Saphira is a Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Sustainable Finance at The University of Queensland, Australia, and has a PhD in Finance. She is a world-leading scholar in the field of corporate Paris Compliance measurement and is a leading academic involved in developing science-based emission reduction methodologies.
Saphira's research focuses on tools to measure and verify the efficacy of decarbonisation commitments by corporations and financial institutions, a cross-disciplinary research area of increasing global relevance. During her 4 month secondment at Princeton University in 2019 she co-developed the Rapid Switch Australia project, as part of the Princeton-led Rapid Switch initiative. She now leads the Are You Paris Compliant program, composed of academics from UQ, Oxford and Princeton, which evaluates the alignment of companies and investment portfolios with the Paris Agreement. Saphira is a member of the Technical Working Group of the Science Based Targets initiative for the oil and gas sector, where she continues to advise and develop appropriate methodologies for science-based targets, as well as the Scientific Advisory Group. She has also been a key contributor to the EU climate benchmarking regulation, which her contribution to quantifying the benchmark is still intact after several revisions and is one of the key outcomes of the new regulation. Saphira's research is cross-disciplinary and she has published in high impact journals such Nature Climate Change and Nature Communications, as well as several other highly ranked academic journals. Her 2022 article in Nature Communications has gained global attention and led to a collaborative project with Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages one of the largest funds globally, to evaluate the steel sector on their Paris Compliance. She has ongoing collaborations with numerous industry partners and is a CI on six successful grants (total $780,074.26).
Saphira has received several awards; most recently she received the “Best Paper Award 2021” from the highly ranked journal Business & Society; she received the “UQBS Excellence in Innovation” Award for co-leading Australia’s first Carbon Literacy course; she won the UN Responsible Investment’s essay competition in 2018 (on the integration of responsible investment in financial education); the UQ Business School 2017 Teaching Award (Tutor) and she was a recipient of the prestigious International Post-graduate Research Scholarships for her PhD in 2014. Saphira is passionate about teaching; her teaching evaluations are consistently outstanding, she has participated in four Student-Staff Partnership projects, designed a core first year finance course, and has been actively supervising honours, Masters and PhD students, as well as post-doctorals and student industry projects. She is also a regular panellist at conferences and forums such as the European Commission Conference on Sustainable Finance and the Princeton E-ffiliates Retreat.
Saphira is also the selected UQ academic staff representative for Unisuper (188/211 votes) since 2020; she intensively coached a team of UQ students that won second place in the Global Business Challenge in 2019 ($15,000); she advocated for, and integrated, Environmental, Social and Governance factors in the Student Management Investment Fund and served as ESG advisor prior to co-leading the fund. She serves as a regular reviewer for the top-journals Nature Climate Change, Nature Sustainability and Nature Communications.
