30 July 2026
The Justice Select Committee has today
recommended that the Climate Tort Prohibition Bill proceed:
legislation that would retrospectively extinguish Smith v
Fonterra, the live climate proceeding the Supreme Court
unanimously allowed to go to trial in 2024, and bar all New
Zealanders from ever seeking accountability through the
courts for climate-related harm.
“Today’s report is a
further blow to the rule of law in Aotearoa,” says Laura
MacKay, Acting Executive Director of Lawyers for Climate
Action NZ. “Parliament is being asked to reach into an
ongoing proceeding and hand the defendants a win before full
arguments could ever be heard, using a rushed legislative
process with no good reason.”
The recommendation
from the Select Committee comes just two weeks after the
Climate Change Commission’s 2026 emissions reduction
monitoring report found that New Zealand’s current plans
and policies are insufficient and New Zealand must more than
double the current pace of decarbonisation to meet its
emissions budgets and the 2050 target.
“There has been
a storm every eight days in New Zealand in the last year.
Individuals, communities, councils, farmers and businesses
and the New Zealand taxpayer are already paying for climate
damage. Our current legislative framework does not determine
who will be responsible for remedying this damage, and nor
has it been effective in lowering emissions. This Bill
removes the only current accountability mechanism, and
provides no legislative replacement or alternative” says
MacKay
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The Bill also carries risk for New Zealand’s
trading relationships. Removing the only available avenue
for accountability for contribution to climate-related harm,
with no legislative alternative, would arguably “weaken or
reduce” environmental protection contrary to the commitments
in the NZ-EU and NZ-UK free trade agreements. The
Government’s approach to climate has already drawn
scrutiny from our trading partners, unnecessarily putting
New Zealand companies’ access to these markets at
risk.
About Lawyers for Climate Action NZ
Inc
Founded in 2019, Lawyers for Climate Action NZ is
a group of lawyers with the shared mission of using the law
to drive effective climate action. We advocate for law and
policy reform, bring strategic climate litigation, and have
built a community of climate-conscious lawyers across
Aotearoa, developing a skill base within the legal
profession to help accelerate the net zero transition. We
now have over 370 members, including Kings Counsel,
barristers, solicitors and legal academics. Lawyers for
Climate Action NZ appeared as an intervener in Smith v
Fonterra.
