Two New Zealand environmental-legal groups are seeking a judicial review into alleged failures in government emissions reduction plans.
Advocacy groups Lawyers for Climate Action NZ and Environmental Law Initiative (ELI) are waiting for a date at Wellington High Court, when they will seek declarations that climate change minister Simon Watts failed to implement the first (2021-25) and second (2026-30) emissions reduction plans.
The coalition that took power at the end of 2023 cancelled 35 climate policies and actions in the first emissions reduction plan set by the previous Labour government without consulting the public first, as required by law, according to the two groups. This included discontinuing programmes such as the Clean Car Discount and cancelling the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry Fund.
The two groups argue that these actions breach the Climate Change Response Act 2002 — the legislation that established the country's emissions trading system and which provides a framework for implementing "clear and stable climate change policies".
"In seeking declarations only, Lawyers for Climate Action NZ and ELI are focused on creating a precedent that clarifies how governments can change climate policies and strategies during emission budget periods," the two groups stated on 10 June.
The groups also plan to argue that the second emissions reduction plan is "unlawful" and relies heavily on offsetting New Zealand's emissions with forestry plantations. The government projects that an additional 700,000 hectares of tree planting will be required by 2050, despite warnings from the country's Climate Change Commission that tree planting is no substitute for reducing emissions at source, Lawyers for Climate Action NZ and ELI said.
"This will be one of the first legal cases in the world challenging a government's pursuit of a climate strategy that relies so heavily on offsetting rather than emissions reductions at source," they added.
