Climate activist brings case against New Zealand’s largest emitters.

Written By James Strezov

A Maori elder and climate activist Mike Smith, has brought a case against New Zealand’s largest emitters, including Fonterra and Z Energy.

The Kiwi leader’s legal actions against the largest polluters in New Zealand is anticipated to be New Zealand’s most significant case involving climate action. The case involving New Zealand’s corporate emitters was struck out in lower Courts, with the Supreme Court now overturning this ruling. Smith’s claim sought to establish that the emitters were responsible for climate change and that this negatively impacted on his family’s land, tribe, water and cultural values.

The Supreme Court decision signals the start of a long process of litigation. This unprecedented ruling also marks the beginning of a new type of legal action which allows the community to take on big business.

The origin of the case

The case against New Zealand’s corporate emitters began in 2019, where Smith sued seven organisations, Smith is the Elder of the Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kahu iwi (tribes) and climate advocate for a national forum of tribal leaders. The list of emitters included Fonterra which is New Zealand’s biggest company along with other such entities that emit Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGs) directly or indirectly through the supply chain.

A contentious point of consideration for the Supreme Court was whether the principle of tortious liability should be altered to include the challenges that the modern day brings with the acknowledgment of the effect of climate change. The Court also contemplated whether climate change should include a new tort to be referred to as “climate system damage”.

The corporate emitters contended that climate change was inherently a political issue and that the courts “are ill-suited to deal with a systemic problem of this nature with all the complexity entailed”. The Court disagreed with this argument and held that a judicial pathway is “open for the common law to operate, develop and evolve”.

The case promises to be one of New Zealand’s most high profile cases with far-reaching implications for major emitters.

✅Watch this space for more updates.

James Strezov
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