News for journalists | 2018

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2018

17 December 2018
Changes in agriculture could cut sector non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions by up to 50%

The agricultural sector is the world’s largest source of non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions, and IIASA-led research has found that changing agricultural practices and a shift in diet away from meat and dairy products could reduce the sector’s emissions by up to 50% by 2050 compared to a situation without mitigation efforts.  More

07 December 2018
Disability among India’s elderly much higher than census estimates

New estimates of disability among India’s elderly population, based on the ability to carry out three basic living activities – walking, dressing, and toileting – show that the scale of the problem is much larger than suggested by the Indian national census.  More

30 November 2018
Holistic, network approach to life science needed to solve systemic environmental problems

Achieving a sustainable world will require a paradigm shift in the way we approach life sciences and ecology, according to a new book cowritten by IIASA researcher Brian Fath, with a focus on a holistic, multi-model view of life and the environment.  More

30 November 2018
European Commission long-term strategy on climate change underpinned by IIASA research

The European Commission has adopted a new long-term strategy, A Clean Planet for all, on how Europe can become climate neutral by 2050 and meet its Paris Agreement commitments, and IIASA research has contributed to the quantitative backbone.  More

29 November 2018
Climate change and air pollution damaging health and causing millions of premature deaths

IIASA researchers have contributed to a major new report in The Lancet medical journal looking at the effects of climate change on human health, and the implications for society.  More

27 November 2018
New UNEP report concludes nations must triple efforts to reach 2°C target

IIASA researchers Joeri Rogelj and Daniel Huppmann were among the contributors to the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP’s) 2018 Emissions Gap Report, which says that while it is still possible to keep global warming below 2°C, the nations of the world must triple their efforts to reduce emissions.  More

22 November 2018
Crowdsourced field data shows importance of smallholder farms to global food production

A new global field size data set collected as part of a crowdsourcing citizen science project by IIASA researchers has shown that the proportion of smallholder farms may be much larger than previously thought, contributing much more to global food production.  More

06 November 2018
New measure for the wellbeing of populations could replace Human Development Index

IIASA researchers have introduced a new, simple measure for human wellbeing across countries, called the Human Life Indicator (HLI), that takes inequality into account and could replace the commonly used but error-prone Human Development Index (HDI).  More

01 November 2018
Reducing US coal emissions through biomass and carbon capture would boost employment

Employing bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), would not only retain 40,000 jobs currently held as part of the US coal industry but would create 22,000 new jobs in the forestry and transportation sectors by the middle of this century, according to new IIASA-led research.  More

30 October 2018
Nothing natural about nature’s steep decline: WWF report reveals staggering extent of human impact on planet

Humanity and the way we feed, fuel and finance our societies and economies is pushing nature and the services that power and sustain us to the brink, according to WWF’s Living Planet Report 2018.  More

23 October 2018
For a lower climate footprint, vegetarian diet beats local

A new study provides a more comprehensive accounting of the greenhouse gas emissions from EU diets. It shows that meat and dairy products are responsible for the lion’s share of greenhouse emissions from the EU diet.  More

22 October 2018
Financial and non-financial firms need the same strong regulations to protect economies

Researchers at IIASA and the Complexity Science Hub, Vienna, have discovered that non-financial firms, such as vehicle manufacturers and energy companies, contribute to systemic risk in financial systems in the same way as financial institutions like banks, and as such, should be regulated in the same way.  More

15 October 2018
New interactive scenario explorer for 1.5°C pathways

IIASA and the Integrated Assessment Modeling Consortium (IAMC) have made the scenarios underlying last week’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 1.5°C Special Report publicly available, in an interactive online resource. The resource provides scenarios and a suite of visualization and analysis tools, making the assessment more transparent to researchers, policymakers, and the public.  More

12 October 2018
Innovative tool allows continental-scale water, energy, and land system modeling

A new large-scale hydroeconomic model, developed by a team at IIASA, will allow researchers to study water systems across whole continents, looking at sustainability of supply and the impacts of water management on the energy and agricultural sectors.  More

09 October 2018
IIASA contributes to IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has published its Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C, a new assessment on minimizing global warming, and multiple IIASA researchers were involved in its production.  More

28 September 2018
New book looks at dealing with critical risks from climate change beyond adaptation limits

A new book edited by researchers at IIASA, the London School of Economics (LSE) and Deltares looks at the research, political debate and policy options surrounding the impacts of climate change which may be irreversible and beyond physical and social adaptation limits, known as Loss and Damage.  More

