LCANZI Newsletter - February 2023

Kia ora koutou,

We hope you all had a restful and safe summer break. Our thoughts are with all those affected by the weather events of the last couple of weeks. Please see our February newsletter below for an update of the last month.

To start off the year we have been busy with strategic planning, refining our decision making framework and settling on where we want LCANZI to go in the next couple of years. Below is an action shot of us in the midst of one of these meetings:


Jenny Cooper KC departure as LCANZI president

It is with a heavy heart that we announce Jenny Cooper KC's retirement as our President and Board member effective from 15 March. Jenny co-founded our organisation in 2019 and since then she has worked tirelessly to further our goals. Jenny's herculean efforts include hundreds of pro bono hours working on the various claims/submissions/letters of the past few years, twisting the arms and ears (and wallets) of others to join our cause, and gracious handling of the frequent climate denial spam which find its way into her inbox because of her role! We can confidently say that Aotearoa's action on climate has been significantly improved by her contributions.

Jenny has work commitments this year which clash with her LCANZI duties. She will however keep a watchful eye on our progress and we hope to make her proud as we advance climate action this year. 

As per Rule 5.2 of our Rules, the Board will decide at our next Board meeting to appoint one of us as acting President until the next AGM (around August 2023).

We will have a vacancy on our Board. We welcome members to nominate themselves for this vacancy by emailing admin@lawyersforclimateaction.nz. We value fresh and diverse views on where we go to next with our organisation.


LCANZI v CCC appeal

The LCANZI v Climate Change Commission judicial review judgment was released on 23 November 2022 and rejected our application. We have decided to appeal this decision. To do so, we were required to pay security for costs of $14,120. This amount is being held by the Court of Appeal as security pending the outcome of the appeal, when we will either get it back or it will be paid to the Commission and Crown, depending on the outcome. In the meantime, the Climate Change Commission is seeking $128,492 in costs from us in relation to the High Court proceeding, following the judgment against us. We have argued that we should not be liable for costs given the public interest in the issues raised. We are awaiting the Court’s judgment.

We think that public interest litigation, especially climate litigation, is essential in the fight to keep government and private corporations accountable. Whatever the Court’s final decision on costs, the Commission’s claim for a significant sum highlights the need for us to have sufficient financial resources to be able to meet such orders, if required. We will be launching a fundraising campaign in the next few months to ensure we have the ability to continue to pursue litigation in the face of security for costs and the risk of costs awards.

We will update you again in our March newsletter.


Directors duties submission

We hit the ground running this year with a submission on the Companies (Directors Duties) Amendment Bill due on 17 January.

LCANZI supports the Bill as useful clarification that directors are not prevented by law from taking account of non-financial factors when determining the best interests of the company. However, we also believe the Bill does not go far enough to achieve the material change in corporate behaviour needed to address the climate emergency without supporting measures or further amendment.

To read more on the specific amendments to the Bill that we proposed, our full submission is here. It is also saved alongside our other submissions and work on our projects and resources page.

LCANZI’s Corporate Governance subcommittee, led by Frankie McKeefry, wrote this submission. If you are interested in joining this subcommittee please email admin@lawyersforclimateaction.nz


RMA reform submission

On 5 February 2023, LCANZI made a submission on the Natural Built Environment and Spatial Planning Bills. This is part of the legislation that will replace the Resource Management Act.

LCANZI welcomes the provisions of these Bills that focus on climate action but have suggestions on how they can be improved, for example, since Parliament has declared a climate emergency, we recommend that climate action be prioritised over other system outcomes.

You can read the full submission here. This submission was written by LCANZI’s Local Government subcommittee, led by Grant Hewison. If you are interested in joining this subcommittee please email admin@lawyersforclimateaction.nz


Emissions reducing home renovations

LCANZI is signed on to an initiative run by the NZ Green Building Council calling on every political party to promise now that, if part of the next government, they will have within six months of being elected a fully funded ambitious plan to roll out a pollution-busting home reno programme for at least 200,000 homes within nine years which will:

  • Slash carbon emissions and household bills

  • Improve the health of thousands of New Zealanders, young and old

  • Create tens of thousands of jobs

You can read news coverage of the initiative here.

If you are part of an organisation that would like to join this initiative, you can do so here.


Environmental Law CPD

Legalwise has a couple of environmental law programmes coming up for those of us who haven’t completed our CPD for this year. LCANZI members get a 30% discount until the date of the programme:

Environmental Law and Climate Change Summit

Wednesday 8 March| 9:00am-5:15pm (NZDT) | 7 CPD hours

Cliftons, Auckland | Live Online | Ondemand

Session 1: Reforming the Resource Management System

  • Case Law Overview

  • PANEL DISCUSSION: Natural and Built Environment Act: Does it Provide What we Need?

  • Spatial Planning Act: Is it Enough?

  • National Planning Framework: An Epic or a Tragedy

Session 2: Climate Change, Tikanga Māori & Resource Management in the Courts

  • Conduct in Different Courts: More Than Your Standard 101

  • Climate Change in Environmental Law

  • Tikanga in Environmental Law

 

Forestry Law: Regulations, Transactions and Investment

Thursday 9 March| 9:15am-12:30pm (NZDT) | 3 CPD hours

Live Online | Ondemand

  • Emerging Issues in Forestry Regulation

  • A Guide to Forestry Transactions and Forestry Rights

  • Overseas Investment in the Forestry Sector: Latest Updates


SUSTAINABILITY RESEARCH

Oxygen Consulting, in partnership with the Sustainable Business Council, Sustainable Business Network, and Auckland University of Technology have launched their fourth annual survey on the sustainability profession in New Zealand. Over the past three years, this research has benchmarked the demographics, core capabilities, and remuneration of sustainability professionals, as well as identified the barriers and enablers to progression and future growth areas in the industry.

Oxygen Consulting and their research partners invite those working in New Zealand organisations who have sustainability responsibilities as part or all of their role to take part in the anonymous survey. 
The survey can be found here. The survey is open from 7 February – 7 March 2023.


Ngā mihi maioha for your support and we will update you again soon.

Noho ora mai rā 

LCANZI Committee

LCANZI