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Iwi Mike Smith |
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Iwi Mike Smith faced off with 30 attorneys in today's hearing. |
Photo courtesy Mike Smith.
Iwi leader up against NZ’s biggest climate polluters in Supreme Court
Press statement
Monday 15 August 2022
Watch live during court sessions
Iwi leader Mike Smith is facing off against some of New Zealand’s biggest climate polluters today in the Supreme Court.
Smith is suing fossil fuel and dairy companies, including Genesis Energy, Fonterra, and Z Energy for public nuisance and negligence for their contributions to climate change. Over the next three days, the Supreme Court will decide whether the polluter companies may be breaching important duties to New Zealanders and ought to face a full trial.
Smith (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu), who is co-chair of the climate directorate for the Iwi Chairs Forum, says that it is now or never to hold climate polluters to account.
“We are running out of time to curb the climate crisis. The Government has failed us on climate change, and it won’t act in time because every effort is undermined by lobbying from climate polluting interests. My hope is that the Courts can play their vital role and help stop the biggest wrong of all times.
SHELLEY HARJO