News: Risk & Resilience Program

Read the latest news on our research and activities.

Latest news

06 November 2020
Carbon pricing could prompt greener, smarter post-COVID recovery

Countries across the globe have been struggling to deal with the impact of COVID-19 and the accompanying economic slowdown. As economies “build back better”, it may be an opportune time to introduce carbon pricing to tackle climate change while generating socioeconomic benefits, according to new interdisciplinary policy research by philosophers and economists.  More

15 October 2020
UN General Assembly Side Meeting on risk informed Covid recovery

Risk and Resilience researcher John Handmer participated in the UN General Assembly Side Meeting on Disaster risk informed and resilient covid-19 recovery and took part in discussions on Understanding systematic risk for transformational social and economic policy.  More

10 August 2020
UNDRR/ISC Sendai Hazard Definition and Classification Review Technical Report

Risk and Resilience Senior Scientific Adviser John Handmer was part of a working group on the redefinition of hazards in line with the Sendai global disaster risk reduction agreement for the International Science Council (ISC) and UNDRR.  More

10 July 2020
New book looks at Disaster Risk Reduction from a multidisciplinary resilience perspective

A new book edited by IIASA guest researcher Muneta Yokomatsu and senior research scholar Stefan Hochrainer-Stigler from the Risk and Resilience Program looks at the many ways how the concept of resilience can be used for disaster risk management with a special emphasis on the four priorities for action of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.  More

06 July 2020
IDRiM Call for Abstracts extended to July 15th

The abstract submission deadline for the IDRiM Virtual Workshop has been extended to Wednesday, 15th July 2020. The workshop presents an opportunity for discussion and engagement for experienced scientists, experts and early-career researchers on Integrated Disaster Risk Management.  More

19 June 2020
Coronavirus: a wake-up call to strengthen the global food system

A new commentary in the journal One Earth highlights not only climate-related risks to the global food system, such as drought and floods, but also exposes the coronavirus pandemic as a shock to the system that has led to food crises in many parts of the world. To address the challenges of a globally interconnected food system, a systems approach is required.  More

27 May 2020
Science for Loss and Damage and Limits to Adaptation: New insights and ways forward

A new paper led byRisk &Resilience Program staff synthesizes recent scientific evidence on adaptation limits and points out ways forward for the climate policy debate on Loss and Damage.  More

27 January 2020
Sea level rise to cause major economic impact in the absence of further climate action

Rising sea levels, a direct impact of the Earth’s warming climate, is intensifying coastal flooding. The findings of a new study show that the projected negative economy-wide effects of coastal flooding are already significant until 2050, but are then predicted to increase substantially towards the end of the century if no further climate action on mitigation and adaptation is taken.  More

09 December 2019
Climate change and the threat to global breadbaskets

Extreme climatic conditions could lead to an increased risk of unusually low agricultural harvests if more than one global breadbasket is affected by adverse climate conditions at the same time. The findings of a new IIASA study show that these breadbaskets, the geographical areas responsible for growing much of the world’s food, are at risk to produce enough wheat, maize, and soybean, due to extreme temperatures.  More

12 August 2019
Mapping the effects of drought on vulnerable populations

The greater frequency of droughts, combined with underlying economic, social, and environmental risks means that dry spells have an increasingly destructive impact on vulnerable populations, and particularly on children in the developing world. In a new study by researchers from IIASA and the University of Maryland in the US, the team set out to map at-risk populations at the global scale.  More

06 June 2019
RISK researcher Thomas Schinko at #speakout festival and in ORF TV show "Thema"

On May 30, 2019 RISK researcher Thomas Schinko was an invited speaker at the #speakout festival in MuseumsQuartier in Vienna. The event provided a forum where not over, but with young people was spoken and where the young participants could talk about pressing issues, such as climate change. He also invited ORF reporters to observe a role-play simulation in Upper Austria.  More

