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Item The financial impacts of climate risk : the dissertation presented in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, PhD in Finance at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand(Massey University, 2025-11-13) Trinh, Hai HongDrawing on state-level data on temperature anomalies, the dissertation contributes to the growing literature on the financial impacts of climate change on US-headquartered firms. Benchmarking long-term climate change, the first two chapters are empirical corporate finance papers examining the impacts of statewide climate change risks on corporate payout policy and the value of firms' financial flexibility. The third chapter is an asset-pricing paper that predicts corporate climate sensitivity of firms’ stocks to state-level climate change as a new systematic risk factor. The first chapter shows that long-term climate change adversely affects corporate dividend payout policy. With state-level temperature anomalies (SLTA), the impacts of climate change on corporate payout are severely persistent when firms are exposed to abnormally warmer temperatures. Cash holdings, trade credit, and market leverage present statistically significant mediating roles in the impacts of long-term climate change on corporate payout policy. The impacts of SLTA on corporate payout are pronounced for firms with higher vulnerability to climate transition risk (e.g., polluting firms) since the Paris Agreement (COP21). Smaller and younger firms and firms with higher tangibility are sensitive to the long-term impacts of climate change across US states. The contributions of the study to related literature are threefold. First, the study shows that the consequences of climate change on firms are chronically severe. With the persistent predicted decrease in dividend policy, climate change affects firms’ growth prospects, with its geographical complexity, escalating earnings uncertainty for firms. Second, the long-term systematic risks of climate change imposed on firms are multifaceted, with high geographical divergence, for which firms might face great challenges in opting for flexible and reliable financing choices in the long-term period. The impacts of SLTA on corporate dividends are persistently robust when the study controls the mediating effects of corporate financial policies and the moderating effects of other climate risk factors. The geographical complexity of long-term climate change impacts on firms is investigated in the second chapter through the lens of corporate financial flexibility. The second chapter shows that long-term climate change is adversely associated with the value of corporate financial flexibility (VOFF). Using the forward-looking and market-based measure, the predicted decrease in VOFF supports evidence from the first chapter by showing that long-term climate change systematically affects firms’ growth opportunities across the US states. The impact of SLTA on firms’ VOFF is persistent for firms with higher market-to-book values and larger firms. The impacts of long-term climate change on the VOFF are robust when the study controls the mediating effects of financial policies and the joint effects of other climate-related externalities. The third chapter estimates the state-level corporate climate sensitivity (SL-CCS) to temperature anomalies. Using the predicted SL-CCS for each firm’s stock, the study examines whether the financial market is pricing the SL-CCS betas as a new systematic risk factor. The broad findings show that the pricing of financial markets to the SL-CCS betas is conditional on the levels of global warming across the US states. Investors demand a premium when firms’ stocks are exposed to abnormally warmer temperatures; otherwise, there is a negative association between SL-CCS betas and firms’ stock returns (RET). The varying associations between SL-CCS betas and RET are aligned with our predictions when the study tests for other endogenous and exogenous climate-related risk factors.Item Do climate anxiety and pro-environmental behaviour affect one another? : a longitudinal investigation : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the qualification of Doctor of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand(Massey University, 2024) McLean, Tamara AliceAnthropogenic climate change poses a serious threat to psychological wellbeing. One particular negative emotional response gaining scholarly attention is climate anxiety: anxious feelings arising from climate change, even among people not yet personally impacted by this global environmental crisis. Research suggests that climate anxiety might be implicated in pro-environmental behaviour. Specifically, climate anxiety may motivate individuals to act in ways that, if widely adopted, could mitigate the damage caused by climate change. Furthermore, there is a common assumption that these sustainable behaviours will alleviate climate anxiety, creating a mutually beneficial cycle where pro-climate actions increase and distressing anxiety is eased. However, these ideas are not well supported by empirical and theoretical evidence. This study aimed to test the hypotheses that 1) climate anxiety causes pro-environmental behaviour to increase over time, and 2) pro-environmental behaviour causes climate anxiety to decrease over time. A sample of 700 Australian and New Zealand adults was recruited via the online research platform Prolific and surveyed monthly on five occasions. Data were analysed using a random intercept cross-lagged panel model, which controlled for stable, between-person differences while focusing on dynamic within-person changes over time. The study found no evidence of a causal relationship between climate anxiety and pro-environmental behaviour. Higher levels of climate anxiety at one wave were not significantly associated with higher levels of pro-environmental behaviour at the following wave, and higher levels of pro-environmental behaviour at one wave were not significantly associated with lower levels of