- Posted on 26 Aug 2025
- 3-minute read
Despite widespread net zero commitments, Dr Donna Lopata’s PhD reveals persistent sectoral barriers to a meaningful transition.
Australia’s superannuation funds risk missing the mark on meaningful climate action.
Realising there was a research gap on carbon risk in managed funds in Australia that needed to be urgently addressed, Donna utilised her industry knowledge to understand the pressures and opportunities for the sector and to contribute her research at the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF).
The scope of that challenge is immense and complex, more so than I realised at the beginning of my PhD. However, their ambition is important for protecting beneficiary assets from financially-material climate risk, but especially critical for limiting the impacts of climate change.
Achieving net zero portfolios
Superannuation funds play a critical role in managing retirement savings for most Australians, with a mandate to maximise long-term returns while mitigating financial risks, including those posed by climate change.
Donna’s research highlights that climate risks are unprecedented in scale and complexity, differing significantly from traditional financial risks. Given the global and diversified nature of superannuation portfolios, these risks are embedded across the real economy.
A key finding of Donna’s thesis is the distinction between net zero portfolio emissions, focused on short-term, financially material risks, and net zero planetary emissions, which encompass broader socio-environmental impacts often excluded from investment frameworks.
She explains, “That achieving net zero portfolio emissions is insufficient and will not achieve long-horizon sustainability. Whereas, reaching net zero planetary emissions requires vast systemic and legislative change. Risk parameters must extend beyond investment conventions and should including finance for climate solutions in ‘uninvestable’ economies.”
Ambition is a systems-level concern
Central to Donna’s ISF research is the concept of ambition as a driving force in the pursuit of net zero planetary emissions.
She notes, “Ambition is evolving as the central driver for the efficacy of sustainable finance in addressing the urgent and irreversible impacts of climate change. Ambition is a systems-level concern.”
One of Donna’s interviewees remarked, “I don't think anyone's going to look at a spreadsheet and suddenly feel passionate about climate change. It's going to come from either lived experience... The more stories that they can share and then how those stories are conveyed to investment teams and how those conversations change investment processes.”
Donna concludes that fostering individual ambition is key to accelerating sustainable finance in Australia.
Future in sustainable finance
But what’s next for Donna?
Following the completion of her PhD, Donna is applying her research in a post-thesis role with the Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC), the leading industry association supporting institutional investors in Australia and New Zealand to address climate-related risks and opportunities.
Her work contributes to industry transformation through thought leadership and practical tools, including research conducted by ISF’s Business, Economy and Governance team on systems stewardship.
She reflects, “I’m proud to be implementing my research in a practical, industry context.”