Climate science has been clearly articulating the risks of climate change for several decades. However, action by public and private organisations has been limited due to a lack of incentives for action from decision makers.

To address this inaction, the Financial Stability Board's Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures released their final recommendations in June 2017. In response, organisations such as the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority released clear guidance indicating that company directors could be held personally liable if they fail to disclose future climate-related risks to their businesses (Geoff Summerhayes' speech, APRA 2017). Such statements have created a strong personal incentive for executive leaders to consider the risks associated with climate change, and often take direct action. This is a paradigm shift that has implications for the application of climate research. 

We will present some of the lessons learnt through our engagement with organisational leaders over recent years. How has their interest, language and perspective changed. What approaches have we found useful to engage executive leaders. Can we motivate them to take climate science seriously and mobilise their organisations to action with regards to the challenges of climate change?

Looking forward, informed action will result in an increased demand for climate information, a demand we as a research-sector will only meet successfully if we coordinate, collaborate, identify where each of us can best add value and determine efficient ways to upscale the rate and volume of our outputs. We will present some ideas with regards to how Australia might meet this coming challenge.