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    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 Hong
    Drawing 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.
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    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, Ross
    This 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.
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    Trends in New Zealand climate change policy 1988 - 2006 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Public Policy at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2007) Harbrow, Malcolm Robert
    Since 1988 the New Zealand government has participated in an international effort to limit climate change. This study focuses on the domestic policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions pursued over the period 1988 - 2006, using information drawn from public sources and obtained under the Official Information Act. The science of climate change, international legal framework, and New Zealand's emissions are briefly described to provide the context for policy. The history of domestic climate change policy between 1988 and 2005 is reviewed, and the policies released over the course of 2006 examined. The long-term trends in policy are analysed, and the 2006 policy assessed against them to determine whether it represents a continuation or departure from those trends. Finally, some brief policy recommendations are made. The analysis of long-term trends shows that the New Zealand government has consistently preferred economic instruments over regulatory ones in the effort to reduce emissions, and that it has consistently excluded agriculture from policy. There has also been a heavy reliance on forest sinks at the expense of emissions reductions. Finally, there has been a repeated failure to implement policy, particularly in the area of putting a price on carbon. The 2006 policies broadly followed these trends, although with some important differences: there was a greater willingness to use regulation and the first steps towards incorporating agriculture were taken. Overall, the approach was more pragmatic than that taken previously.
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    Current and future climate change adaptation of a vulnerable coastal community on the Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand : a thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Planning at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2010) Schneider, Paul
    Scientific as well as anecdotal evidence indicate that climate change impacts are being experienced and are affecting communities vulnerable to climate change along the Coromandel Coast. It is therefore imperative to deepen understanding about adaptation to predicted changes, vulnerability and environmental governance efforts in the context of an ephemeral world and given distinctive local conditions, values, interests and experiences. Effective climate change adaptation requires authentic public participation and integration of scientific and local and traditional environmental knowledge. The aim of this research is to recognise the impacts of climate change on a coastal community on the Coromandel Peninsula and analyse the guidance required to facilitate effective adaptation. The approach chosen examines the relationship between local perceptions and national and international guidance in order to identify key principles for meaningful local adaptation. This thesis outlines key principles to manage climate change impacts based on a process of adaptation, sustainability, avoidance, remedy or mitigation of adverse effects, adoption of the precautionary principle, kaitiakitanga, local and traditional environmental knowledge, education and public awareness, governance, responsibility and liability, mainstreaming of climate change information, vulnerability, risk and preparedness for planning and policy decisions. The applied focus is on the local scale to establish an understanding of how vulnerable coastal communities like Te Puru, on the Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand, are affected by projected climate change and how adaptation can be achieved meaningfully and successfully. This research thus contributes to a comprehension of local relevance of climate change and identifies key factors in the light of national and international climate change guidance.