11 March 2019
Hot or cold, rural residents more vulnerable to extreme temperatures

A study in China’s Zheijiang Province shows that people in China’s rural communities are more vulnerable to both hot and cold temperature extremes than people living in urban areas.  More

31 January 2019
IIASA Story of Cities since 2007

Michael Thompson, currently a Senior Research Scholar in the Risk & Resilience Program, presented the paper "Cities as forces for good in the environment: a systems approach" in an IIASA/OECD Task Force meeting on 29-30 January 2019.  More

24 October 2018
RISK and AFI at the Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2018

Mia Landauer (RISK and AFI) participated the Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2018 in October 12 in Rovaniemi, Finland.  More

22 October 2018
Heat supply for Baden without gas and oil - is that possible?

1st Design Thinking Process in Baden: How does the systematic phase-out of fossil fuel based heating in public buildings, single-family homes, rental apartments and companies succeed? On 18 and 19 October, 24 selected participants dealt with this question during a DesignThinking Workshop in Baden.  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

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

25 June 2018
Nadejda Komendantova gave a talk at the Economic Diplomacy and Connectivity workshop

IIASA researcher Dr. Nadejda Komendantova provided a talk on “Energy as an opportunity for economic connectivity” at the Economic Diplomacy and Connectivity workshop, which was jointly organized by the Energy Community Secretariat and OSCE on 25 June, 2018 in Vienna, Austria. The talk discussed the importance of de-risking approach in ensuring foreign direct investment, one of the major drivers of connectivity, into energy generation and transmission projects within the Eurasian Economic Union.  More

05 June 2018
Recent Publication by Jan Sendzimir

IIASA RISK Guest Research Scholar Jan Sendzimir and Prof. Stefan Schmutz, Head of theInstitute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management at BOKU, recently published "Riverine Ecosystem Management: Science for Governing Towards a Sustainable Future."  More

08 February 2018
2014 YSSPer Edoardo Borgomeo

Edoardo Borgomeo co-led the recent World Bank publication Beyond Scarcity: Water Security in the Middle East and North Africa. Below he shares what the study shows and how the YSSP contributed to his professional growth.  More

21 December 2017
IIASA Alumnus Norio Okada

Prof. Norio Okada was first at IIASA from 1978-1980 working on water resource development. He visited the institute to explore further collaborations with IIASA and the Risk and Resilience Program. Read more about his experiences over the last 40 years in below.  More

06 December 2017
2009 YSSPer Ikechukwu Umejesi

Former YSSPer Ike Umejesi recently visited IIASA to meet with his YSSP supervisor Mike Thompson. Below he writes about their current collaborations and life after the YSSP.  More

24 November 2017
Ecologies of Innovation: Ideas from European Forum Alpbach

A magazine published by the Austrian Academy of Sciences has brought out a new issue entitled “Ecologies of Innovation”–an interdisciplinary work inspired by discussions at the European Forum Alpbach 2016: New Enlightenment.  More

16 October 2017
45 years of risk research at IIASA

Joanne Linnerooth-Bayer started as a research assistant at IIASA in 1972 and today is the Risk and Resilience (RISK) Program Director and Dean of the YSSP. She shares her story as a risk researcher at IIASA over the last 45 years.  More

13 October 2017
Munich Climate Insurance Initiative (MCII) wins Momentum for Change Award

MCII has received the prestigious 2017 Momentum for Charge Award for its work on climate risk insurance in the Caribbean.  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 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

21 February 2017
Award for contribution to the field of disaster risk management

The Risk and Resilience Program is to receive an international award for its long-standing collaborations with the Disaster Prevention Research Institute in organizing annual conferences on integrated disaster risk management.  More



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Last edited: 27 May 2020

CONTACT DETAILS

Reinhard Mechler

Research Group Leader and Senior Research Scholar Systemic Risk and Resilience Research Group - Advancing Systems Analysis Program

Thomas Schinko

Research Group Leader and Senior Research Scholar Equity and Justice Research Group - Population and Just Societies Program

PUBLICATIONS

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313