Better New Zealand Trust v Minister for Transport

In July 2024, the New Zealand government weakened the national Clean Car Standard, a policy that requires imported vehicles to meet a target for average emissions per kilometer. Importers that do not meet these requirements must pay a penalty or purchase surplus credits from low- and zero-emissions importers. Government modeling acknowledges that this will reduce the uptake of hybrid and electric vehicles. Section 167C states that before setting clean car standards, the Minister of Transport must “be satisfied … that the targets are set at an appropriate level to increase the supply of zero- and low-emissions vehicles in the market.” Standards must also be “consistent with transport-specific policies and strategies outlined in the emissions reduction plan.” The Better New Zealand Trust argued that the new targets will “decrease compared to the previous targets, and that the Emissions Reduction Plan target to have 30% of the fleet as EVs by 2035 will be that much harder to achieve.” The claim was subsequently withdrawn.