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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.

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.

An article on Austrian news platform VOL.at highlights how a lecture by IIASA Director-General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber has inspired an ambitious tree-planting initiative in Rankweil, Vorarlberg. The project aims to link every newborn child to a concrete contribution to climate protection through large-scale afforestation and timber-based construction.

As countries around the world work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a new study by researchers from IIASA and Peking University highlights an overlooked but powerful solution hiding in plain sight: fluorocarbon banks.

Climate-related wildfires are once again making headlines as they rage across the northern hemisphere this summer. New IIASA research shows that addressing social and economic vulnerability across countries will be a key factor in mitigating the scale of resulting financial damage and emphasize sustainable development as essential to reducing climate-related impacts.

Mining in Brazil does not deliver the sustained economic benefits often claimed, while informal mining is a major driver of deforestation, especially in the Amazon. A new study offers one of the most comprehensive assessments to date, combining satellite imagery and economic data to analyze the environmental and economic impacts of mining at the municipal scale across Brazil.

In a new joint paper, IIASA researchers introduce five Priority Action Areas to guide the EU’s path beyond 2027, highlighting the vital role of a sustainable agricultural sector in ensuring the EU’s long-term economic resilience, prosperity, competitiveness, and environmental health.

A new policy brief, produced as part of the LAMASUS project, highlights that strategic agricultural de-intensification in the EU could help reduce agricultural carbon emissions by nearly a third and considerably improve biodiversity recovery.

Earth’s carbon-climate system may be more fragile than widely thought, according to a new IIASA-led study that looks at the planet’s response to human pressures from a planetary perspective.

In 2023, India surpassed China as the most populous country in the world, and is likely to retain this status for the remainder of this century. In a recent study, IIASA researchers explored whether India could also surpass China in terms of broader socio-economic potential, given the country’s rapid economic growth in recent decades.

New research led by IIASA reveals a surprising link between two major climate tipping elements: the Southern Amazon rainforest and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). While the study finds that a weakening AMOC may buffer dry season rainfall loss in the Amazon, it also highlights the urgent need to reduce emissions as broader climate risks continue to escalate.

Trees, shrubs, and other plants along roads and sidewalks play an important role in making cities more resilient to climate change, improving public health, and advancing environmental justice. Yet, tracking its distribution and change over time remains a major challenge – especially across large, rapidly urbanizing regions of the world. A new IIASA-led study addresses this gap.

Forests play an essential role in mitigating climate change and conserving biodiversity. As Europe moves forward on its climate and sustainability journey, it is crucial that forest-related policies and management practices evolve to fully support these goals.

New research highlights that mountain glaciers across the globe will not recover for centuries – even if human intervention cools the planet back to the 1.5°C limit, having exceeded it.

With climate change intensifying and billions of people still lacking basic necessities, addressing both challenges simultaneously is not only possible but essential. New research highlights that meeting global climate targets while ensuring decent living standards for all can be achieved, provided that emissions reductions are implemented quickly and decisively.

The intensification of existing farmland can sometimes be more harmful to local biodiversity than expanding the area covered by agricultural land, according to new research just published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.

Wealthy individuals have a higher carbon footprint. A new study published in Nature Climate Change quantifies the climate outcomes of these inequalities. It finds that the world’s wealthiest 10% are responsible for two thirds of observed global warming since 1990 and the resulting increases in climate extremes such as heatwaves and droughts.

Can nature restoration and economic productivity go hand in hand? A new study finds that the EU’s ambitious Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR) is essential to achieving biodiversity conservation and climate mitigation targets and that it could be implemented without compromising the supply of agricultural and forest products.

IIASA Director General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber was featured in the latest episode of the ORF podcast “Neues bei Neustädter” titled, Wo ist eigentlich der Klimaschutz? (Where is climate protection, actually?).

On 20 March 2025, IIASA Director General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber delivered a keynote address at the First International Timber Construction Symposium in Berlin. His presentation, titled Climate Plan C: Atmospheric Restoration by Natural Means (Klimaplan C: Atmosphärenreparatur mit natürlichen Mitteln), emphasized the role of timber construction in tackling the climate crisis.