Caritas criticises NZ climate lawsuit block

The Government announced on May 12 that it would amend climate laws to prevent companies from being sued over damage caused by greenhouse gas emissions, Radio New Zealand reported.

In 2024, iwi leader Mike Smith was granted permission by the Supreme Court to sue Fonterra and other major dairy and fossil fuel companies. A hearing in the High Court was due to start in April.

Mr Smith argued that the companies, which collectively contributed about one-third of New Zealand’s emissions, had a legal duty to him and others in communities that are being damaged by the effects of greenhouse gas emissions.

In a Facebook post, Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand noted that “the International Court of Justice has made it clear there are legal responsibilities around climate harm, grounded in human rights. This move by [the New Zealand Government] undercuts that momentum”.

“It also removes one of the only pathways to accountability,” Caritas continued.

“The present Government is not managing the climate change response effectively. People must resort to the courts to hold our government and big polluters to account.”

Caritas noted that New Zealand’s Pacific neighbours “are already paying”, pointing to rising seas in Kiribati and Tuvalu, village relocations in Fiji and stronger cyclones across Tonga and Samoa.

Communities are forced to adapt, and governments are taking on debt, despite contributing the least to this crisis, Caritas added.

“There is a higher moral law here – one which the International Court of Justice has recognised: The right of our Pacific neighbours to thrive on their ancestral lands, and the right of future generations to live on a viable planet, fit for human habitation.”

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said the Smith case was “creating uncertainty in business confidence and investments that the Government must address”.

New Zealand already had a legal framework to manage emissions, through the Climate Change Response Act and the Emissions Trading Scheme, he said.

Mr Smith told Radio New Zealand that the Government’s decision was unprecedented and outrageous.

FULL STORY

The government is moving to shut… (Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand/Facebook)

Government changes climate law to prevent lawsuits (Radio New Zealand/NZ Herald)