offering a clear assessment of the world’s remaining options to return to 1.5°C of warming by the end of the century. The statement reflects growing recognition that a temporary overshoot of 1.5°C is now unavoidable, while also showing that pathways back to safer temperature levels remain open if action accelerates quickly.

The final stakeholder workshop of the Austria Fire Futures (AFF) project gathered leading experts, policymakers, foresters, firefighters, and tourism representatives on October 28, 2025, at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg to discuss Austria’s growing wildfire risks and the way forward toward climate resilience.  

IIASA is proud to announce that 13 researchers associated with the Institute, including its Director General, Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber, have again been recognized in the latest Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers™ list released this week.

IIASA Population and Just Societies Program Director, Anne Goujon, has been elected Secretary-General and Treasurer of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), the world’s leading association of population scientists.

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) have officially launched a "Feasibility Study on Carbon Farming Solutions in Greater Central Asia", marking a new milestone in the region’s efforts toward sustainable land management and climate-resilient development.

IIASA recently hosted an exploratory workshop titled, Together for water: Fostering collaboration in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The two-day event brought together around 50 representatives from international organizations, civil society organizations, research institutions, and diplomatic missions to explore new pathways for transboundary collaboration on water challenges across the region.

IIASA researchers have coauthored a new report published by The Nature Conservancy that maps converging climate risks to food, water, and biodiversity, and provides a practical framework to scale nature-based solutions that strengthen resilience for people and nature.

A new EU-funded report reveals that while global emissions could peak before 2030, current efforts remain insufficient to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal. The study, produced through collaboration between IIASA, the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, and the NewClimate Institute, provides a detailed, evidence-based assessment of progress among the world’s largest emitters.

IIASA has released its report from the European Forum Alpbach 2025, where it served as reporting partner for the Climate Track. Drawing from five insightful blogs, the report distills key ideas and reflections that emerged under the Forum’s overarching theme, “Recharge Europe.”

IIASA researchers contributed to the latest issue of the Emissions Gap Report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The assessment of available new climate pledges under the Paris Agreement finds that the predicted global temperature rise over the course of this century has only slightly fallen, leaving the world heading for a serious escalation of climate risks and damages.

Dmitry Erokhin, Research Scholar at the IIASA Cooperation and Transformative Governance (CAT) Research Group, presented the study “Using Google Trends to Analyze Public Sensitivity to Climate-Related Natural Hazards and its Correlation with Nuclear Topics: A Proxy Approach for Societal Impact and Risk Communication”, coauthored with Nadejda Komendantova, Leader of the IIASA CAT Research Group, at the International Conference on Resilience of Nuclear Installations against External Events – Focus on Climate Change, organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Engaging the local stakeholders in policy crafting and co-development of decision support systems can result in policies tailored for local socioeconomic, and environmental characteristics. The effective stakeholder’s engagement hinges on understanding their vision and expectation from the decision-making process, among others. SEVA is an open access tool developed by IIASA researchers for exploratory analysis of stakeholders’ roles and their visions.