How can societies adapt to profound demographic, environmental, and social change while ensuring that no one is left behind? In 2025, the Population and Just Societies Program generated new evidence on aging, migration, labor markets, climate vulnerability, and the policies needed to build more inclusive and resilient societies.
The transition to a low-carbon future requires both ambitious action and a clear understanding of what works. In 2025, the Energy, Climate, and Environment Program produced research that helped clarify the opportunities, trade-offs, and practical pathways for accelerating climate mitigation and strengthening environmental sustainability.
From poverty and resource extraction to climate policy and economic modeling, the Economic Frontiers Program explored some of the most pressing questions at the intersection of economy, society, and sustainability. Research conducted in 2025 challenged conventional assumptions and generated new perspectives on how progress can be measured and achieved.
Global migration has risen sharply from approximately 13 million people per year in 2000 to around 35 million people per year in 2023. This is according to a new dataset on human migration published in Nature by researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), IIASA, and the University of Hong Kong.
IIASA Science Diplomacy Director and Head of Communications and External Relations, Susie Kitchens, will deliver the keynote address at the upcoming conference on Regional Engagement in the Era of Responsible Internationalization in Higher Education, co-organized by the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) and Austria's Agency for Education and Internationalisation (OeAD) in Vienna.
Balancing the needs of people and nature is one of the defining challenges of our time. Throughout 2025, the Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program advanced research on how societies can pursue climate, biodiversity, and development goals while managing growing pressures on land, water, energy, and ecosystems.
As global challenges become increasingly interconnected, the Advancing Systems Analysis Program continued to develop innovative approaches for understanding complexity and supporting better decisions. In 2025, the program’s research revealed new insights into urban sustainability, resilience in an era of polycrisis, public health, and sustainable development.
The Howard Raiffa Academy, anchored at the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), is the hub of a global network of researchers, government officials, and decision analysts promoting the application of decision science and negotiation analysis methodologies in the development of solutions to complex, science-intensive policy challenges.
Social networks may help protect cognitive functioning in later life, particularly among older adults who are no longer working, according to a new IIASA-led study. Drawing on data from 27 European countries, the researchers found that social connections can help compensate for the loss of mentally stimulating interactions linked to work, with different types of relationships benefiting women and men.
These annual migrant flow estimates provide a comprehensive view of how people move between countries worldwide. Using advanced deep-learning techniques, the dataset combines official statistics, international migration databases, and innovative data sources to generate consistent and reliable estimates, including for countries with limited migration data. The result is a valuable resource for analyzing global migration trends and patterns over time.
As global temperatures continue to rise beyond the 1.5°C threshold, understanding the implications of climate overshoot has become one of the defining scientific and policy challenges of our time. Following the success of the inaugural Overshoot Conference in Laxenburg, Austria, the second Overshoot Conference will take place from 24–25 November 2026 in Beijing, China, bringing together leading researchers, policymakers, innovators, and communicators to advance the global dialogue on overshoot pathways and responses.
IIASA, NewClimate Institute, and the Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute for Graduate Studies and Research in Engineering at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (COPPE/UFRJ) are organizing a side event during the sixty-fourth sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SB 64) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
IIASA Energy, Climate, and Environment Program Director, Keywan Riahi, will deliver a public lecture at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the National Member Organization representing Austria at IIASA, as part of their Mathematical and Natural Sciences Division's session.