Page - 2 - in options, Volume summer 2019

Contents FROM THE EDITOR This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. For any commercial use please contact: repository@iiasa.ac.at — ZVR 524808900 Welcome to the Summer 2019 edition of Options. In this edition, we once again highlight the work of IIASA researchers in many different fields and disciplines, where they continue to contribute to finding solutions to the challenges that society face today. Our cover feature delves into the many facets of food security from a systems perspective and explores how it impacts, and is in turn affected by factors like climate change and population trends (pages 12-15). In our National Member Organization section, the spotlight is on the institute’s long standing relationship with China (pages 24-25), while our Science into Policy section looks into the design of effective multi-objective policies (page 8). We also take a closer look at global financial risk and share insights from IIASA researchers who have been exploring systemic risk for over a decade (pages 14-15). We hope that you enjoy reading the articles in this issue. Please get in touch with us via email if you would like to share your comments or ideas for future issues. To update your subscription preferences or sign up to receive other IIASA publications please visit www.iiasa.ac.at/subscribe. ABOUT OPTIONS Philippa Baumgartner Communications Manager baumgartner@iiasa.ac.at OPTIONS IS ALSO AVAILABLE ONLINE WWW.IIASA.AC.AT/OPTIONS Options magazine features recent IIASA research and activities. Editorial team: Philippa Baumgartner, Nina Cabala, and Ansa Heyl Writers: Monika Bauer, Bettina Greenwell, Aisling Irwin, Katherine Leitzell, Natasha Little, Mauricio Antonio Lopes, Kerry Skyring, Jeremy Summers, Daisy Yuhas Expert reviewers: Markus Amann, Gloria Benedikt, Jesus Crespo Cuaresma, Sibel Eker, Stefan Frank, Stefan Hochrainer-Stigler, Lena Höglund Isaksson, Gregor Kiesewetter, Paul Natsuo Kishimoto, David Leclère, Yibo Luan, Alessio Mastrucci, Raya Muttarak, Shonali Pachauri, Amanda Palazzo, Piera Patrizio, Sebastian Poledna, Narasimha Rao, Keywan Riahi, Joeri Rogelj, Holger Rogner, Elena Rovenskaya, Nandita Saikia, Sergei Scherbov, Thomas Schinko, Anto Subash, Laixiang Sun, Stefan Thurner, Hugo Valin, Piero Visconti, Fabian Wagner Graphic design: Adam Islaam Cover: © Adam Islaam | IIASA Logoversion: CMYK plus Pantone 279 Logoversion: CMYK Logoversion: SW positiv Logoversion: SW negativ 03 20 26 20 26 21 22 23 08 24 25 31 NEWS IN BRIEF R EG I O NA L I M PAC T S : I I A SA C O R N E R : AFRICA MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR GENERAL AND CEO AMERICAS ASIA EUROPE SCIENCE INTO POLICY O P I N I O N: MAURICIO LOPES I N T E RV I E W: Q & A : WILLIAM NORDHAUS PAUL KISHIMOTO INTEGRATED THINKING Apart from climate change and pollution, human activities such as fishing and logging are also radically reducing the planet’s biodiversity, as revealed in the World Wildlife Fund’s latest Living Planet Report. Piero Visconti and David Leclère, both researchers with the Ecosystems Services and Management Program, joined scientists from 26 institutions to contribute to this document. “The report has a strong influence on the political agenda,” Leclère says. “It also garners attention from major media outlets around the world, which can help its message reach both companies and individual citizens.” Visconti authored a chapter exploring the metrics used to document changes in wildlife, while Leclère contributed to a chapter exploring the tradeoffs and synergies that could occur if governments pursue alternative policies to achieve climate change mitigation along with other major societal goals, such as protecting biodiversity, eradicating poverty, and ensuring food security. According to Visconti, IIASA is uniquely positioned to provide such analyses to the global community. “I don’t think this work would have been possible without IIASA. Usually, you have energy experts, biodiversity experts, or food security experts that work in silos,” he says. “In contrast, IIASA encourages researchers to think in a different way integrating models from across disciplines, which allows us to answer questions related to multiple, intertwined societal goals.” CLIMATE CORRECTIVES Beside their contributions to the influential global reports mentioned above, IIASA researchers created a comprehensive, publicly accessible database that allows people to explore scenarios to limit warming. This resource not only increases transparency, but also offers a tool for scientists and policymakers to understand the trade-offs and synergies between climate change mitigation and sustainable development. To date, hundreds of researchers have accessed the database online. IIASA researchers also employed it in their contribution to the annual UNEP Emissions Gap report, which compares where the world stands in terms of reducing emissions to where it should be, and explores methods to close the gap. Taking into account IIASA contributions to the global publications discussed above, Joeri Rogelj, a researcher with the IIASA Energy Program and an author of the IPCC report echoes Visconti’s sentiment, noting that unlike many institutions that are restricted in their specialization, IIASA connects the dots between communities, disciplines, and global societal goals. Keywan Riahi: riahi@iiasa.ac.at Gregor Kiesewetter: kiesewet@iiasa.ac.at Piero Visconti: visconti@iiasa.ac.at David Leclère: leclere@iiasa.ac.at Joeri Rogelj: rogelj@iiasa.ac.at Kiesewetter, published and incorporated Air (GAINS) determine to ultimately that responsible,” pollution of coal for direct future, associated scientists Gases air Further info: Hasegawa T, Fujimori S, Rogelj J, Shindell D, Jiang K, Fifita S, Forster P, Ginzburg V, Handa C, Kheshgi H, et al. (2018). Chapter 2: Mitigation pathways compatible with 1.5°C in the context of sustainable development. In: Global Warming of 1.5 °C: An IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. [pure.iiasa.ac.at/15515] Watts N, Amann M, Arnell N, Ayeb-Karlsson S, Belesova K, Berry H, Bouley T, Boykoff M, et al. (2018). The 2018 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: shaping the health of nations for centuries to come. The Lancet 392 (10163):2479-2514 [pure.iiasa.ac.at/15606] Barrett M, Belward A, Bladen S, Breeze T, Burgess N, Butchart S, Clewclow H, Cornell S, et al. (2018). Living Planet Report 2018: Aiming Higher. WWF, Glands, Switzerland. [pure.iiasa.ac.at/15549] Lederer G, Rogelj J, Den Elzen M, Kejun J, & Huppmann D (2018). Chapter 3: The Emissions Gap. In: Emissions Gap Report 2018. pp. 16-22 Nairobi: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). [pure.iiasa.ac.at/15597] www.iiasa.ac.at www.iiasa.ac.at12 13Options OptionsSummer 2019Summer 10 APPLIED SCIENCE WITH A GLOBAL REACH 16 FINANCIAL RISK IN THE SPOTLIGHT 12 A SYSTEMS LOOK AT HUNGER C OV E R F E AT U R E : 18 GLOBAL POWERHOUSE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES S P OT L I G H T: CHINA AND IIASA 27 29 30 INSTITUTE NEWS WHERE ARE THEY NOW PEOPLE PROFILES