Sustainability beyond Sustainable Development Goals – ERC grant for Prajal Pradhan
02/24/2023 - For his proposal “Transformation towards long-term sustainability beyond Sustainable Development Goals” Prajal Pradhan, senior scientist at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) receives the highly prestigious HORIZON Starting Grant by the European Research Council (ERC) amounting to 1,5 million Euro.
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From forest resilience to power grids to loss and damage: PIK Research Days
02/22/2023 - Hot topics were presented in talks and discussed among scientists at the annual ‘Research Days’ of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). Virtually all members of the institute gathered for the 2-day exchange, the first one which happened face-to-face after the online-only times of COVID pandemic. Once a year, the entire institute comes together to update one another on its findings, new methods and challenges – and to discuss new frontiers to be investigated.
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Success on two fronts: RD2 congratulates Dr. Lisa Murken!
20/02/2023 - After years of excellent research and dedication, Lisa Murken was recently appointed co-lead of the working group 'Adaptation in Agricultural Systems'. On February 10th, she also successfully defended her dissertation on 'Land tenure in a changing climate' with outstanding results. A double reason for us to congratulate and celebrate with her!
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FABLE: How to get food and land use systems on track
02/03/2023 - Sustainable futures for food and land use systems are only possible with coordinated, major efforts around the world in the next decade. This is what a team of researchers, including PIK, from 20 countries found by using FABLE (Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land-Use and Energy) modeling tools. The results are now published in a Special Issue.
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Berlin could produce much of its vegetables locally
1/27/2023 - Berlin could produce a surprisingly large proportion of its vegetable requirements itself if unused areas were used for this purpose, such as flat roofs, allotments, cemetery areas that are no longer in use, or even supermarket parking lots. Researchers have now calculated this. However, the use of this land is tied to many preconditions.
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Climate, Development, Economics - Kati Krähnert is a Professor at RWI and Bochum University
01/20/2023 - From Potsdam's Telegrafenberg to the Ruhr - since January 1, 2023, Kati Krähnert is Professor of Climate Change and Development at the Faculty of Economics at Ruhr University Bochum. There she researches how the lives of people in the Global South are affected by climate change and how policies need to be designed if they are to improve household climate resilience. She was appointed jointly by the Ruhr University and RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research.
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Smart nitrogen management can strongly reduce pollution
01/06/2023 - To increase food and feed supply, agriculture has used more and more industrial nitrogen fertilizers and manure. However, over half of these nitrogen inputs to croplands are currently lost to the environment, contributing to air pollution and its related diseases, water eutrophication, soil acidification, climate change, and biodiversity loss. Nitrogen pollution has become a global challenge and next crisis. An international team of researchers explored cost-effective nitrogen mitigation strategies for global croplands in a new study, now published in Nature.
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New PIK Podcast: The bitter taste of loss & damage
12/16/2022 - What does coffee have to do with climate change & loss and damage? Koko Warner from the UNFCCC Secretariat and Christoph Gornott from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research PIK dive into the loss & damage debate.
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Europe's forests increasingly under pressure
12/12/2022 - European forests are increasingly affected by natural disturbances, a new monitoring study shows - and climate change is likely exacerbating this, according to the results of an international team of scientists.
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FutureLab side event during 10th Global Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Humanitarian Action
08/12/2022 - Svenja Fluhrer, Julian Röckert, Kati Krähnert, and Lukas Mogge from the FutureLab on "Inequality, Human Well-Being and Development" organized a side event entitled "Anticipatory Action Meets Evidence: Generating Scientific Evidence on the Effectiveness of a Forecast-Based Cash Transfer Program".
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RD2 @ COP27
01/12/2022 - Several RD2 scientists were active at and around the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Sharm el-Sheikh either by attending the conference, hosting a side event or informing attendees and the world at large of the importance of climate action through other media channels.
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Potsdam researchers amongst top 1% most cited worldwide
11/14/2022 - For the fifth year in a row, researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) are among the top 1 percent of the globally most scientifically influential authors. The renowned "Highly Cited" ranking is published once a year by Clarivate Analytics' science platform Web of Science. The ranking is based on the number of times researchers are cited in other academics' works - one of the most important indicators of scientific relevance. Twelve PIK researchers are listed, just like last year, including the institute's directors, and from all research departments.
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Green Central Asia workshops co-organised by RD2 scientists
24/10/2022 - 11/11/2022 - In a series of workshops and trainings, scientists from the Green Vision Central Asian project at PIK invite journalists, civil servants and other key stakeholders to discuss the information and data-flow on climate impacts in the region.
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Dynamic Forest Modeling research visit in Grenoble
19/10/2022 - Doctoral researcher Mats Mahnken, from the research group "Forest and Ecosystem Resilience" spent four weeks at the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAe) with a Short Term Scientific Mission (STSM) Grant from the Cost Action Project 'PROCLIAS'.
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Berlin to receive three 'ClimateTrams'
17/10/2022 - An important step towards better and broader climate communication: The first of three 'ClimateTrams' has been inaugurated officially on the 17th of October at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark by Berlin Climate Senator Betting Jarasch and others. RD2-scientist Julia Epp has given a statement at the event about Berlin's pathway to climate neutrality.
