Thomas Schinko
Research Group Leader and Principal Research Scholar
Equity and Justice Research Group
Population and Just Societies Program
Biography
Thomas Schinko is Principal Research Scholar and Research Group Leader of the Equity and Justice (EQU) Research Group in the IIASA Population and Just Societies Program. He is a regular lecturer at the University of Graz and the Joint Vienna Institute.His main research interests at IIASA are in the areas of comprehensive climate risk management and just transitions. He focuses on the assessment of socioeconomic impacts of climate-related risks and their distributional effects, the identification of just and inclusive climate risk management strategies, the understanding of risks and risk perceptions connected with climate change mitigation and adaptation options, and the ethical and politico-economic aspects in the context of a just transition towards a sustainable future.
His areas of expertise include quantitative economic modeling as well as qualitative social science methods with a particular focus on mixed-methods approaches involving participatory processes. He studied economics and environmental system sciences at the University of Graz, Austria, and Uppsala University, Sweden.
Last update: 24 APR 2026
Publications
Scheifinger, K. , Brutschin, E. , Mintz-Woo, K. , Zimm, C. , Kikstra, J. , Rogelj, J. , Żebrowski, P. , Schinko, T. , Pachauri, S. , Sovacool, B., Fritz, L., & Riahi, K. (2026). Exploring patterns of distributional justice in global climate change mitigation scenarios. npj Climate Action 5 (1) e39. 10.1038/s44168-026-00364-4.
Calliari, E. , Dalla Fontana, M., Vink, H., Thaler, T. , Schinko, T. , & Boas, I. (2026). Planning for just relocations in Europe in times of climate change: a comparative study. Regional Environmental Change 26 (1) e29. 10.1007/s10113-026-02523-z.
Hoffmann, R., Patange, O. , Zimm, C. , Pachauri, S. , Belmin, C. , Pelz, S. , Brutschin, E. , Kikstra, J. , Kuhn, M., Min, J. , Muttarak, R. , Riahi, K. , Schinko, T. , & Mintz-Woo, K. (2025). Subnational survey data reveal persistent gaps in living standards across 75 low and middle-income countries. Nature Communications 16 (1) e4986. 10.1038/s41467-025-60195-5.
Scheifinger, K. , Brutschin, E. , Zimm, C. , Mintz-Woo, K. , Kikstra, J. , Pachauri, S. , Rogelj, J. , Riahi, K. , Żebrowski, P. , Sovacool, B., Schinko, T. , Low, S., & Fritz, L. (2025). Breaking Barriers with Patterns: New Tools for Integrating Distributional Justice into Global Mitigation Scenarios. DOI:10.5194/egusphere-egu25-12797. In: EGU General Assembly 2025, 27 April-02 May 2025, Vienna.
Folberth, C. , Sinabell, F., Schinko, T. , Hanger-Kopp, S., Lappöhn, S., Mitter, H., Sandén, T., & Süssenbacher, E. (2025). Integrating Global Comparability and National Specificity in Agricultural Sustainability Indicators Through Stakeholder‐Science Co‐Evaluation in Austria. Community Science 4 (1) e2024CSJ000092. 10.1029/2024CSJ000092.