Other Outputs: Only 57 producers are responsible for 80% of all fossil fuel and cement CO2 emissions since 2016 – new report
Ives, Matthew, Wade, Belinda and Rekker, Saphira (2024, 04 04). Only 57 producers are responsible for 80% of all fossil fuel and cement CO2 emissions since 2016 – new report The Conversation
Book: Sustainable Finance
Humphrey, Jacquelyn, Rekker, Saphira, Gilbert, Aaron, Henry, Ella and Scott, Ayesha (2024). Sustainable Finance. Brisbane, Australia: The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/b2ba0a3
Journal Article: Understanding the lobbying actions taken by the Australian renewable energy industry
Botrel, Clara Almeida, Rekker, Saphira, Wade, Belinda and Wilson, Syvannah (2024). Understanding the lobbying actions taken by the Australian renewable energy industry. Journal of Cleaner Production, 434 139674, 1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.139674
Paris-compliance: assessing companies and portfolios
(2024–2027) ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
The Role of Leading Indicators in the Transition to Net-Zero Emissions in Climate Sensitive Sectors
(2021–2022) Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand
Design for minimum environmental footprint
Doctor Philosophy
Paris Alignment in Finance
Doctor Philosophy
The Role of AI-Leadership interaction in improving expenditure management in Australian local government procurement processes
Doctor Philosophy
Humphrey, Jacquelyn, Rekker, Saphira, Gilbert, Aaron, Henry, Ella and Scott, Ayesha (2024). Sustainable Finance. Brisbane, Australia: The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/b2ba0a3
Understanding the lobbying actions taken by the Australian renewable energy industry
Botrel, Clara Almeida, Rekker, Saphira, Wade, Belinda and Wilson, Syvannah (2024). Understanding the lobbying actions taken by the Australian renewable energy industry. Journal of Cleaner Production, 434 139674, 1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.139674
Evaluating fossil fuel companies’ alignment with 1.5 °C climate pathways
Rekker, Saphira, Chen, Guangwu, Heede, Richard, Ives, Matthew C., Wade, Belinda and Greig, Chris (2023). Evaluating fossil fuel companies’ alignment with 1.5 °C climate pathways. Nature Climate Change, 13 (9), 927-934. doi: 10.1038/s41558-023-01734-0
The contribution of cross-border capital flow towards decarbonisation
Emodi, Nnaemeka Vincent, Rekker, Saphira, Greig, Chris, Wade, Belinda, Inekwe, John Nkwoma and Zakari, Abdulrasheed (2023). The contribution of cross-border capital flow towards decarbonisation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 405 137040, 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.137040
Measuring corporate Paris Compliance using a strict science-based approach
Rekker, S., Ives, M. C., Wade, B., Webb, L. and Greig, C. (2022). Measuring corporate Paris Compliance using a strict science-based approach. Nature Communications, 13 (1) 4441, 1-11. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-31143-4
A systematic review of barriers to greenfield investment in decarbonisation solutions
Emodi, Nnaemeka Vincent, Wade, Belinda, Rekker, Saphira and Greig, Chris (2022). A systematic review of barriers to greenfield investment in decarbonisation solutions. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 165 112586, 112586. doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2022.112586
Research can (and should) support corporate decarbonization
Wade, Belinda and Rekker, Saphira (2020). Research can (and should) support corporate decarbonization. Nature Climate Change, 10 (12), 1064-1065. doi: 10.1038/s41558-020-00936-0
Do sustainability rating schemes capture climate goals?
Rekker, Saphira A. C., Humphrey, Jacquelyn E. and O’Brien, Katherine R. (2019). Do sustainability rating schemes capture climate goals?. Business & Society, 60 (1), 000765031982576-160. doi: 10.1177/0007650319825764
Comparing extraction rates of fossil fuel producers against global climate goals
Rekker, Saphira A. C., O’Brien, Katherine R., Humphrey, Jacquelyn E. and Pascale, Andrew C. (2018). Comparing extraction rates of fossil fuel producers against global climate goals. Nature Climate Change, 8 (6), 489-492. doi: 10.1038/s41558-018-0158-1
Faff, Robert W., Babakhani, Nazila, Carrick, Robin, Chen, Angel, Dallest, Kathy, Daunt, Lisa, Escobar, Marisol, Foley, Gabe, Gill, Chelsea, Khong, Bo Xuan, Liu, Mengxi (Maggie), Mahmud, Siti, McCullough, Jon, Ndugwa, Zina, Nguyen, Bao, O'Brien, Shari, Orole, Felix, Qureshi, Asma, Rad, Hossein, Rekker, Saphira, Shahzad, Syed, Smith, Marita, Tran, Tran Le, Tunny, William and Wallin, Ann (2017). Motivating postgrad research students to pitch their ideas: what have we learned from 'pitching research' competitions at UQ?. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2899942
The relationship between culture and information privacy policy
Cockcroft, Sophie and Rekker, Saphira (2016). The relationship between culture and information privacy policy. Electronic Markets, 26 (1), 55-72. doi: 10.1007/s12525-015-0195-9
Rekker, Saphira (2016). Converting planetary boundaries into action, a new approach to meeting global greenhouse gas targets: A pitch. Accounting and Management Information Systems, 15 (1), 160-167.
