We hold government to account

We work to ensure that local and central government have ambitious climate laws, plans, and policies that are evidence-based and consistent with the Paris Agreement, the rule of law, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.

We bring and support strategic climate litigation where those laws need to be enforced or clarified - driving greater accountability and ambition on climate change.

Current cases challenging the Government

The Ambition and Integrity Challenge

LCANZI v Climate Change Commission and Minister for Climate Change
We are challenging the ambition and integrity of New Zealand’s NDC and emissions budgets.
Why we brought the case:
We are concerned that the Climate Change Commission made critical errors in its advice to the Minister when setting New Zealand’s NDC and emissions budget, and has mis-applied the Climate Change Response Act 2002.
Why this case matters
These are two critically important targets for New Zealand’s emissions, acting as sinking lids on available emissions into the future. Emissions budgets are five-yearly targets that act as stepping stones towards New Zealand meeting its long-term 2050 goal. And the NDC is our commitment under the Paris Agreement to achieve a 50% reduction of net emissions below our gross 2005 level by 2030.
We think that both targets are not ambitious enough, and that NZ isn’t playing its fair share in the global effort to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. At its heart, this case is about the fact New Zealand isn’t cutting its emissions fast enough - and the Commission’s advice was unlawful.
Case Timeline
We filed this case in 2021. In April 2025, we filed an application for leave to appeal from the Supreme Court.

Read about the case and key documents filed here
The Emissions Reduction Plan Strategy

All Aboard v Auckland Transport
We’ve launched major legal proceedings against the Minister of Climate Change, alleging that the Government’s emissions reduction plan fails to fulfil basic requirements of the law.
Why we brought the case
Along with our friends at the Environmental Law Initiative, we are arguing that the plans don’t meet the requirements of the Climate Change Response Act 2002.
This is the first challenge to an emissions reduction plan under the Act - and it is also the first case in the world to challenge a government’s heavy reliance on tree planting to achieve climate targets.
We’re filing this case because it’s critical our government is held to account. The world’s leading scientists have made clear that this is the critical decade for climate action - but the NZ government has been quietly cutting climate policies, and relying on planting pine trees as an alternative.
As it stands, the Government’s emissions reduction plan will carry huge consequences for our country. That’s why we are taking legal action to hold the Minister of Climate Change to account.
What we’re hoping to achieve
We’re seeking court orders that the Minister reconsider the Emissions Reduction Plan so that it complies with the core requirements of the Climate Change Response Act.
We’re also seeking declarations from the court on what the Climate Change Response Act requires - both in terms of when Governments want to change pre-existing Emissions Reduction Plans, and when Governments set new Emissions Reduction Plans
Case Timeline
We filed the case in the High Court in June 2025. We are waiting for a court date.

Read our Statement of Claim Here

Previous cases

The ETS Challenge

Lawyers for Climate Action v Minister for Climate Change
In 2023, we successfully challenged the Minister for Climate Change’s decisions on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) - New Zealand’s main climate policy lever.
Why we brought the case
The Minister had made decisions on price and unit settings that were not line line with the Climate Change Commission’s advice and wouldn’t have driven emissions reductions in line with what’s required by our emissions reduction targets.
Why this case matters
Our win significantly increased the carbon price, and restored confidence to both the ETS and the Climate Change Commission. As a result of our case, the supply of units will now be in accordance with our emissions budgets, and the changes will help reduce the large stockpile of existing units
Our case also clarified the law that applies to future ETS decision-making, helping ensure those decisions will be more robust and in line with our climate targets.

Read about the case and key documents filed here
The Transport Challenge

All Aboard v Auckland Transport
Lawyers for Climate Action is a founding member of All Aboard, a coalition of not-for-profits that came together with the shared goal of decarbonising the transport system.
We brought a judicial review against Auckland Transport for its lacklustre transport plan, the Regional Land Transport Plan for 2021-2031, which promised to increase Auckland’s land transport emissions. We argued that this was unlawful.
Why this case matters
The High Court decided that Auckland Transport and the Council had not acted unlawfully in adopting the RLTP, noting that the RLTP involved high-level policy judgments which the Court was not in a position to evaluate.
However, the case still made a significant impact. The pressure and transparency resulting from the case led to Auckland Council establishing the Transport Emissions Reduction Pathway - which sets out a far more ambitious and credible transport strategy for Auckland.
Read the Statement of Claim and our press release here
Read All Aboard’s submission to Auckland Transport on the RLTP here
Read the judgment here
Read our response to the judgment here

Read more about the case and the documents filed here

Watch Dr James Every-Palmer KC, Lawyers for Climate Action’s co-founder and counsel in our ETS judicial review, explain our successful judicial review of New Zealand’s ETS settings, its implications, and the factors that made it a success: