Wai 2607: Mataatua District Māori Council v New Zealand

On June 1, 2016, the Waitangi Tribunal received an application from Cletus Maanu Paul, David Potter, and Andrew Peterson on behalf of the Mataatua District Maori Council (MDMC) alleging that the Crown is acting in breach of Treaty obligations towards Maori because the New Zealand Government was failing to implement adequate policies to address the threats posed by global climate change. The claim alleged that the Crown has continued to breach its obligations of active protection under Te Tiriti o Waitangi towards Māori by failing to put in place policies that would satisfy New Zealand’s obligations under the Paris Agreement, and that the steps the Crown had taken, such as establishing an emissions trading scheme, were ineffective and insufficient. The claim was declined on the basis that the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) policies and targets were subject to ongoing processes in which Māori would continue to have a role, and the Crown was still developing its domestic policies on climate matters. The application was dismissed. In 2019, the Wai 2607 applicants applied to have their claim heard as a priority on the basis that there would be a significant delay in hearing the claim, which would cause irreversible prejudice to Māori, as the Natural Resources and Environmental Management kaupapa inquiry was grouped eleventh in priority for hearing. At that time, the former Chairperson noted that the Tribunal was barred from inquiring into the matters as the matters raised in the statement of claim were the subject of the Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Reform) Amendment Bill, which was currently before the House. Renewed request for a prioritised inquiry within the kaupapa inquiry programme -Wai 2607: In February 2023, the Waitangi Tribunal received a renewed application for priority by the Wai 2607 applicant in relation to the Crown’s past and present climate change policies and the ETS. The Wai 2607 applicants contended that the criteria for priority had been satisfied, as climate change is increasingly impacting Māori and all of Aotearoa, as demonstrated by recent extreme storms and flooding that had impacted large parts of Aotearoa New Zealand. Further, climate change continues to have an impact on Māori businesses, including agricultural, horticultural, and fisheries industries. On February 9, 2024, the Tribunal granted a kaupapa inquiry into climate change policy. On February 15, 2024, it was directed that this would be a new record of inquiry, referred to as ‘the Climate Change Priority Inquiry’, with reference number ‘Wai 3325’ [Link to Wai 3325, submitted separately]. Kaupapa (thematic) inquiries are not specific to any district. They deal with nationally significant issues affecting Māori as a whole.