Seed funding

Has Climate Change Raised Cancer Risk in Younger Adults?

Dr Ayşe Arık | School of Risk & Actuarial Studies

Investigating whether climate-related environmental risks are contributing to rising early-onset cancer rates.

Cancer remains a leading cause of illness and death globally, with a 79% rise in diagnoses among people under 50 between 1990 and 2019 and a 28% increase in deaths among those aged 18–49. Early-onset breast, lung and colorectal cancers are of particular concern. At the same time, climate change is intensifying health risks through rising temperatures, extreme weather and worsening air pollution, with carbon emissions linked to pollutants associated with increased cancer risk.

Despite these trends, the links between climate change and cancer remain under-researched. This project uses under-utilised climate metrics and cancer datasets to explore environmental risk factors that may be contributing to rising cancer rates in younger adults, laying the groundwork for future research and competitive funding applications.

Awarded: $10,000 | 2025

Co-Investigators:
Dr Andrés Villegas Ramirez, Professor Ben Newell, Professor David Thomas

How Extreme Weather Breaks Supply Chains

Professor Maggie Dong | School of Marketing

Measuring how extreme weather disrupts supply chains and threatens food security and economic stability.

Australia’s supply networks underpin food security, public health and economic stability, yet they are increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather events such as floods, cyclones and bushfires. In early 2022, for example, flooding that closed the Pacific Highway stranded freight and left supermarket shelves empty across Queensland and NSW.

This project develops a new system to quantify and manage the cascading effects of extreme weather on supply networks. By integrating simulation methods with advanced econometric techniques, it aims to improve the realism and accuracy of disruption impact forecasts and provide evidence to support adaptive strategies for strengthening supply-chain resilience under climate change.

Awarded: $10,000 | 2025

Co-Investigators:
Senior Lecturer SunAh Kim, Senior Lecturer Elnaz Irannezhad

Barriers to Climate Justice in Australia

Dr Riona Moodley | Faculty of Law & Justice, Institute for Climate Risk & Response

Examining how legal cost risks deter strategic climate litigation.

Strategic climate litigation in Australia carries significant financial risk due to adverse costs orders, which require unsuccessful parties to pay the legal costs of the other side. These risks are particularly acute in climate cases, which often involve novel legal arguments, extensive expert evidence and well-resourced corporate defendants, raising concerns about the use of costs as a deterrent to public-interest litigation.

This project undertakes a systematic review of high-profile climate cases to assess how Australian courts have approached procedural barriers and financial risks. It aims to identify practical responses for litigants, lawyers and courts, and to assess whether legal reform is needed to safeguard access to climate justice.

Awarded: $10,000 | 2025

Co-Investigator:
Professor Ben Newell

Can Regional Green Flights Cost Less?

Dr Mirjam Wiedemann | School of Aviation, UNSW Science

Assessing whether electric and hydrogen aircraft can deliver affordable, low-emissions regional flights.

The aviation sector has committed to net zero emissions by 2050, with new electric, hydrogen and drone aircraft under development worldwide. These technologies offer emissions reductions but differ markedly from conventional aircraft in capacity, operating costs and maintenance requirements, raising questions about their commercial viability on regional routes.

This project compares the costs and revenues of emerging aviation technologies across four routes, alongside traditional aircraft and road transport. The findings will help policymakers assess the potential for cleaner regional and remote air travel, and whether targeted subsidies may be required to support the uptake of low-emissions aircraft.

Awarded: $10,000 | 2025

Co-Investigators:
Dr Matteo Malavasi

How lobbying changed climate disclosure standards

Dr Maria Balatbat | School of Accounting, Auditing & Taxation

An analysis of how lobbying influenced the global climate disclosure standard IFRS S2.

This project examines how the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) weighed lobbying submissions when developing IFRS S2, the global standard for climate-related financial disclosures. Lobbying has previously shaped accounting rules in material ways, including amendments to lease accounting (IFRS 16) and the repeal of full-cost accounting in the United States (SFAS 19).

By analysing how submissions were ranked, cited and reflected in the final standard, the project provides the first systematic evidence on the role of global lobbying in shaping IFRS S2. The findings will inform the ISSB’s post-implementation review in 2025–26 and offer early insight into areas where future revisions to climate disclosure standards may emerge.

