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Students for Climate Solutions v Minister of Energy and Resources

Filing Date: 2021
Status: Pending
Case Categories:
  • Suits against governments
    • Environmental assessment and permitting
      • Natural resource extraction
Jurisdictions:
  • New Zealand
    • High Court of New Zealand
Principal Laws:
  • UNFCCC
    • Paris Agreement
  • New Zealand
    • Climate Change Response Act 2002
Summary:

On November 9, 2021 a group of law students sued the New Zealand Minister for Energy and Resources, challenging the Minister's June 2021 decision to grant permits for onshore oil and gas exploration. The students seek a judicial review of the permitting decision. The students claim the minister's June 2021 decision to issue exploration permits in the Taranaki area is inconsistent with the government’s legal obligations under the country’s Zero Carbon Act and the Paris agreement and that she failed to consider key facts like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recent warnings about climate change’s severity. In 2018, the government banned new offshore exploration for oil and gas reserves and in 2020 it declared New Zealand was facing a climate emergency. However it has allowed energy companies to continue to apply for permits for onshore oil and gas exploration.

At Issue: Whether decision to grant permits for oil and gas exploration was unlawful.
Case Documents:

No case documents are available.

© 2023 · Sabin Center for Climate Change Law · U.S. Litigation Chart made in collaboration with Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

The materials on this website are intended to provide a general summary of the law and do not constitute legal advice. You should consult with counsel to determine applicable legal requirements in a specific fact situation.