The government is set to pass a law that would limit the ability to sue companies over climate change-related damage in many situations.
The new law, which would apply to both current and future cases, is expected to halt a High Court case against dairy company Fonterra and six other major emitters.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said the government will amend the Climate Change Response Act so that courts are no longer able to make tort liability findings for harm or damage linked to greenhouse gas emissions.
A tort is a type of civil case where someone argues that another person or organisation has caused them harm and should be held legally responsible.
In 2024, Iwi leader and climate activist Mike Smith was given permission by the Supreme Court to bring a case against Fonterra and several major dairy and fossil fuel companies.
He argued that the companies—responsible for around a third of New Zealand’s emissions—owed a legal duty to him and to communities already being harmed by climate change impacts.
Lawyers for the companies countered that climate change affects everyone and is better addressed through legislation and Parliament, rather than through the courts under common law.
The case was later referred back to the High Court and had been scheduled to begin in April next year.
For Goldsmith, Smith’s case was “creating uncertainty in business confidence and investments that the government must address.”
The proposed law change would, according to officials, prevent the courts from developing a new legal approach that could conflict with the existing framework Parliament has already put in place to address climate change.
He said New Zealand already has a legal system in place to manage emissions through the Climate Change Response Act and the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Goldsmith said the law change would not affect the government’s duties under the Act, and businesses with obligations under the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) would still be required to meet those requirements.