By Annette Greenhow
Centre for Commercial Law and Governance - Member Spotlight
Dr Maria Nicolae* on Climate Disclosure and Bank Accountability
The Centre for Commercial Law and Governance is pleased to showcase the research of Centre member Dr Maria Nicolae, whose Doctor of Philosophy was recently conferred by the University of Tasmania under the supervision of Dr Rachel Baird, Dr Benjamin Richardson and Dr Heather Forrest. Maria's doctoral research aligns perfectly with the Centre’s focus and sits at the intersection of corporate law, financial regulation and climate governance. Her thesis examines one of the most pressing challenges facing contemporary markets: how corporate climate disclosures can support transparency, accountability and informed stakeholder oversight.
The summary below outlines the key questions, findings and recommendations arising from Maria’s research.
Thesis Summary
Maria’s thesis critically analyses the capacity of climate disclosure frameworks to enable investors to make informed decisions and regulate Australian banks’ climate action performance. Climate change presents a complex and urgent challenge requiring coordinated action across governments, corporations and financial institutions. Banks play a particularly significant role because they contribute to greenhouse gas emissions not only through their own operations but also through their financing and investment decisions. As investors, shareholders and depositors increasingly seek evidence of meaningful climate action, access to reliable and transparent information becomes essential. Climate disclosure frameworks have emerged as important mechanisms for communicating climate action performance, yet questions remain regarding whether existing frameworks adequately capture and communicate the quality, credibility and comparability of that performance.
The central question addressed in the thesis is whether public disclosures by Australian banks, made pursuant to selected mandatory and voluntary domestic and international climate disclosure frameworks, demonstrate meaningful engagement in climate action and facilitate accountability to stakeholders.
To answer Maria’s research question, the thesis examines leading international frameworks, particularly the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), alongside Australian legislative requirements under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 (Cth) and the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). The analysis also considers guidance issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). These frameworks and regulatory instruments were selected for their prominence in the Australian financial sector and their influence on contemporary climate reporting practices.
The thesis further investigates how disclosure frameworks operate in practice by examining the climate-related reporting of Australia's Big Four banks: Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Westpac Banking Corporation, and National Australia Bank. The analysis draws upon both general corporate reporting documents, such as annual reports and annual reviews, and specialised sustainability and climate reports. Attention is given to reporting periods corresponding with significant international and domestic developments, including the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, shareholder litigation concerning climate disclosure, evolving regulatory guidance and proposals for mandatory climate reporting in Australia.
Maria’s research found that although climate disclosure frameworks have enhanced transparency and contributed to greater standardisation, important limitations remain. These include shortcomings in the scope and depth of disclosure requirements, insufficient prescriptiveness, inconsistent data and weaknesses in oversight and enforcement mechanisms. The thesis argues that these limitations collectively reduce the usefulness of disclosures for stakeholders seeking to assess banks’ climate action performance. While recent legislative reforms, including the Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Act 2024 (Cth), represent significant progress, some of these challenges persist.
Maria’s thesis concluded that climate disclosure frameworks should evolve beyond their current reporting function to become more effective instruments of strategic communication, regulatory enforcement and stakeholder empowerment. It proposes a series of reforms to strengthen the effectiveness of climate disclosure frameworks by addressing identified deficiencies and better aligning disclosure requirements with stakeholder information needs and the broader objectives of climate governance. In doing so, the research contributes to contemporary debates on corporate climate accountability, financial sector governance and the role of disclosure in addressing systemic environmental risks.
Maria's findings make an important contribution to the growing body of scholarship on sustainable finance and corporate governance. Her work evaluates whether existing disclosure frameworks provide investors and other stakeholders with meaningful information about banks' climate action performance and identifies reforms needed to strengthen accountability and regulatory effectiveness. This illustrates the increasingly important role that disclosure frameworks play in shaping corporate responses to climate-related risks and opportunities. By critically examining both regulatory design and disclosure practice, Maria’s thesis demonstrates that transparency alone is insufficient unless supported by consistent standards, meaningful oversight and mechanisms that enable stakeholders to hold institutions accountable.
Congratulations Maria! We can’t wait to hear about the next exciting chapter in your post-doctoral research.
*Maria is a member of the Centre for Commercial Law and Governance and a member of the Society of Corporate Law Academic 2027 Conference, hosted by the Faculty of Law and the Centre for Commercial Law and Governance, Bond University. The SCoLA 2027 Conference details can be found here.