Webinar: Climate Tort Prohibition

Join us at 1:30pm on Thursday 9 July to hear from the experts who will explain the Bill and its implications.

The Government is seeking to shield major emitters from liability for climate change-related damage through the Climate Change Response (Tort Liability) Amendment Bill(the Bill). The Bill would bar civil tort claims against greenhouse gas emitters for climate-related harm, and would do so retrospectively, with the explicit intention of extinguishing Smith v Fonterra and others.

Mike Smith

Mike Smith (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) is a climate change activist, a father, grandfather, and an uncle to many as a kaumātua from Te Tai Tokerau. In 2024, the Supreme Court gave him permission to proceed with a case against Fonterra and other major emitters. The Climate Change Response (Tort Liability) Bill aims to extinguish this case. 

Mike will speak about his litigation and the impact the Bill will have on him.

Dr Christina Hood

Dr Christina Hood is an internationally recognised policy expert in climate change, energy, and carbon pricing. She led the International Energy Agency’s Environment and Climate Change Unit and has worked with NZ government ministers of energy and climate change. She is currently Chief Advisor at the New Zealand Climate Foundation.

Christina will speak about why Aotearoa’s existing climate response is insufficient.

Bjørn-Oliver Magsig

Bjørn-Oliver is a Senior Lecturer and Associate Dean (International) at the Faculty of Law, Victoria University of Wellington, where his work in public international law and climate change law explores pathways towards cooperative sovereignty.

Bjørn-Oliver will speak about the rule of law issues in relation to the Bill and the conflicts with NZ's international obligations.

Laura MacKay

Laura is Lawyers for Climate Action’s Acting Executive Director. Laura leads our programme of work focused on developing and pursuing legal pathways to accelerate New Zealand's transition to clean energy and reduce our long-term reliance on fossil fuels.

Laura will introduce the Bill and explain its intention with a high-level overview of the issues.

Submissions due 13 July at 9am

Submissions due 13 July at 9am