Sustainable lifestyles, green-tech innovation, and government-led transformation each offer promising routes to make significant progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), to which IIASA scientists contributed. Contrary to the belief that the path to sustainable development is increasingly out of reach, the results show that humankind has a variety of pathways to depart from its current unsustainable trajectory.
Who lives up to the promises made two years ago? Not many. Only about 35 countries have a strategy on how to meet biodiversity targets, says Piero Visconti, Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation (BEC) Research Group Leader at IIASA. But in 2022, at COP15 in Montreal, the countries pledged to preserve 30 percent of the planet’s land and seas. At the same time, rich countries also don’t live up to their promise to help the poor with financing. This COP needs to show results.
IIASA’s CAT group held a workshop on negotiation for natural disaster risk reduction decision-making
The MEDiate project is designed to help policymakers in decisions on natural disaster risk reduction. This year’s general assembly was held on 24 and 25 October. During this event, IIASA’s CAT team in the project held a serious-game workshop for finding sustainable solutions to natural hazard risk reduction. The workshop guided the participants trough silent negotiation to find a risk reduction solution for city-wide disaster scenarios.
IIASA and the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) are co-hosting the public lecture "Waldbrände: Erforschen und Vorbeugen" (Forest fires: research and prevention) on the expected increase in dry periods and heat waves due to climate change. Please note that the lecture will be in German.
Governments worldwide must urgently commit to reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions by 42% by 2030 and 57% by 2035 in their next Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to avoid surpassing the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C global warming target, warns a new report released by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) today.
BIOSPACE25 is the first international conference exclusively dedicated to the application of Satellite Remote Sensing (SRS) across the various dimensions of biodiversity, and addressing the use of Earth Observations in all realms, from terrestrial, freshwater, coastal to marine ecosystems.
As the TED AI conference unfolds in Vienna, Ian McCallum, IIASA Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability Research Group Leader, brings a fresh perspective on the pivotal role of artificial intelligence in Earth monitoring. He explores how AI can revolutionize our understanding of environmental changes and support sustainable practices in an era marked by significant transitions.
IIASA researchers helped to identify three focus areas at the intersection of science and policy, which could foster transformative action to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Their priorities include exploiting SDG synergies, modeling long-term policy impacts, and co-developing tools together with relevant stakeholders.
IIASA researchers Robert Sakic Trogrlic and Stefan Hochrainer-Stigler explore the growing complexity of natural hazards and their interconnected impacts on communities. Their research offers insights into the challenges faced by communities worldwide and underscores the importance of building more resilient systems in an interconnected, increasingly hazard-prone world.