Page - 11 - in options, Volume summer 2019

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 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 11OptionsSummer 2019