Caroline Zimm

Research Scholar

Transformative Institutional and Social Solutions Research Group

Energy, Climate, and Environment Program

Research Scholar

Equity and Justice Research Group

Population and Just Societies Program

Biography

Caroline Zimm is a research scholar jointly associated with the Transformative Institutional and Social Solutions (TISS) Research Group of the IIASA Energy, Climate, and Environment (ECE) Program and the Equity and Justice (EQU) Research Group of the Population and Just Societies (POPJUS) Program.

She currently works on the international research initiatives of the Earth Commission of the Global Commons Alliance, and leads the IIASA Strategic Initiative, Just Transitions to Net-zero Carbon Emissions for All (JustTrans4ALL). Her research is concerned with the diffusion of technologies and policies for sustainable development, inequalities across countries, and transformative development pathways for humanity within a stable Earth system.

Prior to joining IIASA in 2014, she worked in development cooperation and on consulting projects in the field of rural energy supply, energy access, and climate change. She held positions with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), a private consulting firm, and the German Development Agency (GIZ) where she was based in Cambodia and India.

Zimm received her PhD from the University of Technology in Vienna, Austria (Energy Economics Group), focusing on the early stage of electric vehicle diffusion. She holds a master's degree in environmental and resource management from the University of Applied Life Sciences Vienna, where she majored in renewable energies, a diploma (MBA. equiv.) in international business administration from the University for Economics and Business Administration Vienna, and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Vienna.

Last update: 15 MAR 2022

Publications

Eker, S. & Wilson, C. (2022). System Dynamics of Social Tipping Processes. IIASA Report. Laxenburg, Austria: IIASA

Bragge, P., Becker, U., Breu, T., Carlsen, H., Griggs, D., Lavis, J.N., Zimm, C. , & Stevance, A.-S. (2022). How policymakers and other leaders can build a more sustainable post-COVID-19 ‘normal’. Discover Sustainability 3 (1) 10.1007/s43621-022-00074-x.

van Vuuren, D., Zimm, C. , Busch, S., Kriegler, E., Leininger, J., Messner, D., Nakicenovic, N. , Rockstrom, J., Riahi, K. , Sperling, F., Bosetti, V., Cornell, S., Gaffney, O., Lucas, P., Popp, A., Ruhe, C., von Schiller, A., Schmidt, J., & Soergel, B. (2022). Defining a Sustainable Development Target Space for 2030 and 2050. One Earth 5 (2) 142-156. 10.31223/X5B62B.

Zimm, C. & Nakicenovic, N. (2022). What are the implications of the Paris Agreement for inequality? In: Making Climate Action More Effective: Lessons Learned from the First Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Eds. Pauw, W.P. & Klein, R.J.T., Routledge. ISBN 9780367754082

Andersen, I., Ishii, N., Brooks, T., Cummis, C., Fonseca, G., Hillers, A., Macfarlane, N., Nakicenovic, N. , Moss, K., Rockström, J., Steer, A., Waughray, D., & Zimm, C. (2021). Defining “Science-based Targets”. National Science Review 8 (7) nwaa186. 10.1093/nsr/nwaa186.