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The SPARCCLE consortium convened at the CMCC Foundation in Milan on 7-8 October 2025 for its annual General Assembly, marking two years since the project’s launch. The meeting brought together partners from across Europe, along with representatives from sister projects, members of the Stakeholder Advisory Board, and colleagues from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC).  

As the world marks UN World Cities Day on 31 October – a call to make cities more sustainable – a new international study warns that the global construction sector’s carbon footprint is on track to double by 2050, threatening to derail efforts to meet the Paris Agreement climate targets.

In October, IIASA welcomed a high-level delegation from the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES) for an in-depth exchange on advancing systems analysis and environmental solutions. The visit marked an important step toward strengthening collaboration between IIASA and CRAES on global and regional sustainability challenges.

Rising seas are irreversible on human time scales and among the most severe consequences of climate change. Emissions released in the coming decades will determine how much coastlines are reshaped for centuries to come. New research shows that near-term mitigation could spare future generations around 0.6 meters of sea-level rise that would be caused by emissions between 2020 and 2090 following current policies, making today’s decisions critical not only for limiting warming but also for coastal impacts.

IIASA Deputy Director General, Karen Lips, represented the Institute at the 2025 European Regional Meeting of the Global Research Council (GRC), convened by Science Europe earlier this week. The meeting provided an important forum for engagement with global research-policy networks to advance themes of open science, artificial intelligence, fairness, and sustainable research systems.

IIASA Distinguished Emeritus Research Scholar and Sherpa for Asia, Wolfgang Lutz, has been awarded the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst).

Martin Lees, Chair of the OECD-IIASA Strategic Partnership on Systems Approaches, returned to IIASA earlier this month to deliver a thought-provoking lecture, revisiting the origins and future of systems thinking in international policymaking and reflecting on decades of collaboration between IIASA and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

From 15 to 19 September 2025, IIASA hosted a Symposium on Human Capital for Sustainable Development – A Focus on Africa. Supported by the Yidan Prize project funds, the event brought together researchers, postdoctoral fellows, and PhD students from Africa and Europe to advance collaboration on education, demography, and sustainable development.

MUT Magazin features IIASA Director-General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber in an in-depth interview on climate-resilient cities and the urgent need to transform the built environment. He outlines how natural materials and sustainable design can help repair the atmosphere and protect future generations.

A new international study co-led by IIASA researchers and Japanese partners aims to democratize the way global climate scenarios are developed. The authors propose a transparent, inclusive research platform that invites participation from scientists worldwide – especially from emerging and developing regions – to ensure that the foundations of climate policy analysis are globally representative and equitable.

Last week, IIASA welcomed H.E. Maimounata Ouattara, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso to the United Nations, for a visit that reinforced a shared commitment to advancing systems analysis for sustainable development across Sub-Saharan Africa.

IIASA recently welcomed His Excellency Vito Cecere, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Austria, for an official visit aimed at reinforcing the strong and enduring partnership between Germany and IIASA.

AFE group and its Wildfire climate impacts and adaptation model (FLAM) have drawn public attention in Austrian media by providing high-resolution insights into current and future wildfire hotspots.  

The 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission released its Report on Healthy, Sustainable, and Just Food Systems, presenting the most comprehensive global scientific evaluation of food systems to date. IIASA researchers Marta Kozicka, Sören Lindner, and Fernando Orduña-Cabrera, and IIASA Program Director Petr Havlik were among the coauthors. The analysis outlines a pathway to health, equity, and a liveable planet.

Consecutive heat extremes across crop growing stages sharply reduce yields across staple crops in the US and Europe under climate change. Without climate action, such events will become ten times more frequent, while most of the damage can be avoided by limiting warming to 1.5 °C, according to a study led by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, ETH Zurich, and IIASA.

The CircEUlar consortium convened in Berlin – at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) – from 22 to 24 September for a three-day project meeting. The event was not only an opportunity to review progress and share research, but also to hold stakeholder workshops connecting the project team with external experts and policy actors. 

Johanna Mikl-Leitner, the Governor of Lower Austria, visited IIASA last week to strengthen ties between the Institute and the Province of Lower Austria.

The world is running out of time to meet the goals of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement, and siloed approaches to climate and development will not be enough. IIASA researchers contributed to the Third Global Report on Climate and SDG Synergies, which demonstrates how integrated action can unlock large-scale efficiencies, making limited resources go further while delivering multiple benefits for people and the planet.

Severe flooding in Pakistan contributes to hundreds of deaths, destruction of infrastructure, and the displacement of millions of people. In a new study, an international team of researchers used open data and tools to help understand differences in vulnerability to floods and better predict displacement in the future.

Earlier this month, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners gathered in Berlin for the final event of the Firelogue project ahead of its conclusion in October 2025. The two-day workshop marked a milestone in efforts to strengthen wildfire resilience across Europe and provided a platform to present and discuss a new Integrated Wildfire Risk Management Strategy.