In 2015 collaborations between researches from IIASA and the Republic of Korea ranged from researching the ecosystem services offered by forests to developing global scenarios of future water demand.
Map of Korea
In 2015, joint activities between IIASA and the Republic of Korea included:
Developing the first set of multi-model, quantified scenarios of water demand with a focus on the domestic, industrial, and energy sectors, which was presented at in the World Water Forum in 2015 in the Republic of Korea;
Analyses of the carbon emissions and sequestrations of boreal forests across the globe; and
The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program’s Earth Observation Systems (EOS) group has continued their work on boreal forests. In 2015, improvements were made to the Terrestrial Ecosystem Full Verified Carbon Budget (FCA), including updating its ecological and economic aspects, and applying it to the ecosystems of Northern Eurasia. more
The successful completion of the fast-track analysis under the global Water Futures and Solutions (WFaS) initiative, is a major achievement of the Water (WAT) Program. The analysis has yielded the first set of multi-model, quantified scenarios of water demand with a focus on the domestic, industrial, and energy sectors. more
The Energy Program (ENE) is analyzing how improving access to modern energy technologies in developing countries can potentially improve human health and wellbeing. more
The Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases (MAG) Program has developed a new method that assigns particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) to emission sources at the different scales of origin. This work allowed the implications of the recent emission scandal on local air quality to be quantified. more
The Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases (MAG) Program takes a unique systems perspective that integrates physical, social, economic, and policy aspects of air quality management. In 2015, the program introduced these aspects into numerous new policy and scientific initiatives that address the role of air quality management for improving human wellbeing and contribute to multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals. more
The World Population Program (POP), with three other IIASA programs—Energy (ENE), Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases (MAG), and Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) – continues to implement the crosscutting project “Accounting for socioeconomic heterogeneity in IIASA models” started in 2014. more
Three leading institutes in India have collaborated with the Water (WAT) Program to compile harmonized databases and build a common framework for jointly assessing the impact of climate, land use, soil nutrients, and water management on local livelihoods. more
Fisheries play a key role in food security worldwide, but many aquatic food resources are fully exploited, overexploited, or depleted. This reflects the difficulties of addressing the competing demands on the services rendered by aquatic ecosystems, and when accounting for the multiple stressors they face. more
The Transitions to New Technologies (TNT) Program played a key role in the proposal for a large-scale, multi-year research project to analyze the synergies and trade-offs between different natural resource systems: Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy, and Land (IS-WEL). more
In 2015 the Water (WAT) Program carried out analysis for the project: Integrated Analysis and Modelling of Land Use Efficiency and Security under Rapid Agricultural Transformation in China. Land-cover changes associated with the rapid exodus of the rural population were investigated, along with rural-urban divisions and the reasons behind cropland abandonment. more
The project Linking Climate and Development Policies – Leveraging International Networks and Knowledge Sharing (CD-LINKS) kicked off in September 2015. CD-LINKS aims to study the links between climate policies and multiple sustainable development objectives. more
Modeling by the Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases (MAG) Program has shown that efforts to reduce the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) precursor emissions will not deliver the expected drop in air pollution unless a reduction of agricultural ammonia (NH3) emissions is achieved. more
In view of the global climate targets that were agreed in Paris in 2015, the Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases (MAG) Program revisited the feasibility and economics of achieving deep cuts in non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions. This analysis revealed much higher emissions from global oil production and extended shale gas extraction than previously thought. more
In this emerging area of research, the Energy Program (ENE) aims to advance the understanding of the political-economic dynamics of energy transitions and its variation between countries. This analysis determines the most effective strategies for national and international policy action. more
The Risk, Policy and Vulnerability (RPV) Program built on its breakthrough in assessment of flood-risk distributions which accounts for spatial correlation between river basins and therefore avoids underestimation of risk. The program has now incorporated different types of copula dependency measures, such as the Archimedian- and Frank-based copula, and various dependency structures. more
Advanced Systems Analysis (ASA) Program researchers model interconnected food, water, and energy systems and advance methods of stochastic optimization. This can help to design management strategies that are robust with respect to inherent uncertainties and risks. more
A new method developed by the Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases (MAG) Program offers an unconventional perspective on the origin of harmful pollution, especially in urban areas in developing countries. The findings show that beyond vehicle emissions or household fuels, any (cost-) effective intervention strategy will need to addresses the socioeconomic complexities of a wide range of other economic sectors, not least agriculture. more
Collaborative land-use modeling work between IIASA, the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), the World Wildlife Fund Indonesia, and the Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia was further developed in 2015 under the Tropical Futures Initiative (TFI). more
