New Zealand government sued for 'pouring oil on climate crisis fire'
Climate lawyers filed judicial review of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon administration's climate action plan at High Court in Wellington, citing inconsistencies in plans to reduce emissions to zero by 2050
ISTANBUL
Climate lawyers on Tuesday sued the New Zealand government of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon for "inconsistencies" in plans to reduce emissions to zero by 2050, the Green Party said.Defending the move, party co-leader Chloe Swarbrick said Luxon's government "has chosen to pour oil, coal, and gas on the climate crisis."
Some 300 lawyers, represented by Climate Action NZ and the Environmental Law Initiative, filed a judicial review of the government's climate action plan at the High Court in Wellington.
Swarbrick argued that the government's "climate plan" is "not worth the paper it is written on."
"That’s why they’re being sued today,” she said, accusing Luxon of lying when he said in December 2023 that the government was not “weakening actions on climate.”
“The Luxon Government’s second Emissions Reduction Plan relies on unproven, economically unfeasible technologies and plastering our country in pine trees,” she added.
Jessica Palairet, president of Lawyers for Climate Action NZ, told The Guardian that the government's plan is "fundamentally unambitious" and represents a "dangerous regression" for the country.
“As it stands, the government’s emissions reduction plan will carry huge consequences for our country. We don’t take this step lightly, but the plan needs to be challenged,” Palairet said.
