LCANZI Newsletter - July 2021

Kia ora koutou


Judicial review of the Climate Change Commission

On 2 July 2021 LCANZI filed a judicial review of the final advice of the Climate Change Commission. You can view our press release and statement of claim here.

We are really pleased with the news coverage of the proceedings, and we hope that this will increase public awareness of our cause. Media coverage included Newsroom, Radio NZ (including a great interview of our President, Jenny Cooper QC, by Corin Dann), Stuff, NZHerald, Guardian, our tweet was viewed over 30,000 times, and our member Prof Andrew Geddis wrote this article in Spinoff.

The Commission met on 6 July to discuss our proceedings, and we expect their statement of defence by 5 August.

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

 
 

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Mill Road project canned

Earlier this year, LCANZI joined other climate advocacy groups in the All Aboard Aotearoa alliance to challenge the Mill Road project in Court on the grounds that the Government and Waka Kotahi did not properly consider the greenhouse gas emissions impacts of the project and its impact on meeting climate goals: see our press release and details about the court proceedings here.

The Government announced in June that the project will not be going ahead.  We are counting this as a win for the climate and the people that have campaigned against Mill Road. Check out the Stuff article on the Government’s decision.

The proceedings were discontinued with no issue as to costs.

LCANZI, together with All Aboard Aotearoa, will continue to advocate for more effective action to reduce transport emissions.  Watch this space.   

 

Donations

You may have seen that a generous private donor contacted us to offer to contribute $15,000 for one year if it is matched by our subscriptions and other donations. If donations exceed that our donor is considering matching what we raise!

Thank you to all our generous members who have donated already. As of today, donations are up to $8,790!

Click here to help us reach our goal of $15,000.

We will use the total $30,000 raised to hire an administrator who can help us co-ordinate our projects and free up our time to take more action. Once we reach our goal, we will be looking for candidates for this position.

We note that we are a not-for-profit organisation, but we are not registered as a charity and therefore, unfortunately donations are not tax deductible for most. We make look into charity status for the future. 


Notice of Annual General Meeting on 9 August and Call for Nominations

The Annual General Meeting of Lawyers for Climate Action NZ Inc will be held at 1pm on Monday 9 August 2021.

The AGM will be held via Zoom this year. Registration and Zoom details will be provided prior to the meeting.

Nominations for Officer positions and Committee/Board members are due by 5pm on Monday 2 August 2021. Nominations can be made for:

  • President

  • Secretary

  • Treasurer

  • Committee members

Nominations must be made in writing and must be made and seconded by members other than the person nominated. A nomination form is attached to this email or available here.

Nominations should be sent to Carol Weaver at admin@lawyersforclimateaction.nz and must be received by 5pm on Monday 2 August 2021.

If you are interested in standing for a Committee/Board position and want to speak with an existing Committee member about what is involved, please feel free to contact us.


University of Auckland Seminar – Legal Action as Climate Action

On Wednesday 14 July at 4-5.30pm our President, Jenny Cooper QC, and member Zoe Brentnall, will be presenting at the University of Auckland about “Legal Action as Climate Action”. They will address key moments of legal action relating to climate, the types of legal action available, and the main ingredients for a successful legal action.

 
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Date: Wednesday 14 July 2021, 4 pm – 5.30 pm

Venue: Seminar Room, Koi Tū, Fisher Building, Level 7, 18 Waterloo Quadrant, Auckland

Click here to register to attend in person

Click here to register to attend via Zoom


Letter to the Minister for Climate Change

On 23 June 2021 LCANZI wrote to the Minister for Climate Change in relation to a significant error in the Climate Change Commission’s advice on the updated NDC. This is one of the issues raised in the judicial review proceedings. This letter attaches proof that Stats NZ agree with our approach. The letter can be viewed here.

Click here to see the Minister’s recent speech: "It falls to us" - Principles for guiding the Emissions Reduction Plan.


Christchurch 2degrees film festival fundraising event – 26 August

On 26 August 2021 we will be having a fundraising event in Christchurch.

2degrees has kindly offered to host a film festival in Christchurch on 26 August, where koha paid to attend the festival will be donated to LCANZI. The films in the festival are all about getting out there into Aotearoa’s beautiful environment and having adventures – an environment for which LCANZI is working to ensure a sustainable future.

Our last film fundraiser in Auckland (also put on by 2degrees) raised over $2,700, so we want to thank 2degrees for their generous support.


Submission on the Climate-Related Financial Disclosures Regime

On 24 June 2021 LCANZI Committee Member, Lloyd Kavanagh, and LCANZI Member, Isabelle Smith, appeared before the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Select Committee in support of LCANZI's submission on the climate-related disclosures regime. They highlighted issues that we have identified with the Bill, including:

 
  • The importance of expanding coverage – in particular, the exclusion of government and local authority agencies from the regime is a fundamental failure of the government to lead by example, and the exclusion of unlisted private entities will cause distortions;

  • Why government agencies, like The Treasury, MBIE, NIWA and MfE, should be required to publish centralised data and modelling, without charge, to facilitate compliance. Without open source data, it will be very difficult for smaller entities to gauge the likely physical and transitional impacts on their businesses;

  • Why the Committee should consider “double materiality” – ie reporting of material impact of climate change on entities, as well as an entity’s material impact on climate change.

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Lloyd, Isabelle, and other members of the LCANZI Sub-Committee on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures will be looking to engage with the XRB in the coming months around the XRB Standards that will apply to the incoming regime. The Standards will really “make or break” the effectiveness of the regime, so we are keen to ensure that they are robust and fit-for-purpose. 


New pro-bono co-ordinator

Our pro-bono co-ordinator, Emily Moon, has unfortunately had to step down from the role due to other commitments. We thank Emily for her amazing contribution to the role – she was able to link up many pro bono requests with volunteers. LCANZI member, Debra Dorrington, has kindly agreed to step into the role for the time-being.

Over the next couple of months, we are looking to re-vamp our pro-bono volunteers space. Until now, our pro-bono co-ordination has mainly consisted of a “matchmaking” service for pro bono volunteers and climate action groups that need pro bono assistance. However, we have heard many members say that they cannot provide pro-bono assistance, but they want to assist LCANZI with our project work (submissions, research, litigation, etc). Many of you have offered to assist, but we have not had time to approach you all. Hiring our new administrator will free up the Committee from admin tasks to focus more on project co-ordination. We will keep the pro-bono matchmaking service running, but we want to formalise the way that we seek member assistance for our project work. So, watch this space.


Thank you all for your support and we will update you again soon.

Enjoy your weekend.

LCANZI Committee