climate anxiety at the next wave. Furthermore, levels of climate anxiety were very low across the sample, indicating that climate anxiety, experienced at a level that causes clinically significant emotional and cognitive impairment, is relatively rare. These findings suggest that climate anxiety is unlikely to have the helpful side effect of increasing an individual’s engagement in pro-environmental behaviour, but neither will it deter a person from taking action. Moreover, taking action is unlikely to reduce climate anxiety. Further scholarship is needed to investigate climate anxiety and its complex relationship with pro-environmental behaviour.Item Sustainable social work : a response to the climate emergency from social work education and practice in Aotearoa, New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand(Massey University, 2020) Ellis, LynseyEvidence of the climate emergency is apparent in changing weather systems, rising sea levels, temperature extremes and challenges to food, energy and water security. These physical impacts have health and social implications that increase resource pressures and exacerbate inequities across all social systems. Those tasked with supporting the most vulnerable in the community must plan to face these challenges. Social workers in practice and education across Aotearoa New Zealand need to better understand the relevance of climate change impacts on their practice and prepare for a resilient future. The climate emergency has arrived and the time for action is now. This educational action research, informed by Transformative learning theory and the Transtheoretical model of change, engages social workers, students and educators across Aotearoa New Zealand in a process of transformative learning about the climate change impacts on their work. Transformative learning theory informs the design and interpretation of qualitative data generated through three action research cycles. These include educational workshops, individual interviews and focus groups. Working in collaboration with key stakeholders this thesis identifies the educational and support needs of future social workers. From the findings emerge a working definition of Sustainable Social Work, an educational framework for the future social work curriculum and a Model of Sustainable Action. Each creates a practice-based response to the climate emergency underway in Aotearoa New Zealand.Item Evaluation of New Zealand's absolute environmental sustainability performance : development and application of a method to assess the climate change performance of New Zealand's economic sectors : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Science in Environmental Life Cycle Management, School of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand(Massey University, 2019) Chandrakumar, ChanjiefExisting environmental sustainability assessment methods such as Life Cycle Assessment and environmental footprints quantify the environmental impacts of a system and compare it to a system that is similar to the nature or the function of the examined system. Hence, they are referred to as relative environmental sustainability assessment (RESA) methods. Although they provide useful information to improve the eco-efficiency of the system at a particular economic level, they generally fail to inform the environmental sustainability performance of a system against the so-called absolute environmental boundaries. Therefore, the significance of the contribution of an examined system to the overall environmental impacts of human activities is mostly overlooked. To address the limitations associated with RESA methods, researchers have suggested the development of absolute environmental sustainability assessment (AESA) methods, which guide how human societies can operate and develop within absolute environmental boundaries. In this context, this research investigated the development of an innovative AESA framework called ‘Absolute Sustainability-based Life Cycle Assessment’ (ASLCA) based on the environmental indicators and absolute environmental boundaries proposed in three popular frameworks: Planetary Boundaries, Sustainable Development Goals and Life Cycle Assessment. The proposed framework was applied to assess the production-based climate change performance of New Zealand agrifood sector, particularly in terms of the two-degree Celsius (2°C) climate target. The results showed that the production-based greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of New Zealand agri-food sector and its products exceeded the assigned shares of the 2°C global carbon budget. Similar results were observed when the consumptionbased climate change performance of a typical New Zealand detached house was evaluated against the 2°C climate target. The framework was then applied to address the consumption-based climate change performance of an economic system using environmentally-extended multi-regional inputoutput analysis. This framework was used to evaluate the consumption-based climate change performance of New Zealand’s total economy (covering 16 sectors) in 2011 against the 2°C climate target, and the outcomes were compared with the production-based climate change performance in the given year. The consumption-based analysis showed that New Zealand exceeded the assigned share of the 2°C global carbon budget; the consumptionbased GHG emissions were 26% more than the assigned carbon budget share. However, the sector-level analysis indicated that three of the 16 sectors (financial and trade services, other services and miscellaneous) were within their assigned carbon budget shares. When the consumption-based GHG emissions were compared with the production-based GHG emissions, New Zealand was a net exporter of GHG emissions in 2011, and the dominating sectors were quite different. The results clearly imply that a significant reduction in GHG emissions associated with New Zealand’s consumption and production activities are necessary to stay within the assigned shares of the 2°C global carbon budget. Given that AESA methods (including ASLCA) are built upon multiple value and modelling choices, the outcomes of these studies may vary depending upon these choices. Therefore, the influence of different value and modelling choices on the outcomes of the ASLCA was investigated, particularly regarding the choice of GHG accounting method, the choice of climate threshold, the choice of approach to calculate the global carbon budget, and the choice of sharing principle to assign a share of the global carbon budget. The analysis showed that, for each GHG accounting method the largest uncertainty was associated with the choice of climate threshold, followed by the choice of sharing principle, and then the choice of calculation method for the global carbon budget. Overall, the proposed ASLCA framework aims to address the question, “Are the environmental impacts of a system within the assigned share of the Earth’s carrying capacity, and if not, what is the required reduction?” The outcomes of this research are useful to support policymakers in understanding the climate impacts of different economic sectors, goods and services, relative to global climate targets. The approach provides a basis for developing a range of environmental impact reduction targets that can potentially catalyse innovation and investment in the environmentally-transformative activities and technologies that are needed to enable human societies to operate and develop within the Earth’s “safe operating space”.Item The use of plant functional types as a method of determining plant biodiversity and keystoneness in a northern New Zealand isocline : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Science in Plant Science at Massey University, New Zealand(Massey University, 1999) Lee, William GeorgeNew Zealand vegetation, like the rest of the world, is undergoing increased perturbations due to global climate change. Whether anthropocentric in origin or part of a natural climatic cycle, increased CO₂, increased temperature plus changing regimes of precipitation have been recorded. Environmental change, especially at local levels, does affect community structure. New Zealand's ancient endemic trees and shrubs face the greatest threat of extinction, mainly due to habitat destruction by man for development and by introduced pests. The consequence could be that these trees and shrubs would not be able to migrate naturally in the time frame that climatic change will allow. The use of Plant Functional Types in climate change research is extensive and these groupings are being used more frequently in the study of diversity response to environmental change. The objectives of the Maunganui Bluff study were to develop a methodology to construct PFTs and to utilise these functional groupings in an analysis of the isocline. These analyses were; a diversity study based on richness and abundance, a site ordination and a group analysis. A total of forty-eight PFTs were constructed, then reduced to seventeen. The final seventeen functional groups were used in the following analyses. 1. A diversity analysis. While not appearing useful in comparing species evenness to PFT evenness over the isocline, the analysis did confirm that at that point in space and time when sampling was undertaken, PFTs did conform to the assembly rule for groups. This rule states that there should be equal representation of functional groups at each site from the total available pool 2. Ordination. The second analysis was to determine the effect of the local environment on the spatial position of the PFTs on the isocline. Detrended Correlation Analysis (DCA), an ordination technique, was used to map the groups and the sites against environmental gradients. The results signified that a small number of groups were strongly influenced by potassium (K) but the majority of groups occupied specific sites, on an altitude – phosphorus and nitrogen gradient, due to competition for resources. This summation is supported by altitude being linked to precipitation and leaching, since most of the other environmental data, measured and analysed, were correlated to altitude. 3. Group analysis using Indicator Species Analysis in the computer programme PCORD. The statistical analysis highlighted three PFTs with high keystone rankings p*>.800), one of which was missed by a subjective analysis of the site map of PFTs distribution. When these three groups were deconstructed back to species, the membership of each group was only one species. Of these three species, only Haloragis erecta appeared to be out of place within the gradient. Four hundred metres in altitude is well beyond the plants recognised limit of approximately 120 metres. Since sea level to one hundred and fifty metres is the shrubland zone and site K is also, by species sampled, designated a shrubland, there is evidence that some environmental factor may be associated with these sites. Obviously, this cannot be tested, as there were no Haloragis erecta in the sampled sites from sea level to one hundred and fifty metres. The analysis suffered from a lack of replication for the site under study, as well as comparative sites, to determine the validity of the methodologies. The results while encouraging only reflect a point in both space and time. The work would have needed a much larger range of environmental data, over a longer time frame to ensure that the results were not chance, and would be sustained under more detailed statistical rigor. Many of the premises that the work was based on are subjective. However, despite the lack of statistical rigor, the study confirms the work being carried out using PFTs in other countries. New Zealand's endemic plants do have assembly rules and PFTs constructed with New Zealand natives are valid assemblages that can be used in statistical analysis, and may well turn out to be important in monitoring environmental change.Item PREM : Personalised residential energy model : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree Master of Applied Science in Natural Resource Engineering at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2004) Keller, RetoClimate