Divestment from fossil fuel companies: confluence between policy and strategic viewpoints
Linnenluecke, Martina, Meath. Cristyn, Rekker, Saphira, Sidhu, Baljit and Smith, Tom (2015). Divestment from fossil fuel companies: confluence between policy and strategic viewpoints. Australian Journal of Management, 40 (3), 478-487. doi: 10.1177/0312896215569794
Rekker, Saphira A. C., Benson, Karen L. and Faff, Robert W. (2014). Corporate social responsibility and CEO compensation revisited, do disaggregation, market stress, sender matter?. Journal of Economics and Business, 72, 84-103. doi: 10.1016/j.jeconbus.2013.11.001
Do high and low-ranked sustainability stocks perform differently?
Lee, Darren, Faff, Robert and Rekker, Saphira (2013). Do high and low-ranked sustainability stocks perform differently?. International Journal of Accounting and Information Management, 21 (2), 116-132. doi: 10.1108/18347641311312267
Ives, Matthew, Wade, Belinda and Rekker, Saphira (2024, 04 04). Only 57 producers are responsible for 80% of all fossil fuel and cement CO2 emissions since 2016 – new report The Conversation
Rekker, Saphira and Wade, Belinda (2023, 08 18). Nearly two-thirds of the top fossil fuel producers in Australia and the world aren’t on track for 1.5℃ climate target The Conversation
Australian Superannuation Funds - Climate management and disclosure: Technical report
Wade, Belinda, Isaacs, Ryan, Rekker, Saphira, Cook, Ryan, Gleeson, Paul and Kniprath, Ina (2023). Australian Superannuation Funds - Climate management and disclosure: Technical report. Brisbane, QLD Australia: Aurecon Australasia Group.
Evaluating fossil fuel companies’ alignment with 1.5°C climate pathways
Rekker, Saphira (2023). Evaluating fossil fuel companies’ alignment with 1.5°C climate pathways. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/1357886
The Paris-compliant company: Measuring transition performance using a strict science-based approach
Rekker, Saphira, Ives, Matthew, Wade, Belinda, Greig, Chris and Webb, Lachlan (2021). The Paris-compliant company: Measuring transition performance using a strict science-based approach. INET Working Paper. No. 2021-03. University of Oxford, INET.
Rekker, Saphira (2021). Raw data for figures in "The Paris Compliant Company: Measuring transition performance against the Paris goals using a strict science-based approach". The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/289d707
Rekker, Saphira (2019). Measuring corporate performance in meeting climate change limits using a planetary boundaries approach. PhD Thesis, School of Business, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2019.437
A Planetary Boundaries Approach to Measuring Corporate Environmental Performance
Rekker, Saphira (2018). A Planetary Boundaries Approach to Measuring Corporate Environmental Performance. PhD Thesis, School of Business, The University of Queensland.
Rekker, Saphira (2018). Fossil fuel producers' reserves (2010) and production (2010-2015) burnable fossil fuel allowances, proportion extracted (2011-2015), and estimated year to finish. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/uql.2018.115
Tying green bonds to Australia’s commitments to the COP 21 agreement
Rekker, Saphira and Humphrey, Jacquelyn (2016). Tying green bonds to Australia’s commitments to the COP 21 agreement. Brisbane, Australia:
Paris-compliance: assessing companies and portfolios
(2024–2027) ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
The Role of Leading Indicators in the Transition to Net-Zero Emissions in Climate Sensitive Sectors
(2021–2022) Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand
Design for minimum environmental footprint
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Paris Alignment in Finance
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
The Role of AI-Leadership interaction in improving expenditure management in Australian local government procurement processes
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors: