<
https://theconversation.com/changing-climate-law-to-prevent-civil-cases-removes-a-key-protection-for-nz-citizens-282849>
"The government’s plan to change the law to bar claims for harms from
greenhouse gas emissions shuts down New Zealand’s most important climate tort
case, meaning it will never be decided on its merits.
The move overrides a unanimous Supreme Court decision that
Smith v Fonterra,
a case against some of New Zealand’s major corporate emitters, should go to
trial.
It also guts the future capacity of tort law – a branch of civil law allowing
people to seek damages for harm caused by wrongful actions by others – to curb
climate harms.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith justified it by saying climate change is best
managed by the government at a national level, not through torts claims, and
that shutting down these cases will “provide businesses with certainty around
their obligations”.
As we explain, this argument is questionable on a number of fronts."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