19 September 2018
Reduction of soil microbes limit feedbacks in a warming climate

Soil microbes get more active in warmer temperatures, causing increased CO2 emissions. But a new study shows that in prolonged warming, the amount of microbial biomass decreases, balancing the effect.  More

17 September 2018
Paris climate targets could be exceeded sooner than expected

A new study has for the first time comprehensively accounted for permafrost carbon release when estimating emission budgets for climate targets. The results show that the world might be closer to exceeding the budget for the long-term target of the Paris climate agreement than previously thought.  More

14 September 2018
China’s energy policies: A balancing act between air quality, carbon emissions, and water scarcity goals

China is attempting a shift from coal to natural gas in an effort to address the country’s severe air pollution. A new study shows that although such a switch generally has benefits for air quality, carbon mitigation, and water stress, some options may in fact increase carbon emissions and water consumption.  More

14 September 2018
Novel framework to address uncertainty in water management

IIASA researchers have developed a general decision-making framework to support policy decisions on the management of water resources, which, for the first time, explicitly takes into account the associated uncertainties.  More

03 September 2018
IIASA and the University of Koblenz-Landau sign partnership agreement

The University of Koblenz-Landau and IIASA have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a strategic partnership to advance systems analysis and systems thinking in education, research, and knowledge transfer internationally.  More

28 August 2018
Remote islands harbor higher numbers of non-native species

Numbers of native species on islands decrease with greater remoteness, while the numbers of non-native species on islands increase, according to an international research team including IIASA researcher Florian Hofhansl.  More

01 August 2018
India needs ‘giant leap’ to meet 2030 targets in reducing child mortality rates

IIASA researchers have found that almost half of the districts in India are not on track to reduce the mortality rates of newborns and meet the target set out under Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) for 2030, while a third will not meet the target for under-five mortality rates.  More

31 July 2018
Diversity and education influence India’s population growth

Differences within India’s population influence population projections for years to come, according to research conducted by IIASA and the Asian Demographic Research Institute. This information could help India and its workforce to catch up to more developed Asian countries with higher GDP per capita.  More

30 July 2018
Climate taxes on agriculture could lead to more food insecurity than climate change itself

New IIASA-led research has found that a single climate mitigation scheme applied to all sectors, such as a global carbon tax, could have a serious impact on agriculture and result in far more widespread hunger and food insecurity than the direct impacts of climate change. Smarter, inclusive policies are necessary instead.  More

26 July 2018
Wada wins early career award in hydrologic sciences

Yoshihide Wada, IIASA Water Program deputy director, has won the 2018 Hydrologic Sciences Early Career Award for his outstanding work in hydrologic science, presented by the American Geophysical Union.  More

26 July 2018
IIASA researchers help EU states to assess forestry’s role in achieving climate commitments

IIASA researchers have led the development of new guidance for EU member states estimating greenhouse gas emissions and removals from their forests and developing plans to show how they will account for these emissions and removals in the future.  More

16 July 2018
Behavior-influencing policies are critical for mass market success of low carbon vehicles

Policies to entice consumers away from fossil-fuel powered vehicles and normalize low carbon, alternative-fuel alternatives, such as electric vehicles, are vital if the world is to significantly reduce transport sector carbon emissions, according to new research.  More

10 July 2018
Six transformations needed to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals: major report launched

The World in 2050 (TWI2050) initiative has launched a new report, setting out six key transformations that will enable the world to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  More

09 July 2018
Brazil’s Forest Code can balance the needs of agriculture and the environment

If fully implemented, Brazil’s Forest Code, an environmental law designed to protect the country’s native vegetation and regulate land use, will not prevent growth in Brazilian agriculture, according to new IIASA-led research.  More

05 July 2018
Biorefineries will have only minimal effects on wood products and feedstocks markets

A new report from researchers from IIASA, Luleå University of Technology (LTU), and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden has shown that more biorefineries, which produce biobased fuels and chemicals, will have only a small effect on the availability and pricing of wood products and feedstocks.  More

03 July 2018
Flood Resilience Alliance in five-year extension will focus on US$1 billion increase in investments

Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) announced today that after five successful years its Flood Resilience Alliance (the Alliance) will be extended until 2023.  More

