NZ to revise climate change law in favour of businesses

Amendment to apply to both future and current court cases.

"The courts are not the right place to resolve claims of harm from climate change, and tort law is not well-suited to respond to a problem like climate change which involves a range of complex environmental, economic, and social factors."

Those were the words of New Zealand Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith when it was announced that the Climate Change Response Act 2002 would be amended to prevent findings of liability for tort for climate change damage or harm due to greenhouse gas emissions in future as well as current court proceedings.

Goldsmith stated: "Ongoing litigation in the High Court, where an applicant has brought civil claims against six major businesses for their greenhouse gas emissions, is creating uncertainty in business confidence and investment that the government must address.

"The government is acting now to provide legal clarity and certainty and to remove the possible development of a new regime that contradicts the framework Parliament has already enacted to respond to climate change."

The Justice Minister cited the need for certainty of law in business operations and in attracting investment from overseas, adding that obligations of both companies and the government under the climate change law will remain.    

"Our response to climate change is best managed by the government at a national level and not through piece-meal litigation in the courts. New Zealand already has a legal framework to manage greenhouse gas emissions set through Parliament through the Climate Change Response Act 2002 and the Emissions Trading Scheme," he pointed out.

"It is essential to maintain the coherence of the regulatory system and to deliver consistent obligations for greenhouse gas emitters."

The New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme requires businesses to report on their greenhouse gas emissions and surrender one emissions unit (NZU) to the government for each one tonne of emissions they emit. The number of NZUs available to emitters is limited by the scheme.