PhD Defence - Niina Hakala


Friday, January 26, 2024 - 10:00 to 12:00


In order to obtain the PhD degree, Niina Hakala has submitted her thesis entitled:

Corporate reporting in the governance of climate transition

Framing agency in a financialized world

This thesis delves into the financialization of climate governance through corporate reporting, with a specific focus on the work of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Grounded in constructivist market studies, it meticulously traces the evolution of framing transition as a financial concern and the subsequent arrangements crafted as solutions. By mobilizing a pragmatist understanding of signification, the research poses a question: How does the TCFD framework shape the financial signification in the context of climate transition? In response, the thesis coins a term “agencement of transition stewardship”, encapsulating emergent governance arrangements that now seamlessly integrate previously separate issues of financial reporting, climate negotiations, and various financial market actors with their respective devices. As we follow the organizing around TCFD, the empirical chapters depict numerous transformations: the becoming of a central banker—initially indifferent to climate issues— into a United Nations climate action spokesperson; growing expectations for companies to implement Paris Climate Agreement-aligned transition plans; and the financial reporting standard setter now made concerned of financial value effects of transition. Through engaging with these findings, the study interrogates common critiques of financialization, shedding light on the interconnected nodes within financialized arrangements through which transformative change can be catalyzed in a financialized and climate-changed world.

The thesis will be available from research.cbs.dk

Primary Supervisor:
Professor Peter Skærbæk
Department of Accounting
Copenhagen Business School

Secondary Supervisors:
Associate Professor Tim Neerup Themsen
Department of Accounting
Copenhagen Business School

Assessment Committee:
Associate Professor Cristiana Parisi (Chair)
Department of Accounting
Copenhagen Business School

Professor Eija Vinnari
Faculty of Management and Business
Tampere University

Reader Hendrik Vollmer
Accounting Group
Warwick University
 

Date: 26 January 2024
Time: 10:00-12:00
Location: Solbjerg Plads
Room: SPs07 Coloplast Aud.
Reception: Rotunden

 

*The CBS PhD School will host a reception, which will take place immediately after the defence.

The page was last edited by: Department of Accounting // 01/12/2024