Climate
Advancing climate adaptation and low-emission transitions for a sustainable future.
What we do
We bring together expertise across science, society and economics to help address the challenges of climate change, including hazard management, mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, and renewable energy.
Our climate-focused research includes:
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Evaluating climate impacts and adaptation (bushfire, floods, drought)
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Climate policy design and evaluation
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Understanding barriers to adoption of innovative and sustainable technologies
Our approach
Our Climate research contributes to large, multi-stakeholder projects using methods such as:
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Interviews and focus groups
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Economic modelling of climate data
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Quantification of impacts and trade-offs
For a detailed overview of our capabilities and examples of applications, we invite you to visit our capabilities page.
We have long-standing partnerships with government agencies, research organisations and industry bodies. Currently our partners include:
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Zero Net Emission Agriculture CRC
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Oceans Institute
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Bushfires and Natural Hazards CRC
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National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Resilient Landscapes Hub
Key Researchers
Prof Marit Kragt
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Dr Sarah Whitnall
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Dr German Puga
A/Prof Abbie Rogers
Dr Alaya Spencer-Cotton
Industry Tools & Resources
INFFER
INFFER is a tool to apply economic analysis in environmental management. This tool was rated ‘High’ for impact and ‘High’ for approach to impact in the recent 2019 ARC assessment of research engagement and impact.
INFER enables environmental manages to undertake a process that results in the establishment of clear goals, identification of priorities and development of robust and appropriate activities and projects to protect assets.
INFFER was initially developed through the Future Farm Industries CRC funding.
Current Research
AgriVoltaics
Funding: CRC for Zero net Emissions
Dates: 2 years (2026 - 2028)
Partnerships: Sunrise Energy Group, The University of Melbourne, Australian National University and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action.
CEEP Researchers
Prof Marit Kragt, Dr German Puga
Polarised views on energy developments in Canada's oil province
Funding body: University of Western Australia
Dates: 18 months (2024 - 2025)
Partnerships: Oceans Institute
Project Overview
This project investigates how public attitudes towards energy developments are shaped by polarised views, trust, and perceptions of policy design. Focusing on hydraulic fracturing and wind energy developments in Alberta, Canada, the research examines why some individuals strongly support or oppose energy projects regardless of their characteristics, while others are more responsive to changes in project design and policy settings. The study identifies distinct groups within the community and explores how trust in governments, industry, and environmental organisations influences public acceptance. The project contributes to more informed, inclusive, and socially sustainable approaches to renewable and conventional energy development in the transition to resilient low-emission futures.
CEEP Researchers
Dr Curtis Rollins, Dr Claire Doll, Prof David Pannel, A/Prof Michael Burton
Social licence to operate offshore wind in Australia
Funding: Better Oceans Program
Dates: 2 years (2023 - 2024)
Partnerships: Oceans Institute
CEEP Researchers
Dr Alaya Spencer-Cotton
Featured Blogs
Body of research
We have a large body of work related to water. The following list is a selection of recently completed research projects, where you'll find a range of studies exploring various topics within our Water Theme. You are welcome to contact one of the authors to learn more.
Soil Carbon
Bryan, B.A., Runting R.K., Capon, T., Perring, M.P., Cunningham, S.C, Kragt, M.E., Nolan, M., Law, E.A., Renwick, A., Eber, S., Christian, R. & Wilson, K. (2016). Designer policy for carbon and biodiversity co-benefits under global change. Nature Climate Change, 6: 301–305.
Dumbrell, N., Kragt, M., Gibson, F. (2016). What carbon farming activities are farmers likely to adopt? A best-worst scaling survey. Land Use Policy, 54, pp. 29-37.
Ji, Y., Ramjan, R. and Burton, M.P. (2017). A bivariate probit analysis of factors affecting partial, complete and continued adoption of soil carbon sequestration technology in rural China. Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy 6(2):153–167.
Kragt, M.E., Pannell, D.J., Robertson, M.J. & Thamo, T. (2012) Assessing costs of soil carbon sequestration by crop livestock farmers in Western Australia, Agricultural Systems, 112, 27-37.
Kragt, M., Gibson, F., Maseyk, F., Wilson, K. A. (2016). Public willingness to pay for carbon farming and its co benefits. Ecological Economics, 126, pp. 125-131.
Pandit, R., P. Neupane, and B. H. Wagle. (2017). Economics of carbon sequestration in community forests: Evidence from REDD+ piloting in Nepal. Journal of Forest Economics, 26: 9-29.
Tang, K., Kragt, M.E., Hailu, A. & Ma, C. (2016). Carbon farming economics: What have we learned? Journal of Environmental Management, 172: 49–57.
Thamo, T. and Pannell, D.J. (2016). Challenges in developing effective policy for soil carbon sequestration: perspectives on additionality, leakage, and permanence. Climate Policy 16, 973–992.
Thamo, T., Pannell, D., Kragt, M., Robertson, M. and M., Polyakov. (2017). Dynamics and the Economics of Carbon Sequestration: Common Oversights and their Implications. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 22(7): 1095-1111.
Thamo, T., Addai, D., Kragt, M.E., Kingwell, R., Pannell, D.J., and Robertson, M.J. (2019). Climate change reduces the mitigation obtainable from sequestration in an Australian farming system. Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 63 (4) pp 841-865.
Voyer, M., Croft, F., Askland, H. H., Breakey, H., Goodman, C., Hughes, L., Klocker, N., Kulczynski, A., Lee, E., Mehmet, M., Navarro, M., Newton, J., Pascoe, J., Reeves, J., & Spencer-Cotton, A. (2025). Fair winds: Foregrounding equity within the emerging Australian offshore wind industry. Energy research and social science, 127, Article 104284.
Tschakert, P., Barnett, J., Ellis, N., Lawrence, C., Tuana, N., New, M., Elrick-Barr, C., Pandit, R. and Pannell. D. (2017). Climate change and loss, as if people mattered: values, places, and experiences. WIREs Climate Change 8 (5).
Wolgamot, H., Ebeling, W., Orszaghova, J., Kurniawan, A., McInnes, K., Manasseh, R., Osman, P., Sergiienko, N., Trebilco, R., Marsh, P., Breakey, H., Lyons, P., Jay, B., Denniss, T., Fulton, B., Sprogis, K., Frid, C., Bossi, L., Spencer-Cotton, A., ... Gaudin, C. (2024). Ocean Wave Energy in Australia. Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre.
Ma, C., Rogers, A., Kragt, M., Zhang, F., Polyakov, M., Gibson, F., Chalak Haghighi, M., Pandit, R., Tapsuwan, S. (2015). Consumers' willingness to pay for renewable energy: A metaregression analysis. Resource and Energy Economics, 42, pp. 93-109.
Ma, C., Polyakov, M. and Pandit, R. (2016). Capitalization of Residential Solar Photovoltaic Systems in Western Australia. Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 60 (3):366-385.
Florec, V., Rogers, A. & Pannell, D. J. (2021). Economics of natural hazards - final project report. Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2021.
Florec, V., & Rogers, A. (2020). Economic analysis of natural hazard mitigation using the Quick Economic Analysis Tool. Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 35(4), 48-55.
Florec, V. (2016). Economic analysis of prescribed burning in the south-west of Western Australia. [Doctoral Thesis], The University of Western Australia].
Florec, V., Burton, M., Pannell, D., Kelso, J., & Milne, G. (2020). Where to prescribe burn: The costs and benefits of prescribed burning close to houses. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 29(5), 440-458.
