Lawyers for Climate Action Newsletter - December 2023
Kia ora koutou,
2023 Wrapped
It’s been another big year for Lawyers for Climate Action NZ and we couldn’t do it without our amazing members, volunteers and donors. Your support is highly appreciated and we want to say thank you for giving us the opportunity to hold decision-makers to account and keep pushing for meaningful climate action.
We have lots to celebrate this year, including:
Bringing successful litigation against the Minister for Climate Change, which resulted in significant improvements to the ETS;
Filing New Zealand’s first greenwashing case against Z Energy;
Appearing in the Court of Appeal challenging the ambition of NZ’s climate targets in our ongoing judicial review against the Climate Change Commission;
Making ten submissions;
Holding our first in-person event since before the pandemic;
Running webinars and also speaking at events about climate litigation and climate change laws;
Growing our organisation and hiring our first Executive Director.
We have big plans for next year and want to do more - look out for more litigation, policy submission work, a rejuvenated pro bono matching service, and also more events for our Lawyers for Climate Action community.
To do all of this, we are actively seeking new funding for the first time to help us grow as we can no longer rely on membership subscriptions alone. Growing our financial sustainability will be one of our key priorities in 2024. If you’re in a position to donate, we have a new donations button which you’ll find on our website, and which you can also find below. We really appreciate any support we receive. We will also be creating new membership tiers, and will be in touch in the new year about what that could mean for you if you want to increase your support of us.
Litigation and Advocacy Updates
We have had two, high-profile pro bono cases in the last month:
Challenging Greenwashing - Z Energy
We have teamed up with Consumer NZ and the Environmental Law Initiative to challenge Z Energy’s “we’re in the business of getting out of the petrol business” advertising campaign. We are concerned that Z Energy has made public claims which create the impression that it is making bold changes to significantly reduce its emissions and is urgently mitigating its contribution to the climate crisis. In reality, this is not the case - we think that Z Energy’s actions aren’t matching its climate-friendly rhetoric.
This is an important proceeding - not least because it’s one of the first times a NZ court will consider how the Fair Trading Act applies to green claims. We are expecting Z Energy to file its statement of defence in January. You can read more about what the case is about and why we have brought it here.
James Every-Palmer KC, Jenny Cooper KC, and Martin Smith standing outside the Court of Appeal.
Climate Change Commission Judicial Review
On 21-23 November, Lawyers for Climate Action was in the Court of Appeal for its challenge to the level of ambition contained in the Climate Change Commission’s advice to the Minister on NZ’s climate targets. Our experts consider that to meet our Paris Agreement commitments, it requires much greater reductions over this decade than recommended by the Commission. It's really important for New Zealand that the aspects of the Climate Change Response Act that we're challenging are tested and clarified. Marc Daalder did a great write-up of our legal challenge in this article for the Newsroom.
A big thank you to our counsel Jenny Cooper KC and James Every-Palmer KC, and Martin Smith and Rebecca D'Silva of Gilbert Walker for all their work in bringing this appeal - all of which was pro bono.
Lawyers for climate Action in the news
Lawyers for Climate Action has had a fair share of great media coverage this last month. In addition to Marc Daalder’s piece linked above, here are two articles which you can read that share more about what we’re working on:
We were profiled in The Capital Letter (see the story here). It covers our new strategic plan, our new Executive Director’s background and vision for the organisation, our litigation to date, and outlines some of the key areas we are going to focus on in 2024.
Sasha Borrisenko for the New Zealand Herald wrote about our recent litigation (see the story here). A particular highlight was describing us as “environmental law aficionados [that] have been busy bees”.
Letter to the incoming minister
The Lawyers for Climate Action Committee wrote a letter to the new Minister and Associate Minister of Climate Change, Simon Watts and Nicola Willis. We emphasised the importance of reforming the ETS to ensure it is fit for purpose - especially if it is going to be relied on to do much of the heavy lifting in NZ’s climate response. We also discuss the need for NZ to put meaningful steps in place to meet its 2030 NDC. You can read our full letter here.
Kaipara District Council Update
At the end of October, we sent a letter to the Kaipara District Council, raising issues with its decision to “cancel” the Kaipara District Council’s emission accounting contract and stop the development of Kaipara’s climate policy. Since then, after receiving our letter, the Council obtained legal advice and reviewed these decisions. Over the last few weeks, the Council (in split decisions) have decided to “pause” and “cancel” various climate plans and programs, and has announced that it will shortly start consultation on a new Long-Term Plan which will likely include consultation on cancelling much of its climate work program. We are continuing to work on these issues, and will provide a further update in January.
Farewell to Committee Member, Cassandra Kenworthy
Cassandra has been a valued Committee Member since August 2021, and has also run all of our different social media accounts. She has had to step back from her role on the Lawyers for Climate Action Committee as she is starting a new exciting role in the public sector. We want to thank you for all of your work for LCANZI, and wish you the best of luck in your new role.
Thank you again for all of your amazing support this year. We hope you have a safe and refreshing Christmas break.
Meri Kirihimete, ngā mihi o te wā!
LCANZI Committee