Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford

Elizabeth leads the Future of Engagement programme within the Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme at the University of Oxford's Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. She is a post-doctoral researcher with a focus on mainstreaming sustainable finance practices throughout global investment systems. She is committed to reducing the information and knowledge gaps between academia and industry, and is currently a technical advisor to the One Planet Sovereign Wealth Funds providing guidance to SWFs and asset managers controlling $18trn on the integration of climate change into their investment portfolios.

Elizabeth also teaches on Oxford's undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. She is a Stipendiary Lecturer in Human Geography at Jesus College and a Stevens-Barlow Junior Research Fellowship at Regent's Park College. She holds a master's degree with distinction in nature, society and environmental policy, and a doctorate in economic geography; both from the University of Oxford.

Elizabeth is a tutor in human geography at Jesus College. Jesus College typically has around 27 undergraduate geographers, and her responsibilities include giving tutorials, supervising dissertations, helping to set and mark college examinations and participating in admissions interviews.

She teaches on sustainable finance across various master's courses and summer programmes within the School of Geography and the Environment. Additionally she supervises dissertations by master's students in the Geography department.

Journal Articles

• Harnett, E. (2016) Social and asocial learning about climate change among institutional investors: lessons for stranded assets. Journal of Sustainable Finance, 7(1): 114-137.

Book Chapters

• Harnett, E. (2018) Stranded assets: an environmentally-driven framework of sunk costs. In, Caldecott, B. (ed.) Stranded Assets and the Environment: Risk, Resilience and Opportunity. Routledge, London.
• Harnett, E.S. (2018) Social and asocial learning about climate change among institutional investors: lessons for stranded assets. Chapter 4 in, Caldecott, B. (ed.) Stranded Assets: Developments in Finance and Investment. Routledge.

Reports

• Zhou, X., Caldecott, B.L., Harnett, E. and Schumacher, K. (2020) The Effect of Firm-level ESG Practices on Macroeconomic Performance. Working Paper, May 2020, Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme, Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.
• Caldecott, B.L., Harnett, E., Cojoianu, T., Kok, I. and Pfeiffer, A. (2016) Stranded assets: a climate risk challenge. Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, D.C., USA.
• Fries, J., Nolleth, S., Docherty, S., Harnett, E. and Ace, E. (2014) Enhancing Investor Engagement. The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability, London.
• Harnett, I., Harnett, E. and Edstrom, E. (2014) Stranded Assets: A New Concept but a Critical Risk. Absolute Thematics Research. Absolute Strategy Research, London.
• Harnett, E., Desai, A. and Olszyna-Marzys, R. (2013) The Century of the City. Absolute Thematics Research. Absolute Strategy Research, London.

Presentations

• Harnett, E. The effect of micro-ESG development on macro-economic performance and Practitioners’ perception and implementation of sustainable finance evidence from the City of London. 2nd Annual Conference of the Global Research Alliance on Sustainable Finance and Investment, University of Oxford. 2019.
• Harnett, E. The Geographies of Sustainable Finance Information and Knowledge Sharing. Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Washington D.C. 2019.
• Harnett, E. Instruments and measures for the foresighted integration of climate risks into the financial markets. German Environment Agency (UBA) Policy Dialogue on Climate Change: Opportunities and risks for the financial sector. Frankfurt. 2018.
• Harnett, E. How Learning, Language and Leadership Can Impact Institutional Investment Decisions on Climate Change. FIR-PRI Sustainable Finance Research Seminar and Award Ceremony, Paris. 2016.
• Harnett, E. Communicating Climate Change to Investors in the USA, UK and Australia. Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, San Francisco. 2016.
• Harnett, E. Communicating Climate Change Through the Investment Supply Chain: Lessons for Stranded Assets. Inaugural Global Stranded Assets Conference. Queen’s College, Oxford. 2015.

Working Papers

• Caldecott, B. and Harnett, E. (2019) One Planet Sovereign Wealth Funds: Turing ambition into action. Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme Briefing Paper, University of Oxford.
• Macdonald-Korth, D., Harnett, E. and Caldecott, B. (2018) Fossil fuel company Investor Relations (IR) departments and engagement on climate change. Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme Discussion Paper, University of Oxford.
• Caldecott, B., Harnett, E. and Macdonald-Korth, D. (2017) UHNWIs, Private Banks, and Sustainable Finance. Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme Working Paper, University of Oxford.
• Harnett, E. (2017) State of Climate Change Knowledge amongst UK and Australian Institutional Investors. Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme Working Paper, University of Oxford.