Questions of fiscal, social, and ecological resilience have become fundamental to addressing the global issues of risk management, climate change adaptation, and transitions to a sustainable future. However, operationalization of the concept has remained elusive; this is where Risk, Policy and Vulnerability (RPV) Program made substantial progress in 2015. more
The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program’s Earth Observation Systems (EOS) group has continued their work on boreal forests. In 2015, improvements were made to the Terrestrial Ecosystem Full Verified Carbon Budget (FCA), including updating its ecological and economic aspects, and applying it to the ecosystems of Northern Eurasia. more
Explicitly accounting for population heterogeneity—in particular with respect to level of education—provides an analytical tool for anticipating future vulnerability. Community participation and strong social networks can also aid preparedness to natural disasters in vulnerable regions, shows new research conducted in the south of Thailand. more
Under the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB’s) Water Financing Program, the Water (WAT) Program produced consistent and comprehensive projections for water futures in Asia, via the Water Futures and Solutions (WFaS) initiative. more
Sunyong Sung, of Seoul National University, Republic of Korea, used the IIASA Global Forest Model (G4M) to investigate the impacts of climate change on the net primary productivity (NPP) of forests on the Korean Peninsula, showing that NPP would increase under all scenarios tested. more
Wenfeng Liu, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, used a biophysical crop model to identify hotspots of global nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pollution. more
Sam Hyun Yoo, of the World Population Program, is calculating fertility projections for South Korea over the next two decades to assess the effects of delayed childbearing and a reduced number of births per woman. more
Zhimin Mao of the Pardee RAND Graduate School, USA, analyzed a proposed action plan to cut air pollution in China, showing that enable rapid reduction of air pollution can be achieved. more
Chuchu Chen, of the Tsinghua University, China, modeled ammonia emissions to identify the best agricultural management for reducing air pollution. more
Jiayi Fang, of Beijing Normal University, China, demonstrated that although marine disaster reduction measures by the Chinese government have been effective, they will face new challenges under climate change. more
Kamshat Tussupova, of Lund University, Sweden, aimed to help improve water policy efficiency by integrating the views of stakeholders into water supply planning. more
Devyani Singh, of the University of British Columbia, Canada, examined recent trends in India for replacing fuelwood with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as the main source of household cooking energy. more
Siyuan Yang, of Beijing Normal University, China, used input-output analysis to investigate particulate matter pollution, showing that the petroleum, coking, and chemicals sector was the main source of direct PM2.5 emission. more
Asif Khan, of Cambridge University, UK, assessed the accuracy of hydro-climatic studies for six sub-basins of the Upper Indus Basin (UIB), showing that precipitation datasets and hydrological models should be carefully selected and tested, particularly for mountain regions. more
Zihan Zhai, of Peking University, China, studied the actions needed to reduce hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) emissions in China, showing that there is substantial potential for minimizing China’s HFC emissions by using alternatives. more
Zhaomiao Guo, of the University of California, USA, used a stochastic game-theoretic model to study energy security and energy capacity issues in the USA, China, and Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). more
Anne-Perrine Avrin, of the University of California, USA, investigated how electricity transmission can facilitate integration of renewable energy by better matching generation with demand. more
Cuiqing Sun, of the China University of Mining & Technology, applied integrated modeling to tackle interconnected environmental and socioeconomic issues, using Shanxi, China, as a case study. more
Jie Zhang, of Tsinghua University, China, investigated ways of improving agricultural management to maintain crop yields while reducing phosphorus pollution. more
Dian Andriana, of the Institute of Technology Bandung, Indonesia, used Radial Basis Function (RBF) Neural Networks to help reduce the uncertainty around predictions based on climate-related data. more
Kakoli Borkotoky, of the International Institute for Population Sciences, India, investigated the trends in dietary patterns in India, showing that total calorie intake increases with education, but the consumption of some foods, such as red meat and alcohol, declined with an increase in education. more
Natalia Borisevich of the Institute of Forest, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Science, Russia, estimated the economic value of the ecosystem services provided by specially protected natural areas (SPNAs), showing that good management can result in great economic gains. more
Yilong Niu, of the Shanghai Institute of Technology and Climate Change, China, coupled three agricultural models together to give an accurate picture of greenhouse gas emissions from rice cultivation. more
Pietro Landi of the Evolution and Ecology Program is studying the effect of the adaptive behavior of single individuals in ecosystems and societies on biodiversity conservation and the sustainable management of fisheries. more
Tejas Rawal, of the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, used model simulations to explore the best policy options for achieving a sustainable transport network in Tamil Nadu, India. more
Rui Hu, of Imperial College London, UK, conducted an international comparative study to examine China’s wind energy knowledge and technology accumulation, showing that China is making rapid progress. more
Dolly Kumari, of the International Institute for Population Sciences, India, examined how care of the elderly can affect the health of both care-giver and receiver. more
Sam Hyun Yoo, of the World Population Program, is calculating fertility projections for South Korea over the next two decades to assess the effects of delayed childbearing and a reduced number of births per woman. more
Alexandra Karambelas, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, explored how urban and rural air pollution combines to influence regional air quality in India, and how this might change under different policy conditions. more
