From April 20 to 23, 2026, Professor Nikolay Khabarov from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) paid an invited visit to the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research at Beijing Institute of Technology.
During his visit, Professor Nikolay Khabarov had in‑depth exchanges with faculty and students of the Center on academic research, student exchange and talent training. He also answered questions and offered guidance on research topic selection, model construction and other issues raised by students. In addition, Professor Khabarov delivered three serial academic lectures entitled Social Cost of Carbon in DICE Model and Optimization in GAMS, Risk‑Optimal Technological Portfolios in Energy Production, and Biophysical‑Economic Modeling of Coffee Agroforestry Systems in Mexico, and took part in two academic seminars. Associate Professor Chen Weiming hosted the lecture series, which was attended by faculty and students from the Center.
In these lectures, Professor Nikolay Khabarov systematically shared his team’s research progress in environmental economics and applied systems analysis, covering climate‑economic modelling, optimization of energy‑technology portfolios, and climate‑change adaptation of agricultural systems.
In the first lecture, starting from the basic concept of the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC), he introduced the calculation logic of SCC within integrated assessment models and its differences from the Social Optimal Marginal Abatement Cost (SMAC), with reference to the DICE model and the GAMS optimization tool.
The second lecture focused on risk‑optimal technology portfolios for energy production, and analysed investment‑decision‑making logic for power‑generation technologies including coal‑fired power, biomass power and wind power under various price scenarios and extreme‑risk constraints such as Conditional Value‑at‑Risk (CVaR).
The third lecture took Mexico’s coffee agroforestry systems as a case, illustrating how to combine biophysical‑process models with economic analysis to assess potential climate‑change impacts on agricultural yields and economic sustainability.
Throughout the three sessions, faculty and students engaged in thorough discussions with Professor Khabarov on barriers to policy implementation for the Social Cost of Carbon, characterization of extreme risks in energy‑investment decision‑making, and uncertainties in agricultural‑system adaptation and economic analysis amid climate change.
Beyond the lectures, Professor Khabarov joined two special‑topic academic seminars held respectively by the Center’s Energy‑Environmental‑Economic Complex System Group and the Climate‑Change Integrated‑Assessment Modelling Group. Both sides conducted substantive academic dialogue and in‑depth discussions regarding the application of complex networks in energy‑system transition, underlying logic and localised improvement of climate‑change integrated assessment models, and potential frameworks for future international collaborative research.
Nikolay Khabarov is a Senior Research Scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). His long‑term research interests include crop‑growth modelling, natural hazards, climate‑change impacts and adaptation, adaptation economics, risk‑optimal investment portfolios, modelling of carbon‑risk financial instruments, asset‑level economic modelling, and optimal land‑allocation for agricultural production. Prior to joining IIASA, he gained extensive industry experience across news and media, financial services and investment banking, legal services, marketing and trade, and information technology. Dr. Khabarov holds a Master of Science (1998) and a Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (2004) from the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics, Lomonosov Moscow State University. He has participated in more than 20 international research projects and authored over 120 scientific publications, including book chapters and research reports.
