Svenja Keele

Following over a decade of professional experience in government and consulting in Australia and abroad I completed my doctoral research at the University of Melbourne investigating the emergence and influence of climate consulting on adaptation governance.

My research engages with the geographical political economies of climate change adaptation and related challenges including disaster resilience and energy transitions. I am particularly interested in the way government, business and expertise interact to shape policy choices and create new frontiers for investment and innovation. I draw on both qualitative and quantitative social science methodologies, with a focus on spatial processes and inequalities.

I have held postdoctoral positions at the Australian-Germany Energy Transition Hub with a joint University of Melbourne-RMIT project analysing governance, equity and privacy issues associated with the deployment of smart metering technology, and at the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute where I worked with Professor Lars Coenen and collaborated with Resilient Melbourne to investigate the role of the private sector in building urban resilience. I have partnered with the Lloyds Register Foundation and Arup on The Resilience Shift to investigate policy tools for embedding resilience in critical infrastructure, and the University of Melbourne and the Victorian Government on developing long term objectives for climate adaptation. Currently I am leading a project to map commercial climate services in Australia, and collaborating with University of Sydney colleagues on a project charting the emergence of new markets in urban resilience.

In my professional capacity I advised the public and private sectors extensively in environmental policy, management and approvals; sustainability strategies and rating tools; corporate sustainability and ethical investing; as well as climate change and energy efficiency. My professional experience spans diverse sectors including property development, energy generation/distribution (including renewables), transportation infrastructure, catchment management and urban water systems, community services and social housing, the banking and financial sector, mining and others.

APG5122 Corporate Sustainability

ENS5020 Perspectives on Sustainability

Climate services, climate analytics and information justice

Climate finance and the geographies of adaptation investment

Climate risk disclosure standards and practices

Business and climate change / disaster resilience

Climate adaptation governance in Australia