Thomas Schinko

Thomas Schinko joined the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) as a research scholar in 2014. Currently, he is Research Group Leader of the Equity and Justice (EQU) Research Group within the Population and Just Societies (POPJUS) Program at IIASA. He studied economics and environmental system sciences at the University of Graz, Austria and Uppsala University, Sweden.

Dr. Schinko's main research interests at IIASA fall into the areas of comprehensive climate risk management and just transitions. He focuses on the assessment of socio-economic impacts of climate related risks and their distributional effects, the identification of just and inclusive climate risk management strategies, the understanding of risks and risk perceptions connected with climate change mitigation and adaptation options, and the ethical and politico-economic aspects in the context of a Just Transition towards a sustainable future.

Dr. Schinko's areas of expertise include quantitative economic modeling as well as qualitative social science methods with a particular focus on participatory processes and action research. He has published in major international peer reviewed journals such as Science, Nature Climate Change and Nature Sustainability.




Last update: 16 MAR 2021

Hanger-Kopp, S., Thaler, T., Seebauer, S., Schinko, T. , & Clar, C. (2022). Defining and operationalizing path dependency for the development and monitoring of adaptation pathways. Global Environmental Change 72, e102425. 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102425.

Hochrainer-Stigler, S., Schinko, T. , Hof, A., & Ward, P.J. (2021). Adaptive risk management strategies for governments under future climate and socioeconomic change: An application to riverine flood risk at the global level. Environmental Science & Policy 125, 10-20. 10.1016/j.envsci.2021.08.010.

Schinko, T. (2021). Fostering social learning through role-play simulations to operationalize comprehensive climate risk management. In: Evidence for Action 2021 Symposium.

Irshaid, J., Mochizuki, J. , & Schinko, T. (2021). Challenges to local innovation and implementation of low-carbon energy-transition measures: A tale of two Austrian regions. Energy Policy 156, p. 112432. 10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112432.

Mechler, R. , Stevance, A.-S., Deubelli, T. , Scolobig, A., Linnerooth-Bayer, J., Handmer, J., Irshaid, J., McBean, G., Zapata-Marti, R., Gordon, M., Ivanova, M., Srivastava, L., Gomez Echeverri, L., Hochrainer-Stigler, S., Schinko, T. , & Olukoshi, A. (2021). Transformations within reach: Pathways to a sustainable and resilient world - Enhancing Governance for Sustainability. IIASA Report. IIASA-ISC

Mechler, R. , Schinko, T. , Hanke, N., Baldrich, R., Frey, L., Högl, M., Petersen, A.-K., & Siebert, M. (2021). Integrating slow onset processes into climate risk management. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

SDG7 Technical Advisory Group, (2021). Leveraging Energy Action for Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals: Policy Briefs in Support of the High-Level Political Forum. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA)

Handmer, J., Hochrainer-Stigler, S., Schinko, T. , Gaupp, F., & Mechler, R. (2020). The Australian wildfires from a systems dependency perspective. Environmental Research Letters 15 (12), e121001. 10.1088/1748-9326/abc0bc.

Mintz-Woo, K. , Dennig, F., Liu, H., & Schinko, T. (2020). Carbon Pricing and COVID-19. Climate Policy, 1-10. 10.1080/14693062.2020.1831432.

Schrot, O., Krimm, H., & Schinko, T. (2020). Enabling Early Career Sustainability Researchers to Conduct Transdisciplinary Research: Insights from Austria. Challenges in Sustainability 8 (1) 10.12924/cis2020.08010030.

Leitner, M., Babcicky, P., Schinko, T. , & Glas, N. (2020). The status of climate risk management in Austria. Assessing the governance landscape and proposing ways forward for comprehensively managing flood and drought risk. Climate Risk Management 30, e100246. 10.1016/j.crm.2020.100246.

Mechler, R. , Stevance, A.-S., Deubelli, T. , Linnerooth-Bayer, J., Scolobig, A., Irshaid, J., Handmer, J., Hochrainer-Stigler, S., & Schinko, T. (2020). Bouncing Forward Sustainably: Pathways to a post-COVID World. Governance for Sustainability. IIASA-ISC

Mechler, R. , Singh, C., Ebi, K., Djalante, R., Thomas, A., James, R., Tschakert, P., Wewerinke-Singh, M., Schinko, T. , Ley, D., Nalau, J., Bouwer, L. M., Huggel, C., Huq, S., Linnerooth-Bayer, J., Surminski, S., Pinho, P., Jones, R., Boyd, E., & Revi, A. (2020). Loss and Damage and limits to adaptation: recent IPCC insights and implications for climate science and policy. Sustainability Science 10.1007/s11625-020-00807-9.