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Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture exchange with scientists from Climate Resilience Department
22/09/2022 - On 22 September 2022, representatives of Department 521 "Climate Protection, Climate Adaptation, Water" from the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) met with scientists from Department 2 "Climate Resilience". The aim was a first exchange on the topics "Transformation of livestock farming - contribution to climate protection" and "Water solutions for conflicting goals in water use in the course of climate change".
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Congratulations Dr. Laudien!
02/09/2022 - Rahel Laudien successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled "Supporting climate risk management in tropical agriculture with statistical crop modelling" at the Humboldt University of Berlin.
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Towards food security despite climate crisis and war
09/01/2022 - To secure the world's food supply, a shift toward more plant-based and less animal-based foods is needed, researchers explain in a 'Policy Brief' published today. The Russian war of aggression on Ukraine has triggered a shortage of some agricultural products as well as gas-produced mineral fertilizers. As a result, food prices are rising. At the same time, droughts and flash floods threaten crops worldwide as the climate crisis intensifies. The researchers show the connections - and make concrete recommendations on how a food turnaround could be initiated.
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Hydrologists from RD2 featured in media coverage on drought
18/08/2022 - Heatwaves and extended periods of drought over the course of the year have had serious impacts on soil, groundwater levels and rivers in Germany and abroad. Many media outlets have reached out to hydrology experts from RD2 to get a scientific explanation and glimpse into the (potential) future of our rivers.
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Urban Transformation-team organises workshop on teaching and research related to sustainability held in Nepal
26-28/07/2022 - Members of the 'Urban Transformations' Working Group of RD2 organized a three-day workshop on 'Strengthening Teaching and Research on Sustainable Development Goals Curriculum Co-development' in Banepa, Nepal. The workshop was organized within the framework of the "ForHimSDG" project (Förderung der Entwicklung des Himalayas durch Stärkung von Lehre und Forschung im Bereich der Sustainable Development Goals) funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and aiming to strengthen teaching and research on sustainability issues in the Hindu-Kush-Himalaya region by fostering North-South and South-South cooperation.
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Christopher Reyer at high-level UK conference on cascading climate risks
03/08/2022 - The Chatham House invited key UK government officials to discuss their work on climate impact analysis, risk planning and policy coherence with regard to international cascading climate risks with national and international scientists and experts working in this field.
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Congratulations Dr. Porwollik!
06/07/2022 - Vera Porwollik successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled "Patterns of Cropland Management Systems for Assessment of Global Change" at the Humboldt University of Berlin.
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"For a secure climate future": High-ranking guests at 30 years celebration of Potsdam Institute
06/30/2022 - High-ranking guests attended the 30th anniversary celebration of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) - from federal and Brandenburg politicians to a Nobel laureate. The institute, founded in 1992 and now employing a good 400 people, is needed more today than ever before in the worsening climate crisis, speeches said. The PIK Board of Directors thanked politicians as well as the scientists and all employees of PIK for their part in the success story.
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How taxing the rich can help everyone
06/23/22 - Taxing rich peoples’ gains from capital can help reduce inequality while keeping up overall prosperity – yet only on two conditions. First, the revenues from taxation must be invested into public infrastructure such as schools, public transport, or sustainable energy grids. Second, it must be fairly possible to replace machines by labour. This is the outcome of a mathematical modelling study by a team of economists including US Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
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SDGs failing to have meaningful impact, research warns
06/20/2022 - Sustainability has never been higher on the international agenda. But an international assessment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—the 17 global goals used by governments, companies, and NGOs worldwide to guide action towards a prosperous and just future—shows they are having limited impact, and may instead be contributing to greenwashing. Two years into the decisive decade for humanity's future on Earth, fundamental changes are needed if we are to shift onto a sustainable and resilient path, argue the authors of the study in Nature Sustainability.
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PIK welcomes Prof Thomas Hertel visiting on Humboldt Research Award
06/13/2022 - Thomas Hertel, Professor of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University, Indiana, USA, will be visiting PIK on a Humboldt Research Award for the second half of 2022. An expert in international trade, food and environmental security, he will add to PIK's expertise in Research Department 2 on Climate Resilience and integrated modelling.
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Healthy soil, healthy planet: Soil quality key for improved crop production and resilient climate
06/09/2022 - Healthy, high-quality soils lead to more robust and stable crop yields and are key for adapting to a changing climate, a new study finds. In China, appropriate efforts to improve soil quality may reduce the decline in crop production induced by climate change by 20%.
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Food sector emissions accounting: Sharing responsibility across the value chain
06/09/2022 - A new approach to account for emissions caused in the food sector that considers trade, as technical as it sounds, could help meet greenhouse gas reduction targets. Spreading the responsibility to reduce onto all countries along a product’s value chain could yield substantial effects, according to a study now published in Nature Communications.
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Climate Economics: Policies change People
06/09/22 - The makers of climate policy should rethink about how people think: A team of researchers led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) shows that abiding by climate-friendly policies actually changes the way people think about what they do. People’s preferences are more malleable than textbook economics often assumes. The researchers’ advice to policy makers is to take changing preferences into account when tailoring policies like carbon taxes or building low-carbon infrastructure.
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PIK-Scientist Svenja Fluhrer awarded with Early Career Best Paper Award
06/03/2022 - Development economist Svenja Fluhrer was awarded with the prize "Ökonomie des Klimawandels - Early Career Best Paper Award" of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. She received the award for her paper "Sitting in the same boat: Subjective well-being and social comparison after an extreme weather event", published in Ecological Economics.
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