Adriana Gomez Sanabria
Senior Research Scholar
Pollution Management Research Group
Energy, Climate, and Environment Program
Biography
Adriana Gomez Sanabria joined IIASA in June 2015 and is currently a senior research scholar in the Pollution Management Research Group of the IIASA Energy, Climate, and Environment Program.She holds a PhD in Natural Sciences and a master’s degree in forestry from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Austria, as well as bachelor’s and master’s degrees in environmental and health engineering from La Salle University, Colombia.
Her research focuses on assessing the environmental co-benefits of implementing circular waste and wastewater management systems at global, regional, and national levels. She develops and applies the GAINS model to evaluate the impact of policy interventions aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, air pollutants, and water contamination arising from the waste and wastewater sectors.
Specific relevant expertise:
- Global, regional, and national assessments of air pollutants and GHG emissions from the solid waste and wastewater sectors
- Assessment of co-benefits from global adoption of circular waste management systems to mitigate GHGs and air pollutants
- GHG mitigation potentials in the solid waste and wastewater sector in the context of the 1.5°C targets.
Last update: 14 MAY 2025
Publications
Höglund-Isaksson, L. , Purohit, P. , Gomez-Sanabria, A. , Kaltenegger, K. , Pauls, A., Rafaj, P. , Sander, R. , Srivastava, P., Warnecke, L. , & Winiwarter, W. (2023). Non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions in the EU-27 from 2005 to 2070 with mitigation potentials and costs: GAINS model methodology. IIASA Report. Laxenburg, Austria: IIASA
Lutz, W. & Pachauri, S. (2023). Systems Analysis for Sustainable Wellbeing. 50 years of IIASA research, 40 years after the Brundtland Commission, contributing to the post-2030 Global Agenda. IIASA Report. Laxenburg, Austria: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) 10.5281/zenodo.8214208.
Trois, C., Abera, Y., Dell’Orto, A., Kissoon, S., & Gomez Sanabria, A. (2023). Application of the WROSE Model for Promoting Effective Decision-Making and Sustained Climate Change Stabilization in the South African Waste Sector. In: Waste Management in Developing Countries. Eds. El Bari, H. & Trois, C., pp. 39-62 Springer. 10.1007/978-3-031-28001-6_3.
Gomez Sanabria, A. , Kiesewetter, G. , Klimont, Z. , Schöpp, W. , & Haberl, H. (2022). Potentials for future reductions of global GHG and air pollutant emissions from circular municipal waste management systems. Nature Communications 13 art.no.106. 10.1038/s41467-021-27624-7.
World Bank (2022). Striving for Clean Air : Air Pollution and Public Health in South Asia. World Bank