Press releases

Halting, then reversing the ongoing loss of Earth’s plant and animal diversity requires far more than an expanded global system of protected areas of land and seas, scientists warn. What is needed, is successful, coordinated action across a diverse, interconnected set of transformative changes, including massive reductions in harmful agricultural and fishing subsidies, deep reductions in overconsumption, and holding climate change to 1.5°C.

The increasing amounts of municipal solid waste and ineffective waste management systems threaten the environment and contribute to climate warming, yet the waste sector is often neglected in discussions about climate change and air pollution. A new IIASA-led study shows, for the first time, how circular waste management systems can help to effectively curb emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants.

How effective is the promotion of low-meat diets at reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared to carbon pricing when the effectiveness of mitigation policies is measured against methane’s long-term behavior? An international team of researchers explored how focusing either on the short- or long-term warming effects of methane can affect climate mitigation policies and dietary transitions in agriculture.

Access to electricity and modern cooking fuels, especially for women in the Global South, leads to time savings in the home, improved health, and better access to information, which in turn increase the wellbeing of women and allow them to make informed reproductive choices, according to a new study just published in Nature Sustainability.

A project by researchers from Princeton University and IIASA investigated how different climate scenarios and policy interventions could affect smallholder farmers in Nepal who stand to lose up to a quarter of their income by 2050 due to the effects of climate change.

Climate change disproportionately affects the world’s most vulnerable populations. Not only are these effects compounding and magnifying existing inequalities, but the impacts will increase in severity over time, affecting both current and future generations. A new international study shows that the redistribution of revenues from a carbon tax can promote equity and protect marginalized populations.

Allowing global temperatures to rise beyond maximum thresholds and then trying to bring them back down again through mitigation strategies is risky. A new study by an international team of researchers explored the physical and macroeconomic impacts associated with mitigation pathways with different levels of temperature overshoot.

A new international study coordinated by IIASA shows how near-term mitigation can help to prevent an overshoot in global temperatures, thereby reducing climate risks and bringing long-term economic gains.

Monitoring progress on our way to successfully achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is key to their achievement, but there are significant data gaps that make this crucial exercise difficult. A new IIASA-led study explored the use of a citizen science tool known as Picture Pile to see how it could contribute to SDG monitoring.