Kia ora!

We hope you have a fantastic Easter break. Before then, we wanted to give you an update on what we’ve been working on over the last month.

Transport advocacy

Jessica Palairet speaking to Auckland Council on the Draft GPS and its incompatibility with New Zealand’s climate obligations, alongside All Aboard Executive Director Magalie Ménard and Paul Winton (27 March 2024).

The Government has released its Draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (known as the GPS). The GPS is really important as it sets out the government’s priorities for funding land transport investment over the next 10 years.

Transport emissions are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand and account for 20% of all domestic emissions. However, the Draft GPS promises to lock in the rising emissions profile from land transport for many years to come, which would most likely make New Zealand’s emissions reduction targets unachievable.

The GPS primarily focuses on roads, and will likely lead to reduced public transport funding, fewer opportunities for walking and cycling, and a weakened rail network. It also removes climate and low-emissions transport as a strategic priority, including only mentioning ‘climate’ twice in the entire document.

We’re writing a submission on the GPS which we will publish on 2 April 2024. We’ve also been supporting the Transport For All Campaign, and Jessica Palairet spoke at Auckland Council’s extraordinary meeting to discuss its GPS submission alongside All Aboard Aotearoa on 27 March 2024. We were the only members of civil society to give a submission, and received a warm reception from the Council.

If you’re interested in making a submission, the Transport For All website has a great submission guide.

The Bill for a Right to a Sustainable Environment will be going to its first reading on 10 April. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be publishing some articles about why this is such an important legal development, and will be trying to build support for the Bill.

The fact it’s even going to its First Reading is a huge testament to Lawyers for Climate Action’s work since 2019. The Bill is a direct result from our advocacy efforts - which included a letter signed by 59 (now) Kings’ Counsel supporting our proposal to amend NZBORA by recognising the right to a sustainable environment.

Thank you to everyone who has been involved, and we will keep you updated on how things go in Parliament.

Our greenwashing case against Z Energy continues to move full steam ahead.

According to Z Energy’s latest Annual Report, Z Energy's total emissions are continuing to increase. Z Energy’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory report also shows that its fuel sales over 2023 were the highest they have been over the last five years. You can read more about recent updates and how they affect our case in this article we wrote alongside Consumer NZ and ELI.

Meanwhile, successful greenwashing claims continue to stack up internationally. This month, a Dutch Court found that KLM Airlines advertising claims that it was "creating a more sustainable future" were misleading, as the measures it was taking would "only marginally reduce the negative environmental aspects and give the wrong impression that flying with KLM is sustainable". We’re keeping a close eye on international developments in greenwashing litigation - an important and developing area of law. If you have interest in being more involved with our greenwashing work, feel free to get in touch.

**Want to get more involved? Become the new Pro Bono Coordinator!**

As many of you know, Lawyers for Climate Action runs a pro bono matching service. From time to time, we receive queries from individuals and community groups looking for advice and support on climate-related legal issues. We match these requests with lawyers in our membership who have said they are willing to provide pro bono legal support.

Over the years, we have matched lawyers to community groups on a variety of issues - from opposing mining activities, challenging concerning decisions of local councils, to helping establish new climate groups.

For the last few years, Debra Dorrington has been our Pro Bono Coordinator. She’s now a member of our Board, and would like to step back from the Coordinator role. And so we’re looking for someone new to take on the role!

The Coordinator is responsible for receiving and matching pro bono requests, and also maintaining our list of pro bono volunteers. They will also update the Board on pro-bono work. There’s ample scope to grow our pro bono matching service, so we would be interested in someone who can bring some vision and energy to the role.

If you’re interested in finding out more, please get in touch at probono@lawyersforclimateaction.nz . At this stage, it’s a volunteer position. The workload varies, but a time commitment of a few hours a week should be plenty.

Thank you so much to Debra for all her hard work running the pro bono matching service to date.

Thank you for your ongoing support of Lawyers for Climate Action NZ, please email admin@lawyersforclimateaction.nz if you have any questions or concerns.

Ngā mihi,

Jessica Palairet
Executive Director at Lawyers for Climate Action

Lawyers for Climate Action Newsletter - March 2024