Schinko, T. , Drouet, L., Vrontisi, Z., Hof, A.F., Hinkel, J., Mochizuki, J. , Bosetti, V., Fragkiadakis, K., Van Vuuren, D., & Lincke, D. (2020). Economy-wide effects of coastal flooding due to sea level rise: A multi-model simultaneous treatment of mitigation, adaptation, and residual impacts. Environmental Research Communications 2 (1), e015002. 10.1088/2515-7620/ab6368.

Schinko, T. (2020). Overcoming Political Climate-Change Apathy in the Era of #FridaysForFuture. One Earth 2 (1), 20-23. 10.1016/j.oneear.2019.12.012.

Schinko, T. , Bednar-Friedl, B., Truger, B., Bramreiter, R., Komendantova, N. , & Hartner, M. (2020). Economy-wide benefits and costs of local-level energy transition in Austrian Climate and Energy Model Regions. Graz Economics Papers, University of Graz, Department of Economics

Rovenskaya, E. , Aghababaei Samani, K., Baklanov, A. , Ermolieva, T., Folberth, C. , Fritz, S., Hadi, H., Javalera Rincón, V. , Krasovskii, A. , Laurien, F. , Poblete Cazenave, M., Schinko, T. , Smilovic, M. , & Zebrowski, P. (2019). Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Systems Analysis of the 21st Century. IIASA Working Paper. Laxenburg, Austria: WP-19-010

Mechler, R. , Schinko, T. , Awasthi, K., Bhatt, S., Chaturvedi, A., Toast, J., Ederer, W., Gupta, A., Singh, M., Malik, S., Rao, V., Sen, S., & Sahany, S. (2019). Climate Risk Management [CRM] Framework for India: Addressing Loss and Damage (L&D). National Institute Of Disaster Management (NIDM)

Leitner., M., Glas, N., Babcicky, P., & Schinko, T. (2019). Klimarisikomanagement (KRM) in Österreich: Bestandsaufnahme der Stakeholder-Landschaft und der Governance-Strukturen für die Klimarisiken Hochwasser & Trockenheit/Dürre. RESPECT Working Paper No.1. Umweltbundesamt, Wegener Zentrum für Klima- und globalen Wandel (Universität Graz), IIASA

Sieg, T., Schinko, T. , Vogel, K., Mechler, R. , Merz, B., & Kreibich, H. (2019). Integrated assessment of short-term direct and indirect economic flood impacts including uncertainty quantification. PLoS ONE 14 (4), e0212932. 10.1371/journal.pone.0212932.

Komendantova, N. , Schinko, T. , & Patt, A. (2019). De-risking policies as a substantial determinant of climate change mitigation costs in developing countries: Case study of the Middle East and North African region. Energy Policy 127, 404-411. 10.1016/j.enpol.2018.12.023.

Schinko, T. , Bohm, S., Komendantova, N. , Jamea, El M., & Blohm, M. (2019). Morocco’s sustainable energy transition and the role of financing costs: a participatory electricity system modeling approach. Energy, Sustainability and Society 9 (1), 1-17. 10.1186/s13705-018-0186-8.

Lintschnig, M., Schinko, T. , Ortner, S., Kienberger, S, Leitner, M., & Glas, N. (2019). Rollen und Verantwortlichkeiten im lokalen Klimarisikomanagement. Handbuch zum Rollenspiel-Workshop Klimarisikomanagement. Graz, Austria: Wegener Center Verlag. ISBN 978-3-9504501-9-4

Mochizuki, J. , Schinko, T. , & Hochrainer-Stigler, S. (2018). Mainstreaming of climate extreme risk into fiscal and budgetary planning: application of stochastic debt and disaster fund analysis in Austria. Regional Environmental Change 18 (7), 2161-2172. 10.1007/s10113-018-1300-3.

