Update on our judicial review of the Climate Change Commissions advice

Last week we had a case management conference for our judicial review proceedings of the Climate Change Commission's advice. We have received the Commission and the Minister's statements of defence.

The hearing has been set down for 4 days on 28 February 2022 - later than we had hoped, but this is still "quick" in the scheme of court proceedings and if the Court accepts the objections we have raised, the Commission's advice and any decisions made by the Minister in reliance on the advice, will have to be re-done.

The next step in the proceeding is evidence. We will file our briefs of evidence on 24 September 2021 and the Commission/Minister will file theirs on 10 December. We hope that the timing of the Minister’s preparation of evidential briefs will coincide with his consideration of what commitment he will take to COP26 and his preparation of the Emissions Reduction Plan - this will hopefully mean that our objections will be front-of-mind for him at that time and that he will take them into account. We believe that the objections we have raised are critical to ensure that Aotearoa's emissions budgets and climate plan are sufficiently ambitious. The need for an ambitious climate plan has been brought into stark relief with the recent and sobering IPCC AR6.

We will keep you updated on the progress of the proceedings.