change is a major world environmental problem accepted by these governments who have ratified the Kyoto Protocol which aims to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) internationally 5% below the 1990 level during 2008 to 2012. The Protocol needed the ratification of Russia to get into force as the United States and Australia withdrew from the protocol. The New Zealand government ratified the protocol with the negotiated goal to reduce the GHGs back to the level of 1990. The main driver of this study is to help people reducing their personal GHG emissions in order to meet the government's objective of the Kyoto Protocol. Many people know about climate change and understand they will need to change their lifestyle significantly to reduce their GHG emissions. The how and where to change is often unclear. People need to be incentivised in order to encourage emission reduction. Some GHG-calculators already exist, but mostly without practical personalised suggestions and financial effects. This study aimed to develop a model which targeted responses by individuals based on their lifestyle and interests. The Personalised Residential Energy Model (PREM) which was developed in this study uses findings of energy related behaviours from existing psychological and technical research to develop an easy to handle and individualised computer model to assess a person's current energy demand. It includes household and travel demand and assesses the general ecological behaviour. Users will be provided with relevant information to assist them to seek practical and economic solutions in order to reduce their personal CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions which is the main GHG in the assessed sectors. Starting with the current situation as a baseline, it establishes which behaviours have the highest probability of being undertaken by the person to lower their energy demand. Information about the financial effect and the CO2 emission reductions are provided for specific activities. Energy efficiency and conservation are the main focus of the model output. Further research could include the possible use of renewable energy. Using PREM found changes in domestic dwellings and transportation vehicles to be an important factor in reducing anthropogenic CO2 emissions. The model is made for New Zealand conditions but can be adapted to suit any other country.Item How might critique respond to the urgency of climate change? : a challenge for environmental communication : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2017) Stephens, MurdochScientists, journalists, politicians and academics regularly describe climate change as both urgent and a crisis. During times that demand urgent action academic disciplines, like communication, also need to take critique more seriously. In contrast to accepting the one-dimensional premise that crisis simply demands action, this thesis also proposes that crisis demands critique. Starting with an assessment of the current shape of critique and critical theories in environmental communication as a distinct sub-field of communications studies, this project addresses the broader prospect for critique by examining the work of four key scholars who have spent significant time addressing climate change. First, the study contrasts Peter Sloterdijk’s trilogy of books on spheres that highlights the spatiality of the humans living in an atmosphere, with his anthropotechnic work on how humans go beyond themselves through practice, training and other technologies. Next, the study examines the role of ecological crisis in the work of Slavoj Žižek with special emphasis on his theorising of climate change as one of four existential threats to the world, which necessitates a communist response. The third theorist, Timothy Morton, interrogates how ecological texts privilege the essentialised concept of nature and the subjectivity of the ‘beautiful soul’ in a manner that undermines the politics of adequately responding to climate crisis. Finally, the study considers Bruno Latour’s insights into how climate change is communicated when the tools of critique have been appropriated by those who seek to use doubt to prevent action. Bringing these theorists together, the study concludes by highlighting four key themes that add critical depth to discussions within environmental communication: the topics of anthropocentrism in the Anthropocene, the global scale of climate change, the role of communism in political responses, and the (mis)use of the concept of nature. The study ends by bringing these themes back to the sub-field of environmental communication, making a series of recommendations to renew the relationship of doubt and scepticism to critique.Item Understanding New Zealand public opinion on climate change : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Politics at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand(Massey University, 2017) Allan, RossThis project explored how climate change is understood by members of the New Zealand public and how these understandings relate to their climate-related policy preferences and actions. Although climate change is regarded as one of the most serious threats facing humanity, there remains a gap between scientific findings and the political responses in New Zealand and the wider international community. Given that public opinion is a key driver to political action on the matter, it is important to understand its complexities, how it is constructed and shaped, and how it relates to behavioural preferences and practices. The research literature, however, reveals an emphasis on the polling of New Zealanders' opinions on climate change and a neglect of these dynamics. To address this lacuna, the study explored the climate change understandings and actions of six New Zealanders in rural and urban settings. In-depth, semi-structured, one-on-one interviews and the methodological approach of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis were used to gain rich insight into the lived experiences of climate change. The analysis of data revealed four key themes, which depicted climate change as a physical process; as a sociocultural story; as a personal story; and as a call to action. Despite a general understanding of the veracity of climate change and its human causation there is evidence of widespread conflation with other environmental phenomena, distrust of elites, and subtle forms of denial, which together hamper effective action. Shaped by various beliefs, values, and experiences, the heterogeneity of interpretations implies the need for disaggregated research into climate change public opinion, and for tailored strategies in designing climate policy, activating behavioural change, engendering policy support, and mobilising collective action.Item The gender dimensions of environmental change : an exploration of the experiences and perceptions of rural men and women in Zimbabwe : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand(Massey University, 2016) Shumba, Dorcas Stellah TsitsiProcesses of environmental change have taken place for centuries both as a result of natural variability and anthropogenic forces. As a concept however, environmental change continues to be used narrowly to refer to environmental changes which are biophysical in nature, and mostly those with global precedence. In recent times incidences of environmental change have become more complex as new patterns of change are threatening the livelihoods of those living in developing countries, undoing many development gains. As such, there is an increasing desire to understand the implications of environmental changes, particularly for those whose livelihoods are natural resource dependent, many of whom live in rural areas, and many of whom are poor. Despite this growing interest, rural people and especially the rural poor are little seen or heard; their environmental change experiences are thus misunderstood, and solutions proposed do not take into consideration the local context or experiences. There remains also a normative perspective which positions women as automatically vulnerable to environmental change, specifically vis-à-vis men. In doing so women’s experiences of environmental change are homogenised and men’s experiences are rendered invisible. Drawing on the case of Zimbabwe this study critically considers the experiences and perceptions of rural men and women to environmental change so as to ascertain gendered impacts and differential vulnerabilities. To capture fully the subjective lived experience of both men and women to environmental change, this study lends itself to qualitative research. Thus research methods such as semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and gender analysis are central to the methodology. In terms of findings, this study argues against looking at environmental change as a technocratic subject accessible only from a global frame and accessed only by a technocratic few, proposing that the people experiencing environmental change at a local level should determine the environmental changes of communal concern. This study also highlights the importance of understanding the vulnerabilities of rural men and women within a well-conceived notion of context, taking into account rural disadvantage resulting from colonialism, and the current Zimbabwean crisis.Item Breakdown of governance : a critical analysis of New Zealand's climate change response : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand(Massey University, 2016) Rimmer, DanielThis thesis critically analyses the organisation and practice of climate change governance in New Zealand. Grounded in neo-Marxist state theory, the research identifies and deconstructs the political and economic structures that have shaped New Zealand’s policy response to climate change from 1988 to 2012. The fourth Labour Government, acting in response to the emergent threat of anthropogenic climate change, initiated New Zealand’s Climate Change Programme (NZ CCP). Subsequent governments persevered with the NZ CCP; effecting a relatively continuous pattern of minimal interventionist and least cost policy change. This culminated in late 2008, with the passage of the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS) – a comprehensive, all sector economic instrument that would impose a price on domestic greenhouse gases. Despite this policy change, the NZ CCP has failed as an ameliorative response to climate change. Between 1990 and 2012, New Zealand’s gross emissions increased by 21 percent. Furthermore, there has been little evidence to suggest that the response has encouraged either afforestation or greater investment in renewable energy. To this point, little progress has been made in decarbonising New Zealand’s economy. Using Marxian systems-analysis, the research treats this pattern of policy change as a case study of policy breakdown and dysfunctional governance. The predominant (and ineffectual) mode of governance practiced in New Zealand is argued an outcome of the contradictory structural dynamics of New Zealand’s capitalist state. In the first instance, the state is functionally obliged to develop remedial climate change policy in response to the existential threat of climate change. This involves the formulation of policy that directly intervenes in New Zealand’s productive sources of greenhouse gas emissions. However, in the second instance, the state is constrained in its policy-making activities by the systemic logic of capital. This precludes the formulation of authoritative interventionist policy capable of effecting behavioural changes in carbon-intensive actors. Moreover, the capitalist biases of New Zealand’s climate change response precipitate legitimation crises, further undermining the state’s ability to drive mitigation and adaptation efforts. Policy change wrought between discordant systemic imperatives is invariably subject to policy breakdown. As this dysfunction is structural in nature, the thesis argues that modern capitalist states cannot practice a meaningful politics of climate change.