Options magazine showcases the complex interdisciplinary research carried out at IIASA by highlighting the latest research news and bringing together different strands of work from across the institute to show how they fit together to inform policy and solve the interconnected global problems that society face today.
Article: News
13 September 2021
Environmental targets to limit excess nitrogen require the large-scale deployment of dedicated nitrogen mitigation strategies to avoid a strong increase in the risk of food insecurity. Without these measures, the amount of dietary energy available to people would be greatly reduced, which would in turn lead to high food prices and an increase in the number of undernourished people.
Article: News
06 September 2021
The social cost of carbon dioxide is one of the most influential indicators of climate change as it allows us to estimate the cost of greenhouse gas emissions to humanity. A new study looks back on how ten years of scientific advancements have influenced such estimates, and explores how to resolve some of the most important outstanding gaps in existing models.
Article: News
02 September 2021
For many, an increase in living standards would require an increase in energy provision. At the same time, meeting current climate goals under the Paris Agreement would benefit from lower energy use. IIASA researchers have assessed how much energy is needed to provide the global poor with a decent life and have found that this can be reconciled with efforts to meet climate targets.
Article: News
01 September 2021
The fairSTREAM project just launched under the auspices of the IIASA Strategic Initiatives Program, aims to develop and demonstrate a co-production methodology for including equity and justice (fairness) alongside efficiency in developing sustainable policy options across the food-water-biodiversity nexus.
Article: News
30 August 2021
Using a novel modeling approach, new research published in Nature Ecology and Evolution reveals the location and intensity of key threats to biodiversity on land and identifies priority areas across the world to help inform conservation decision making at national and local levels.
Article: News
24 August 2021
We are collectively failing to conserve the world’s biodiversity and to mobilize natural solutions to help curb global warming. A new study carried out by the Nature Map Consortium, shows that managing a strategically placed 30% of land for conservation could safeguard 70% of all considered terrestrial plant and vertebrate animal species, while simultaneously conserving more than 62% of the world’s above and below ground vulnerable carbon, and 68% of all clean water.
Article: News
23 August 2021
The European Commission (EC) has prepared a set of proposals revising EU climate, energy, and transport-related legislation, the so-called 'Fit for 55 package', aiming to deliver the EU's 2030 climate target on its way to climate neutrality in 2050. IIASA research is part of the scientific backbone that underlies the strategies laid out in the package.