Reinhard Mechler
Research Group Leader and Principal Research Scholar
Systemic Risk and Resilience Research Group
Advancing Systems Analysis Program
Biography
Reinhard Mechler leads the Systemic Risk and Resilience Research Group in the IIASA Advancing Systems Analysis Program. He has over 25 years of experience analyzing and addressing socioeconomic aspects of disaster and climate change risks. His interest is to provide evidence-based advice to a wide range of public and private sector decision-makers to improve decisions and build resilience against salient risks.In addition to his role at IIASA, he is a visiting professor at the University of Oviedo and has been a guest professor and senior lecturer at the University of Economics and Business in Vienna, and a visiting professor at the University of Graz.
Mechler has led and contributed to many international research and consultancy projects and is currently leading research for the Flood Resilience Alliance, which brings together researchers, international NGOs, and the private sector to build disaster and climate resilience across the globe. He was a lead author on the IPCC's special report on managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation (SREX), the IPCC 5th assessment report, the report on 1.5°C global warming, and IPCC's 6th assessment report.
His areas of expertise include: socioeconomics of natural disaster risk management and climate adaptation, climate risk and resilience, disaster risk management and climate change policy, Loss and Damage, and climate finance.
Mechler holds a PhD in economics from the Technical University in Karlsruhe and a habilitation qualification from the University of Economics and Business in Vienna. He has a diploma in Economics, and bachelor equivalents in Mathematics, as well as English Literature and Linguistics from the University of Heidelberg. He also studied Economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and law at the University of Tübingen.
Last update: 14 MAY 2025
Publications
Chapagain, D., Hochrainer-Stigler, S. , Velev, S., Keating, A., & Mechler, R. (2025). Realized Resilience After Community Flood Events: A Global Empirical Study. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 118 e105246. 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2025.105246.
Chapagain, D., Bharati, L., Mechler, R. , K.C., S., Pflug, G. , & Borgemeister, C. (2024). Understanding the role of climate change in disaster mortality: Empirical evidence from Nepal. Climate Risk Management 46 e100669. 10.1016/j.crm.2024.100669.
Juhola, S., Bouwer, L.M., Huggel, C., Mechler, R. , Muccione, V., & Wallimann-Helmer, I. (2024). A new dynamic framework is required to assess adaptation limits. Global Environmental Change 87 e102884. 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102884.
Tavoni, M., Andreoni, P, Calcaterra, M., Calliari, E. , Deubelli, T. , Mechler, R. , Hochrainer-Stigler, S. , & Wenz, L. (2024). Economic quantification of Loss and Damage funding needs. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 10.1038/s43017-024-00565-7.
Hochrainer-Stigler, S. , Mechler, R. , Deubelli, T. , Calliari, E. , & Sakic Trogrlic, R. (2024). A gap approach for preventing stress in complex systems: managing natural hazard induced fiscal risks under a changing climate. Frontiers in Sustainable Resource Management 3 10.3389/fsrma.2024.1393667.