In June 2026, Mr. Smith filed a proceeding in the High Court, challenging Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith’s announcement that he will introduce legislation to amend the Climate Change Response Act 2002 to prevent tort-based climate litigation, including with retrospective effect. 

In the announcement, the Minister expressed that "[o]ngoing litigation in the High Court, where an applicant has brought civil claims against six major businesses for their greenhouse gas emissions, is creating uncertainty in business confidence and investment that the Government must address." He further stated that "the Government will amend the Climate Change Response Act 2002 to prevent findings of liability for tort for climate change damage or harm caused by greenhouse gas emissions in both current and future proceedings before the courts." This is in reference to Mr Smith's existing case, Smith v Fonterra, against six of New Zealand's largest corporate emitters. 

The claim challenges both the Minister’s announcement and the Cabinet process and decision behind it. Mr Smith alleges that the decision was unlawful on several grounds, including that: 
(i) The decision was reached with input from the defendants in Mr Smith’s existing case, Smith v Fonterra, in a way that was hidden from the public record and amounts to procedural impropriety;
(ii) The decision directly concerns Mr Smith’s rights in an existing High Court claim, but was made after consulting with the defendants and without consulting him; 
(iii) Cabinet decided to remove Mr Smith’s rights without considering how the defendants would compensate for the damage they have caused, contrary to principles in the Regulatory Standards Act 2025; and 
(iv) The announcement was made, at least in part, knowing and intending it would disrupt the High Court process, and was therefore made for an improper purpose. 

Plaintiff seeks a declaration that the Minister’s announcement and the Cabinet decision were unlawful.

Smith v Minister of Justice

<p>This entry was provided by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Please see the terms of use for citation and licensing of third party data.</p>

Untitled document

Filed

New Zealand

The Climate Litigation Database

Find climate change litigation data and indicators for {text}.

{text} litigation

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law provides Climate Litigation Database, a comprehensive database of US and Global climate change caselaw

Quickly and easily search through the complete text of thousands of climate change law and policy documents from every country.

Search the Climate Litigation Database

An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives