Climate Litigation at the Wellington High Court and Beyond w/ UoA's Associate Professor Vernon Rive: 8th March, 2026

This week, Lawyers for Climate Action New Zealand took the Climate Change Minister Simon Watts to Wellington’s High Court on the government’s lack of consultation in dismantling dozens of climate policies shortly after the last election. 

Also under scrutiny, is the government’s over-reliance on offsetting climate emissions through planting pine trees.

Internationally, similar court cases have pressured governments like that of the Netherlands and United Kingdom to revisit their own climate change policies.

Next week, leaders in the field of climate litigation will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau to discuss these developments and more, with an eye to the changes occurring internationally.

To understand this arena of the climate crisis, I spoke to Associate Professor of Law, and Chair for the upcoming Climate Litigation Conference, Vernon Rive.