At the end of 2023, Hans-Joachim Schellnhuber took over the management of IIASA, an internationally renowned research institute based in the Laxenburg Palace, which served as a summer residence in the days of the emperor. We met him in the former study of Emperor Franz Josef, under the eyes of Maria Theresa.
Professor Shellnhuber gave us an insight into his work, which consists of management, diplomacy and politics. However, he still pursues his original task as a researcher, which gives him plenty of energy for his other tasks, at the expense of leisure time and sleep.
He outlined the history of the institute, which was founded at the height of the Cold War and is still not unaffected by global conflicts and crises in a nowadays multipolar world. He sees scientific research as the ideal means of promoting cooperation where other channels fail, as recognising scientific methods and mutual respect among members is the basic prerequisite for achieving scientific progress. Common goals are in turn the basic prerequisite for overcoming conflicts and keeping up collaboration.
In his narrower field of science, the research on climate change, he emphasised the transformation of the construction industry towards timber construction methods. The creation of new forests and the use of sustainable and degradable materials would have a double-positive effect on the climate with considerable impact, as his models demonstrate.
In his closing sentence, he emphasized that serious science and quality journalism are partners on the same side, as they both counter ignorance, disinformation and conspiracy theories.
(sts, 22.05.2024)