27 June 2018
South African University Vice Chancellor to lead global research institute

Vice Chancellor of South Africa’s University of KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Albert S. van Jaarsveld, has been appointed as Director General and CEO of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria, starting on 1 October 2018.  More

26 June 2018
Pavel Kabat receives Austrian Cross of Honor

IIASA Director General and CEO Professor Dr. Pavel Kabat has been awarded Austria’s highest honor for services to science.  More

25 June 2018
Clean power is not enough: More action in other sectors needed to meet Paris targets

CO2 emissions from non-electricity energy uses, such as industry, transport, and heating, are the greatest impediment to meeting the Paris climate targets, according to new research from an international team of scientists.  More

22 June 2018
UK weight misperception highest among overweight and obese, influenced by socioeconomic factors

A new study reveals that overweight and obese adults in the UK are more likely to underestimate their weight status and less likely to try to lose weight, especially among lower-income, lower-education, and minority groups.  More

18 June 2018
Meeting Paris climate targets will require a substantial reallocation of global investment

A new analysis by an international team of scientists led by IIASA shows that low carbon investments will need to markedly increase if the world is to achieve the Paris Agreement aim of keeping global warming well below 2°C.  More

08 June 2018
Citizen scientists across Europe can help monitor land-use change with new FotoQuest Go app

An expanded FotoQuest Go app, developed by IIASA researchers, launches today, and as well as now covering the whole of the EU rather than just Austria, it will have some other exciting new features.  More

04 June 2018
Global warming can be limited to 1.5°C by transforming how we move around, heat our homes, and use devices

Global warming can be limited to 1.5°C by unprecedented improvements in the energy efficiency of everyday activities, according to new research from an international team of scientists at IIASA.  More

04 June 2018
NTNU and IIASA tighten collaboration on climate research in world leading network

Volker Krey has been appointed as an adjunct professor in the Industrial Ecology (IndEcol) Programme and will join the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Energy Transition initiative, strengthening the scientific ties between the two institutions.  More

23 May 2018
New papers highlight economic benefits of European-Eurasian economic ties

A IIASA-led project looking at economic ties between the European Union (EU) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) has published three new reports offering recommendations to improve economic cooperation despite ongoing political cool-down.  More

16 May 2018
Global temperature rise of 2°C doubles the population exposed to multiple climate risks compared to a 1.5°C rise

New research identifying climate vulnerability hotspots has found that the number of people affected by multiple climate change risks could double if the global temperature rises by 2°C, compared to a rise of 1.5°C.  More

15 May 2018
Gender discrimination results in the deaths of extra 239,000 girls per year in India

A new study has found that there is an average of 239,000 excess deaths per year of girls under the age of five in India, or 2.4 million in a decade, and excess female child mortality is found in 90% of districts in the country.  More

26 April 2018
16 banks and United Nations produce first guidance to help banking industry become more transparent on climate-related risks and opportunities

Sixteen leading banks from four continents, convened by the UN Environment Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), today published a jointly developed methodology to increase banks’ understanding of how climate change and climate action could impact their business.  More

18 April 2018
New book looks at the future of population and migration

A new book from IIASA and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) examines potential future scenarios on population trends across the world, taking into account migration, fertility, mortality, education, and labor force participation.  More

16 April 2018
Education, not income, the best predictor of a long life

Rising income and the subsequent improved standards of living have long been thought to be the most important factors contributing to a long and healthy life. However, new research from Wolfgang Lutz and Endale Kebede, from IIASA and the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU) has shown that instead, the level of education a person has is a much better predictor of life expectancy.  More

20 March 2018
Achieving healthy, climate-friendly, affordable diets in India

New research led by IIASA researcher Narasimha Rao has shown how it might be possible to reduce micronutrient deficiencies in India in an affordable way whilst also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  More

05 March 2018
Models show how to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C

There are several ways to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C by 2100, and new research led by IIASA researcher Joeri Rogelj shows under what conditions this could happen.  More

26 February 2018
Ethane and propane emissions have been underestimated

Emissions of ethane and propane have traditionally been underestimated by more than 50% in national emission inventories, and revision is needed, according to new research.  More

20 February 2018
Sea levels will rise 20 cm more by 2300 for each 5-year delay in peak emissions

Ensuring that global CO2 emissions peak as soon as possible is crucial for limiting sea-level rises, even if global warming is limited to well below 2°C. A new study involving IIASA research has now estimated how much sea levels will rise as a result of peak emission delays.  More