Greve, P., Kahil, T. , Mochizuki, J. , Schinko, T. , Satoh, Y., Burek, P. , Fischer, G., Tramberend, S. , Burtscher, R. , Langan, S. , & Wada, Y. (2018). Global assessment of water challenges under uncertainty in water scarcity projections. Nature Sustainability 1, 486-494. 10.1038/s41893-018-0134-9.

Mochizuki, J. , Schinko, T. , Magnuszewski, P., Pajak, M., Bednar-Friedl, B., & Irshaid, J. (2018). Addressing energy transition gaps in climate and energy model regions of Austria through policy co-design. In: 19. Österreichischer Klimatag, 23 –25 April 2018, Salzburg, Austria.

Schinko, T. , Babcicky, P., Glas, N., Kabas, T., Kienberger, S., Leis, L., Lintschnig, M., Leitner, M., Mechler, R. , Ortner, S., & Zeil, P. (2018). Responsibility & Risk: Operationalizing comprehensive climate risk layering in Austria among multiple actors (RESPECT). In: 19. Österreichischer Klimatag, 23 –25 April 2018, Salzburg, Austria.

Schinko, T. , Mochizuki, J. , & Hochrainer-Stigler, S. (2018). Mainstreaming of Climate Extreme Risk into Fiscal and Budgetary Planning. In: 19. Österreichischer Klimatag, 23 –25 April 2018, Salzburg, Austria.

Mechler, R. , Calliari, E., Bouwer, L., Schinko, T. , Surminski, S., Linnerooth-Bayer, J., Aerts, J., Botzen, W., Boyd, E., Deckard, N., Fuglestvedt, J.S., González-Eguino, M., Haasnoot, M., Handmer, J., Haque, M., Heslin, A., Hochrainer-Stigler, S., Huggel, C., Huq, S., James, R., Jones, R.G., Juhola, S., Keating, A., Kienberger, S., Kreft, S., Kuik, O., Landauer, M., Laurien, F. , Lawrence, J., Lopez, A., Liu, W. , Magnuszewski, P., Markandya, A., Mayer, B., McCallum, I. , McQuistan, C., Meyer, L., Mintz-Woo, K. , Montero-Colbert, A., Mysiak, J., Nalau, J., Noy, I., Oakes, R., Otto, F.E.L., Pervin, M., Roberts, E., Schäfer, L., Scussolini, P., Serdeczny, O., de Sherbinin, A., Simlinger, F., Sitati, A., Sultana, S., Young, H.R., van der Geest, K., van den Homberg, M., Wallimann-Helmer, I., Warner, K., & Zommers, Z. (2018). Science for Loss and Damage. Findings and Propositions. In: Loss and Damage from Climate Change. Eds. Mechler, R. , Bouwer, L., Schinko, T. , Surminski, S., & Linnerooth-Bayer, J., pp. 3-37 Cham, Switzerland: Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-72025-810.1007/978-3-319-72026-5_1.

Mechler, R. , McQuistan, C., McCallum, I. , Liu, W. , Keating, A., Magnuszewski, P., Schinko, T. , Laurien, F. , & Hochrainer-Stigler, S. (2018). Supporting Climate Risk Management at Scale. Insights from the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance Partnership Model Applied in Peru & Nepal. In: Loss and Damage from Climate Change. Eds. Mechler, R. , Bouwer, L., Schinko, T. , Surminski, S., & Linnerooth-Bayer, J., pp. 393-424 Cham, Switzerland: Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-72025-810.1007/978-3-319-72026-5_17.

Schinko, T. , Mechler, R. , & Hochrainer-Stigler, S. (2018). The Risk and Policy Space for Loss and Damage: Integrating Notions of Distributive and Compensatory Justice with Comprehensive Climate Risk Management. In: Loss and Damage from Climate Change. Eds. Mechler, R. , Bouwer, L., Schinko, T. , Surminski, S., & Linnerooth-Bayer, J., pp. 83-110 Cham, Switzerland: Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-72025-810.1007/978-3-319-72026-5_4.

Wallimann-Helmer, I., Meyer, L., Mintz-Woo, K. , Schinko, T. , & Serdeczny, O. (2018). The Ethical Challenges in the Context of Climate Loss and Damage. In: Loss and Damage from Climate Change. Eds. Mechler, R. , Bouwer, L., Schinko, T. , Surminski, S., & Linnerooth-Bayer, J., pp. 39-62 Cham, Switzerland: Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-72025-810.1007/978-3-319-72026-5_2.