Awarded: $10,000 | 2024

Co-Investigators:
Associate Professor Richard Morris, Dr Victoria Clout, Professor Sue Wright

How Extreme Weather Shifts Climate Support

Dr Matteo Malavasi | School of Risk & Actuarial Studies

How extreme weather events, like floods and bushfires, reshape Australians’ climate beliefs, voting intentions and investment choices.

This project investigates how exposure to extreme weather events, including floods and bushfires, influences Australians’ environmental beliefs and behaviours. It focuses on downstream effects on voting intentions, climate risk mitigation and adaptation decisions, and attitudes towards ESG and sustainable investment.

Drawing on decision science, psychology, climate science and actuarial analysis, the research disentangles how lived experience of climate extremes affects decision-making across economic and civic domains. The findings will provide empirical evidence relevant to policymakers, insurers and investors, and support future research partnerships with industry and government agencies.

Awarded: $10,000 | 2024

Co-Investigators:
Dr Omid Ghasemi, Professor Ben Newell

How Our Fossil Fuel Exports Harm

Professor Justine Nolan | Faculty of Law & Justice, Australian Human Rights Institute

Linking climate science and human rights evidence to assess Australia’s coal and gas exports.

The Australian Climate Accountability Project combines climate attribution science with applied human rights research to assess Australia’s coal and gas exports. It will generate new evidence showing how emissions from these exports are measurably driving global warming and intensifying risks of climate-related harm to communities in Australia and internationally.

Developed through a collaborative and interdisciplinary model, the project involves researchers, advocates, litigators and climate-affected communities in both research design and dissemination.

Awarded: $10,000 | 2024

Co-Investigators:
Gillian Moon, Professor Jeremy Moss, Dr Bill Hare, Professor Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, Nina Cooke

Getting the Cost of Climate Change Right

Dr Timothy Neal | Institute for Climate Risk & Response, School of Economics

Rethinking economic models to better capture climate shocks and behavioural feedbacks.

This project addresses key shortcomings in economic models used to assess climate change impacts. First, it examines how climate-driven weather shocks propagate through global supply chains, potentially disrupting production and living standards far beyond directly affected regions. Second, it incorporates behavioural responses to declining incomes and repeated exposure to climate extremes, challenging standard assumptions about emissions trajectories. These feedback effects may amplify risk and increase the likelihood of tipping points—thresholds beyond which climate impacts accelerate rapidly. The project aims to improve the realism and policy relevance of climate-economic modelling.

Awarded: $10,000 | 2024

Co-Investigator:
Professor Ben Newell

How Exposed Are Australia’s Banks to Climate Risk?

Associate Professor Kristle Romero Cortés | School of Banking and Finance, UNSW Business School

Assessing how banks withstand climate-driven financial shocks.

Climate stress testing evaluates how banks perform under physical risks, such as extreme weather, and transition risks arising from climate policy, technological change and shifting market preferences.

This project assesses the resilience of banks under a range of climate scenarios. The research will identify climate-vulnerable regions, assess implications for financial stability, and develop recommendations for regulators and financial institutions. Findings will be disseminated through policy briefs, academic publications and seminars with central banks and prudential regulators, with impact measured by uptake of recommendations and improvements in banking-sector resilience.

Awarded: $10,000 | 2024

Co-Investigator:
Dr Mandeep Singh

Why We Fully Insure Our Phones but Not Our Homes

Dr Tobias Huber | School of Risk & Actuarial Studies, UNSW Business School

Why people underinsure against climate risk.

Consumers frequently underinsure against rare but catastrophic events, such as floods, while readily purchasing cover for minor risks at high premiums. One explanation lies in risk correlation: natural disasters affect entire communities at once, while risks like phone damage are individual, or idiosyncratic.

This project examines how correlated risks shape insurance decisions, including expectations of government disaster relief and concerns about relative financial standing. Using theoretical and experimental methods, it explores how social interaction and comparison influence willingness to insure against climate-related hazards. The findings will inform policy reforms aimed at improving insurance uptake and climate resilience.

Awarded: $10,000 | 2024

Co-Investigator:
Professor Ben Newell