08 February 2018
Removing fossil fuel subsidies will not reduce CO2 emissions as much as hoped

Removing fossil fuel subsidies would have only a small effect on CO2 emissions and renewable energy use, new research has shown. The largest emissions savings would be in oil and gas exporting countries, where fewer poor people would be affected, and subsidy removal can be aided by currently low oil prices.  More

12 January 2018
Thinking outside the box on climate mitigation

A new article lays the groundwork for alternative climate mitigation scenarios that place less reliance on unproven negative emissions technologies in the future.  More

2017

02 October 2017
Win-win strategies for climate and food security

Efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture and forestry sectors could lead to increased food prices—but new research identifies strategies that could help mitigate climate change while avoiding steep hikes in food prices.  More

26 September 2017
Land, forest, and cropland data now available

Three new data sets, developed with input from citizen scientists and the IIASA scientific network, have been fully documented and published in a new Nature open access journal.  More

19 September 2017
Citizen science targets land-use change in Austria

FotoQuest GO—a citizen science campaign aimed at collecting observations of land use and land cover across Austria—launches this week. Researchers hope it will bring a leap forward in community-based land-use change monitoring.  More

18 September 2017
5,000 deaths annually from dieselgate in Europe

Excess emissions from diesel cars cause about 5,000 premature deaths annually across Europe, a new study shows.  More

18 September 2017
New hopes for limiting warming to 1.5°C

Significant emission reductions are required if we are to achieve one of the key goals of the Paris Agreement, and limit the increase in global average temperatures to 1.5°C, a new study warns.  More

21 August 2017
Before the flood: What drives preparedness?

More targeted efforts are needed from both the public and private insurance sectors in order to encourage people to take action to reduce their risk of flood damage, according to a new study of three European countries.  More

27 June 2017
Safeguarding sustainability through forest certification mapping

How can we ensure forest protection and sustainable forest biomass production at the same time? A first-ever global map of certified forest areas, based on a participatory and collaborative mapping approach, contributes to the answer.  More

22 June 2017
Mathematical confirmation: Rewiring financial networks reduces systemic risk

A proposed tax on systemically risky financial transactions could reduce the risk of financial system crashes by spurring financial networks to reshape in more resilient ways.  More

21 June 2017
An end to population aging in China, Germany, USA

New measures of aging, combined with UN population projections, show that population aging is likely to end before 2100 in China, Germany, and the USA.  More

15 June 2017
Water management interventions push scarcity downstream

Human interventions to harness water resources, such as reservoirs, dams, and irrigation measures, have increased water availability for much of the global population, but at the same time, swept water scarcity problems downstream.  More

12 June 2017
Optimal harvests without top-down planning

From the air, Bali’s rice terraces look like colorful mosaics, because farmers plant their fields at different times. A new study shows that the resulting fractal patterns actually lead to optimal harvests, without overarching management.  More

06 June 2017
Ambiguous pledges leave large uncertainty under Paris climate agreement

Emission reduction pledges made by individual countries under the Paris Agreement leave a wide range of possible climate outcomes, according to new research. Without stronger pledges, the study shows, the climate goals may not be possible to achieve.  More

15 May 2017
Excess diesel emissions bring global health and environmental impacts

Excess NOx emissions from diesel engines have been linked to approximately 38,000 premature deaths worldwide in 2015—mostly in the European Union, China, and India.  More

11 May 2017
Vienna Energy Forum to contribute to successful implementation of SDGs and Paris Agreement

The discussion at this year’s Vienna Energy Forum served as an important contribution to the debate and review of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris climate agreement and their successful implementation, said participants at the event taking place in the capital of Austria.  More

10 May 2017
Acting now on climate could bring multiple benefits for sustainable development

Fast action on near-term warming will provide many potential benefits to achieving the global Sustainable Development Goal, according to new research from scientists at IIASA, in the USA and Europe.  More

28 April 2017
Citizen science campaign to aid disaster response

For the next few weeks researchers are testing a new system to aid disaster damage mapping, providing much-needed real-time data to help communities recover and rebuild after disaster.  More

27 April 2017
Synthetic gas would cut air pollution but worsen climate damage in China

For China, synthetic natural gas represents a trade-off between reducing air pollution, but increasing greenhouse gas emissions, according to new IIASA research conducted in collaboration with scientists in China and the USA.  More