Schinko, T. & Mechler, R. (2017). Applying Recent Insights From Climate Risk Management to Operationalize the Loss and Damage Mechanism. Ecological Economics 136, 296-298. 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.02.008.

Greve, P., Kahil, T. , Schinko, T. , Mochizuki, J. , Satoh, Y., Burek, P. , Burtscher, R. , Langan, S. , Byers, E. , Florke, M., Eisner, S., Hanasaki, N., & Wada, Y. (2017). Global assessment of water policy vulnerability under uncertainty in water scarcity projections. In: European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2017, 23–28 April 2017, Vienna, Austria.

Nabernegg, S., Bednar-Friedl, B., Wagner, F. , Schinko, T. , Cofala, J., & Clement, Y.M. (2017). The Deployment of Low Carbon Technologies in Energy Intensive Industries: A Macroeconomic Analysis for Europe, China and India. Energies 10 (3), p. 360. 10.3390/en10030360.

Schinko, T. , Bachner, G., Schleicher, S., & Steinigner, K.W. (2017). Modeling for insights not numbers: The long-term low-carbon transformation. Atmósfera 30 (1), 137-161. 10.20937/ATM.2017.30.02.05.

Mechler, R. & Schinko, T. (2017). Climate risk analysis for identifying the policy space for loss and damage. In: IIASA Institutional Evaluation 2017, 27 February-1 March 2017, IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria.

Schinko, T. , Borgomeo, E., Dufva, M., Figge, L., & Schipfer, F. (2017). Re-shaping Sustainability Science for the 21st Century: Young Scientists’ Perspectives. IIASA Working Paper. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: WP-17-001

Truger, B., Bramreiter, R., Schinko, T. , Bednar-Friedl, B., Riegler, M., & Komendantova, N. (2016). Scoping study on the history and current context of Climate and Energy Model Regions. LINKS Working Paper 2.1, IIASA, Links, Wegener Center, Klima Energie Fonds

Mechler, R. & Schinko, T. (2016). Identifying the policy space for climate loss and damage. Science 354 (6310), 290-292. 10.1126/science.aag2514.

Schinko, T. & Komendantova, N. (2016). De-risking investment into concentrated solar power in North Africa: Impacts on the costs of electricity generation. Renewable Energy 92, 262-272. 10.1016/j.renene.2016.02.009.

Mochizuki, J. , Mechler, R. , Hochrainer-Stigler, S., & Schinko, T. (2016). Pan-European Assessment of Fiscal Consequence of Climate Extremes. ECONADAPT Deliverable 5.2.

Bramreiter, R., Truger, B., Schinko, T. , & Bednar-Friedl, B. (2016). Identification of economic and energy framework conditions of the Austrian climate and energy model regions. LINKS Working Paper 1.1, IIASA, Links, Wegener Center, Klima Energie Fonds

Steininger, K.W., Lininger, C., Meyer, L.H., Munoz, P., & Schinko, T. (2016). Multiple carbon accounting to support just and effective climate policies. Nature Climate Change 6 (1), 35-41. 10.1038/nclimate2867.

Schinko, T. , Mechler, R. , & Hochrainer-Stigler, S. (2016). A methodological framework to operationalize Climate Risk Management: Managing sovereign climate-related extreme event risk in Austria. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 1-24. 10.1007/s11027-016-9713-0.

Steininger, K.W. & Schinko, T. (2016). Environmental Policy in an Open Economy: Refocusing Climate Policy to Address International Trade Spillovers. In: Dynamic Approaches to Global Economic Challenges: Festschrift in Honor of Karl Farmer. Eds. Bednar-Friedl, Birgit & Kleinert, Jörn, pp. 171-190 Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. ISBN 978-3-319-23324-6

Schinko, T. , Borgomeo, E., Dufva, M., Figge, L., & Schipfer, F. (2015). Reshaping Global Change Science for the 21st Century: Young Scientists’ Perspectives. In: Systems Analysis 2015 - A Conference in Celebration of Howard Raiffa, 11 -13 November, 2015, Laxenburg, Austria.

Schinko, T. (2015). Governance of Risks in Financing Concentrated Solar Power Investments in North Africa. IIASA Interim Report. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: IR-15-002