Using the law to ensure a better future. 

 
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We’re legal experts working to ensure effective action in New Zealand against climate change.

 

The scientific evidence shows that climate change will cause global catastrophe unless we cut emissions now and achieve zero net carbon emissions by 2050.  

The law is one of the most powerful tools for responding to the climate crisis. We use the power of the law to accelerate climate action, hold governments and polluting companies to account, and ultimately create systemic change.

Our members are barristers, solicitors, and legal academics from all over New Zealand with specialist expertise in many different areas of the law.  

We believe that New Zealand can and should do more in the global fight against climate change.  We want to make sure that New Zealand meets its obligations under the Paris Agreement to reduce emissions and that it does so in a way that is evidence-based, effective, and consistent with the rule of law, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, international law, and with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. 

Lawyers for Climate Action NZ Inc. is a New Zealand registered charity and is not for profit.

 
 
 
 

The latest:

  • Our Submission on Proposed Rollbacks to Climate-Related Disclosures

    New Zealand was among the first countries in the world to introduce a climate-related disclosures regime. It’s now proposing significant rollbacks. Our submission outlines the problems with the proposals, and provides options for alternative changes that would improve and help the regime achieve its purpose.

  • New Zealand’s Very Unambitious NDC2

    New Zealand has set an unambitious Nationally Determined Contribution target of 51-55% below 2005 gross emissions by 2035. It’s highly questionable whether this meets the Paris Agreement, and does not reflect our highest possible ambition. Read our full press release below.

  • Our Submission on the Proposed Regulatory Standards Bill

    The ideological proposed Regulatory Standards Bill would make passing the laws and regulations needed for NZ’s transition to a low-emissions economy far harder - raising a host of constitutional concerns, to boot.

  • Smith v Attorney General: Rights-based climate litigation in NZ down but not out

    20 December 2024

    Read our summary of the Court of Appeal’s judgment in Smith v Attorney-General [2024] NZCA 692. Ultimately, while the Court struck-out the claim, it has left the door open for future rights-based climate cases in Aotearoa New Zealand.

  • Our Submission on NZ's Next Nationally Determined Contribution

    13 December 2024

    Read our joint submission on New Zealand’s next Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement, which New Zealand is due to set in February 2025.

  • Methane Matters- And So Do Metrics

    28 November 2024

    We have released an expert report alongside Kapiti Climate Insights highlighting issues with the ‘no additional warming’ based target being considered by the Government. We’re concerned this would effectively allow New Zealand to maintain its current share of warming from methane into the future, rather than seeking the deep reductions in emissions that the IPCC has made clear are needed now