Associate ProfessorSophie Webber

Sophie is an economic geographer and political ecologist who conducts research about the use and effectiveness of market and financial tools in climate change policy, particularly in adaptation and resilience.

Sophie's research is focused in two areas: 

• With collaborators in geography and political economy, she has examined the emerging instruments and institutional configurations of climate finance within climate-changing capitalism. Her book with A/Prof Gareth Bryant (Political Economy at Sydney) examined the pressures and opportunities created by different 'positions' on climate finance and the uneven implications of this around the world. With Gareth, Sophie now leads a team examining the emerging tools and outcomes of state investment in Australia's Climate Economy. 
• Focusing on Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Sophie studies the economic geographies of urban resilience in climate hotspots. Her research in this areas has contributed to debates about the forms and implications of urban climate finance and infrastrcutures within global development institutions. Most recently, Sophie has examined the material and labour economies of large scales climate infrastructures which seek to protect cities from climate risks.  

Sophie's research aligns with the Faculty of Science Research Strengths - Sustainability, Decision-Making for a Sustainable Future, Climate and Environmental Change.