Last week Sarah Thomson took the government to court over its woeful response to climate change. She challenged the setting of emissions targets as being too low and not taking into account the long term consequences of addressing climate change adequately. The judge is expected to coming back with a ruling in 2 months.
Now the Mataatua District Māori Council from the eastern Bay of Plenty is also bringing a case against the government for breaching the Treaty of Waitangi,
“Under the Treaty of Waitangi, the Crown has a duty of active protection towards Maori in regards to their lands and resources. The allegation is that their climate change policies are breaching that obligation.”
NZ Maori Council member Maanu Paul said the Government needed to do more about climate change than it was at present.
“The claim raises various issues about how we are already being affected – by the current flooding in the eastern Bay of Plenty and the effect on Maori forestry of course, and fisheries,” Sharp said.
Because the tribunal was a commission of inquiry, not a court, Sharp said it had a broader discretion to inquire into the adequacy of government actions.
“The current targets are a long way behind what we think New Zealand should do, as a developed nation, under the Paris Agreement.”
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