Net Zero Observatory

Promoting acceptance of technological pathways that facilitate decarbonisation

Successful transition to a low-carbon society requires open-mindedness to a range of technological solutions. A key agenda of NZO is to remain ahead of the curve in understanding and overcoming community resistance toward technologies designed to facilitate decarbonisation. We identify community sensitivity toward climate-relevant technologies, with an eye to creating communication strategies that enable positive change.

Maintaining social cohesion on the road to 2050

Historically, Australia’s pathway to managing climate change has been slowed by social cleavages and polarisation. This program will diagnose existing and future intergroup conflicts, and design interventions that are scalable and actionable. Doing so helps ensure that Australians are pulling together as we move to decarbonise the economy.

Maintaining Australians' commitment to change

This program draws on a rapidly evolving frontier of research on people’s cost-benefit analyses about climate change. Secondary analyses of existing surveys and large-scale textual analysis will provide historical insights into when, where and why tolerance for sacrifice has dropped in the face of climate change policies. We use these insights to design interventions that can be scaled up in a way that is effective and cost-efficient in real-world environments.

Achieving meaningful corporate climate reporting - beyond greenwashing and greenhushing

With recent global developments towards standardising climate reporting from the ISSB, it is timely to consider what constitutes best practice in transparent reporting and climate management. This project will examine key components of climate reporting against global best practices. Summary reports will be produced and where clear gaps in knowledge or methods exist this project will address these deficiencies.

Measuring and monitoring corporations' progress to net zero targets

This project will assess companies’ actions against Paris Compliant Pathways, and develop tools to share this information openly and transparently. The goal is to deter misleading corporate climate pledges and systematise the assessment of companies' climate performance using a science-based approach. This will bolster businesses’ climate action by outlining meaningful and effective decarbonisation pathways. It will allow all stakeholders to make climate-safe decisions, and guide policy makers to enforce the required changes for any business to become Paris-compliant.

Climate change executive education and training

We work with companies to upskill employees on climate change issues and their management. The NZO team, in collaboration with other experts across UQ, has designed a series of climate change courses, workshops and seminars to assist companies to develop the skills to transition to a net zero world. Courses are available to be delivered across different cohorts from the board and c-suite; to mid-level managers; to a general employee cohort.