Lawyers for Climate Action's submission against Fast Track Approvals Bill

Today, we submitted against the concerning Fast Track Approvals Bill. 

The Government intends to use the Bill to give three Ministers exceptional powers to fast-track consents for emissions-intensive developments, including 15 new four-lane highways, opening up petroleum exploration, and the possibility of mining in conservation land. 

There is lots to be concerned about if this Bill passes. But from a climate change standpoint, we’re concerned that it does not require consideration of the impacts of proposed projects on climate change, New Zealand’s international climate change obligations, or New Zealand’s emissions budgets or targets under the Climate Change Response Act 2002. 

2023 was the hottest year on record. There is a rapidly narrowing window to reduce emissions to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels; the science is clear that we need “deep, rapid and sustained global greenhouse gas emissions reductions”.

We are encouraged by the Government’s repeated commitment to meeting and implementing our Paris Agreement obligations. But legislation like this will take New Zealand further off track from meeting its climate change obligations - and potentially places NZ at risk of breaching them. 

Emissions and climate impacts are only mentioned once in the Bill, as one of the permissive considerations Ministers may consider when deciding whether to refer a project to an expert panel. But it’s not a mandatory consideration, and Ministers have a wide discretion to decide what “significant regional or national benefits” will mean.

The Bill, if passed, will likely lead to the construction of infrastructure ‘white elephants’ that would be a net cost to the economy and an unjust debt burden on future generations who will face even greater climate challenges. 

We urge the Government to make significant amendments to the Bill.