Summarised by Centrist
The government will change climate law to stop companies being sued for damage allegedly caused by greenhouse gas emissions.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says climate change should be managed through national law and policy, not “piece-meal litigation in the courts”.
The change would block current and future tort claims and stop iwi leader Mike Smith’s landmark case against Fonterra and five other major emitters.
In 2024, the Supreme Court allowed Smith to sue the companies, which he says collectively contribute about a third of New Zealand’s emissions. The case was due to return to the High Court next April.
Goldsmith said the case was creating uncertainty for business and investment, and risked creating a new liability regime outside Parliament’s existing climate framework.
Smith called the move “an affront to democracy”.
“If Parliament can cancel a live court case, then no legal claim is secure at all, once it becomes politically inconvenient,” he said.
Greenpeace called the change a “shocking abuse of power”, while Lawyers for Climate Action president Jenny Cooper KC said it looked like a “kneejerk reaction” to legislate over a unanimous Supreme Court decision before trial.
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said the ETS and Climate Change Response Act do not provide compensation for climate-related harm, meaning the change could remove the only current path for such claims.
The government says businesses will still have to meet ETS obligations and that another climate case against Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will not be affected.
