Student to sue Govt over climate change
HAMILTON: Former prime minister John Key once described it as ‘‘a joke’’ — but now a Hamilton student’s climatechange lawsuit against the Government is about to get an airing.
In a case thought to be the first of its kind, Sarah Thomson has taken Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett to court over what the 26yearold claims is a lack of action over the issue.
Bennett says she’s comfortable that New Zealand’s target, pledged as part of the Paris Agreement ratified last year, is fair and ambitious.
Ms Thomson filed papers with the High Court ahead of the UN conference in Paris in 2015, in an unusual suit that John Key then dismissed as a joke, pointing out that climate targets by the US and Australia aimed lower.
But the young law student has remained serious about the action, and was recently notified the case is to be heard at the Wellington High Court next month.
It challenged a claimed failure to review climate targets after the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Fifth Assessment Report in 2013.
The suit further challenged the Government’s target to slash domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 11% below 1990 levels and 30% below 2005 levels by 2030, which Ms Thomson argued was ‘‘unreasonable and irrational’’ against the seriousness of the issue.
‘‘I’m arguing that the Minister failed to take into account relevant considerations when decid ing the target — the minister considered the cost of reducing emissions, but not what climate change will cost us if we fail to act,’’ Ms Thomson told the Herald .
‘‘I’m also arguing that the target is irrational because it’s well below what’s needed to strengthen the global response to climate change.
‘‘I’m taking the case because action on climate change is urgent, and it’s going to affect everyone and every aspect of our lives.’’
Ms Thomson argued a failure to reduce emissions would result in more extreme weather events, which would put people’s homes and health at risk, make food prices rise, and significantly impact the economy.
‘‘At the very least, I would like to see the court order that the target is unlawful and needs to be reviewed.’’
Ms Bennett, whose lawyers have prepared a Statement of Defence in response to the challenge, said she was limited in what she could say as the case was before the court.
‘‘However, we are very comfortable that our Paris target is fair and ambitious, and that it was set only after a thorough process of consultation.’’
Other actions being led by the Government included phasing out the ‘‘onefortwo’’ emissions trading scheme credit measure and reviewing the ETS to ensure it was fit for purpose, phasing down the use of hydrofluorocarbons by 80%, spending $2 billion on public transport, increasing renewable electricity to 90% by 2025, eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, investing $20 mil lion a year in agricultural greenhouse gas research, and the planting of more than 5.5 million trees this winter.
Further, the Government had pledged up to $200 million in international aid for climaterelated support, $1.3 million to support Fiji’s presidency of the UN Climate Change Conference and $31 million on research into understanding climate change and its impacts.
Elsewhere, the Government set up three expert groups to look at adaptation, agriculture and forestry regarding climate change, signed the Climate Change Action Plan with China, begun joint discussions with Korea on developing carbon markets and aimed to double the number of electric vehicles registered every year to reach 64,000 by 2021. — NZME