Evaluative governance for climate action in Australia

Anna M. Kotarba-Morley; Seth Westra; Gregory Andrews; Douglas Bardsley; Fran Baum; Peng Bi; Sean D. Connell; Christopher B. Daniels; Marina Delpin; Jared R. Dmello; Georgina Drew; Antony Eagle; Damien A. Fordham; Toby Freeman; Scott Hanson-Easey; Scott Hawken; Ariella Helfgott; Alice R. Jones; Sarah Keenihan; Mark Kohler; K. Mark Lawrence; Holger R. Maier; Dominic McAfee; Phillipa C. McCormack; Melissa J. Nursey-Bray; Patrick O’Connor; Stephanie Sheintul; Veronica Soebarto; Jared Thomas; Carmel Williams; Christopher Wilson; Andrew J. Lowe

doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01814-x

Evaluative governance for climate action in Australia

Anna M. Kotarba-Morley^*
, Seth Westra^*
, Gregory Andrews
, Douglas Bardsley
, Fran Baum
, Peng Bi
, Sean D. Connell
, Christopher B. Daniels
, Marina Delpin
, Jared R. Dmello
, Georgina Drew
, Antony Eagle
, Damien A. Fordham
, Toby Freeman
, Scott Hanson-Easey
, Scott Hawken
, Ariella Helfgott
, Alice R. Jones
, Sarah Keenihan
, Mark Kohler

K. Mark Lawrence, Holger R. Maier, Dominic McAfee, Phillipa C. McCormack, Melissa J. Nursey-Bray, Patrick O’Connor, Stephanie Sheintul, Veronica Soebarto, Jared Thomas, Carmel Williams, Christopher Wilson, Andrew J. Lowe

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review

Abstract

National climate risk frameworks catalogue threats but rarely define which risks are tolerable, to whom and how to decide. We propose embedding evaluative governance — the structures, processes and relationships that guide law, policy, deliberation, funding and evaluation — across the policy cycle to translate into accountable, equitable and adaptive climate action.

Original language	English
Journal	Nature Sustainability
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-026-01814-x
Publication status	Published - 11 May 2026
Externally published	Yes

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Kotarba-Morley, A. M., Westra, S., Andrews, G., Bardsley, D., Baum, F., Bi, P., Connell, S. D., Daniels, C. B., Delpin, M., Dmello, J. R., Drew, G., Eagle, A., Fordham, D. A., Freeman, T., Hanson-Easey, S., Hawken, S., Helfgott, A., Jones, A. R., Keenihan, S., ... Lowe, A. J. (2026). Evaluative governance for climate action in Australia. Nature Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-026-01814-x

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title = "Evaluative governance for climate action in Australia",

abstract = "National climate risk frameworks catalogue threats but rarely define which risks are tolerable, to whom and how to decide. We propose embedding evaluative governance — the structures, processes and relationships that guide law, policy, deliberation, funding and evaluation — across the policy cycle to translate into accountable, equitable and adaptive climate action.",

author = "Kotarba-Morley, \{Anna M.\} and Seth Westra and Gregory Andrews and Douglas Bardsley and Fran Baum and Peng Bi and Connell, \{Sean D.\} and Daniels, \{Christopher B.\} and Marina Delpin and Dmello, \{Jared R.\} and Georgina Drew and Antony Eagle and Fordham, \{Damien A.\} and Toby Freeman and Scott Hanson-Easey and Scott Hawken and Ariella Helfgott and Jones, \{Alice R.\} and Sarah Keenihan and Mark Kohler and Lawrence, \{K. Mark\} and Maier, \{Holger R.\} and Dominic McAfee and McCormack, \{Phillipa C.\} and Nursey-Bray, \{Melissa J.\} and Patrick O{\textquoteright}Connor and Stephanie Sheintul and Veronica Soebarto and Jared Thomas and Carmel Williams and Christopher Wilson and Lowe, \{Andrew J.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Springer Nature Limited 2026.",

year = "2026",

month = may,

day = "11",

doi = "10.1038/s41893-026-01814-x",

language = "English",

journal = "Nature Sustainability",

issn = "2398-9629",

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Kotarba-Morley, AM, Westra, S, Andrews, G, Bardsley, D, Baum, F, Bi, P, Connell, SD, Daniels, CB, Delpin, M, Dmello, JR, Drew, G, Eagle, A, Fordham, DA, Freeman, T, Hanson-Easey, S, Hawken, S, Helfgott, A, Jones, AR, Keenihan, S, Kohler, M, Lawrence, KM, Maier, HR, McAfee, D, McCormack, PC, Nursey-Bray, MJ, O’Connor, P, Sheintul, S, Soebarto, V, Thomas, J, Williams, C, Wilson, C & Lowe, AJ 2026, 'Evaluative governance for climate action in Australia', Nature Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-026-01814-x

TY - JOUR

T1 - Evaluative governance for climate action in Australia

AU - Kotarba-Morley, Anna M.

AU - Westra, Seth

AU - Andrews, Gregory

AU - Bardsley, Douglas

AU - Baum, Fran

AU - Bi, Peng

AU - Connell, Sean D.

AU - Daniels, Christopher B.

AU - Delpin, Marina

AU - Dmello, Jared R.

AU - Drew, Georgina

AU - Eagle, Antony

AU - Fordham, Damien A.

AU - Freeman, Toby

AU - Hanson-Easey, Scott

AU - Hawken, Scott

AU - Helfgott, Ariella

AU - Jones, Alice R.

AU - Keenihan, Sarah

AU - Kohler, Mark

AU - Lawrence, K. Mark

AU - Maier, Holger R.

AU - McAfee, Dominic

AU - McCormack, Phillipa C.

AU - Nursey-Bray, Melissa J.

AU - O’Connor, Patrick

AU - Sheintul, Stephanie

AU - Soebarto, Veronica

AU - Thomas, Jared

AU - Williams, Carmel

AU - Wilson, Christopher

AU - Lowe, Andrew J.

PY - 2026/5/11

Y1 - 2026/5/11

N2 - National climate risk frameworks catalogue threats but rarely define which risks are tolerable, to whom and how to decide. We propose embedding evaluative governance — the structures, processes and relationships that guide law, policy, deliberation, funding and evaluation — across the policy cycle to translate into accountable, equitable and adaptive climate action.

AB - National climate risk frameworks catalogue threats but rarely define which risks are tolerable, to whom and how to decide. We propose embedding evaluative governance — the structures, processes and relationships that guide law, policy, deliberation, funding and evaluation — across the policy cycle to translate into accountable, equitable and adaptive climate action.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105039506407

U2 - 10.1038/s41893-026-01814-x

DO - 10.1038/s41893-026-01814-x

M3 - Comment/debate

AN - SCOPUS:105039506407

SN - 2398-9629

JO - Nature Sustainability

JF - Nature Sustainability

ER -

Evaluative governance for climate action in Australia

Abstract

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