LCANZI v Climate Change Commission and Minister for Climate Change

We are challenging the ambition and integrity of New Zealand’s NDC and emissions budgets.

Why we brought the case:

We are concerned that the Climate Change Commission made critical errors in its advice to the Minister when setting New Zealand’s NDC and emissions budget, and has mis-applied the Climate Change Response Act 2002.

Why this case matters

These are two critically important targets for New Zealand’s emissions, acting as sinking lids on available emissions into the future. Emissions budgets are five-yearly targets that act as stepping stones towards New Zealand meeting its long-term 2050 goal. And the NDC is our commitment under the Paris Agreement to achieve a 50% reduction of net emissions below our gross 2005 level by 2030.

We think that both targets are not ambitious enough, and that NZ isn’t playing its fair share in the global effort to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. At its heart, this case is about the fact New Zealand isn’t cutting its emissions fast enough - and the Commission’s advice was unlawful.

Lawyers for Climate Action v Minister for Climate Change

In 2023, we successfully challenged the Minister for Climate Change’s decisions on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) - New Zealand’s main climate policy lever.

Why we brought the case

The Minister had made decisions on price and unit settings that were not line line with the Climate Change Commission’s advice and wouldn’t have driven emissions reductions in line with what’s required by our emissions reduction targets.

Why this case matters

We won, which significantly increased the carbon price, and restored confidence to both the ETS and the Climate Change Commission.

Our case also clarified the law that applies to future ETS decision-making, helping ensure those decisions will be more robust and in line with our climate targets.

All Aboard v Auckland Transport

Lawyers for Climate Action is a founding member of All Aboard, a coalition of not-for-profits that came together with the shared goal of decarbonising the transport system.

We brought a judicial review against Auckland Transport for its lacklustre transport plan, the Regional Land Transport Plan for 2021-2031, which promised to increase Auckland’s land transport emissions. We argued that this was unlawful.

Why this case matters

The High Court decided that Auckland Transport and the Council had not acted unlawfully in adopting the RLTP, noting that the RLTP involved high-level policy judgments which the Court was not in a position to evaluate.

However, the case still made a significant impact. The pressure and transparency resulting from the case led to Auckland Council establishing the Transport Emissions Reduction Pathway - which sets out a far more ambitious and credible transport strategy for Auckland.