13 April 2017
Next ten years critical for achieving climate change goals

In order to have a good chance of meeting the limits set by the Paris Agreement, it will be necessary to both reduce greenhouse gas emissions while preserving carbon sinks, with net emissions peaking in the next ten years, according to a new study.  More

07 April 2017
New ERC grant to explore human wellbeing as criterion for sustainable development

IIASA World Population Program Director Wolfgang Lutz has received a new grant from the European Research Council. Lutz is scientific director of the Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), and professor of applied statistics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU). These institutions are part of the Wittgenstein Center, which Lutz leads.  More

05 April 2017
Small and medium farms are essential to sustain quality of global food supply

Small and medium farms produce more than half of the food globally, and produce the vast majority of food and nutrients in low income countries, according to a new study that maps global nutrient production from farms worldwide.  More

05 April 2017
Wealth, culture, and cost affect household appliance purchases

As incomes rise, people buy more big appliances like washing machines, refrigerators, and televisions. But the link between income and appliance ownership is more complicated than is assumed.  More

29 March 2017
Global food supply at risk from agricultural misuse of nonrenewable water

The rising use of unsustainable water supplies by international food producers is putting global food and water supplies at risk and could cause basic food prices to skyrocket, suggests a new study from international researchers.  More

27 March 2017
New international banking rules would not prevent another financial crisis

The Basel III regulatory framework, as planned, will not reduce systemic risk in the financial sector, according to new research. Instead, regulations should aim to increase the resilience of financial networks.  More

09 March 2017
Investment key in adapting to climate change in West Africa

Climate change will likely have negative impacts on food production in West Africa, but a new study provides insights on how strategic planning by decision makers could ease or exacerbate food security challenges in the region.  More

07 March 2017
Traveling droughts bring new possibilities for prediction

Droughts can travel hundreds to thousands of kilometers from where they started, like a slow-moving hurricane. A new study sheds light on how these droughts evolve in space and time, bringing vital new insight for water managers.  More

06 March 2017
How nature creates forest diversity

Forest ecologists have long sought to understand why so many different species of trees can coexist in the same niche. A modeling study is now providing clues.  More

01 March 2017
Climate research needs greater focus on human populations

How climate change will affect future populations will depend to a great extent on people’s capacity to adapt to changing conditions. Such characteristics can be forecast in the long term, using well-established demographic methods, say IIASA researchers.  More

16 February 2017
Preferential trade agreements enhance global trade at the expense of its resilience

The global commodity trade is a complex system where its network structure, which may arise from bilateral and multilateral agreements, affects its growth and resilience. At time of economic shocks, redundancy in this system is vital to the resilience of growth.  More

13 February 2017
Living standards lag behind economic growth

Even as average incomes rise in developing countries, access to sanitation and clean energy have yet to reach the poorest people, a new study shows. But there is room for optimism.  More

03 February 2017
Study traces black carbon sources in the Russian Arctic

Transport and residential heating could be responsible for a greater contribution of black carbon in the Russian Arctic compared to gas flaring or power plants, according to new research.  More

01 February 2017
Oil production releases more methane than previously thought

Emissions of methane and ethane from oil production have been substantially higher than previously estimated, particularly before 2005.  More

16 January 2017
Trade-offs between economic growth and deforestation

In many developing countries, economic growth and deforestation seem to go hand in hand—but the links are not well understood. In a new study, researchers use an innovative methodology to quantify the relationship.  More

13 January 2017
Bioenergy policy with forest protection better for climate mitigation

Greenhouse gas emissions from the land-use sector will be lower if the rising demand for bioenergy is met with worldwide protection for areas important for biodiversity and carbon storage.  More

11 January 2017
Grasslands hold potential for increased food production

Managing grazing on grasslands in a more efficient way could significantly increase global milk and meat production or free up land for other uses.  More

09 January 2017
Tool helps cities to plan electric bus routes, and calculate the benefits

An IIASA model helped inform a new tool for cities to optimize electric bus systems, which has now been used in Sweden’s first wireless charging bus system, launched in December.  More

09 January 2017
Changing rainfall patterns linked to water security in India

Changes in precipitation, which are linked to the warming of the Indian Ocean, are the main reason for recent changes in groundwater storage in India.  More


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Last edited: 23 January 2019

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