The case will be heard by the Supreme Court in May. Photo: Getty Images / Hagen Hopkins
A case started by a group of law students in 2022, against the granting of oil exploration permits in Taranaki, is going to be heard by the country's top court.
The case, brought by a group of Victoria University law students called Students for Climate Solutions against the then-Minister for Energy and Resources, has been heard in the High Court, the Court of Appeal, and will now be heard by the Supreme Court in May.
One of the claimants Lauren Craig is now a law graduate - and said it's surreal to know their case will be considered by the top judges.
"I think that it's just incredible to think that it's gotten this far - we really did just start off as a couple of students sitting in a study room at Vic Uni, and now it's been three years and it's progressed so far."
The group has argued that the 2021 decision to grant permits for onshore exploration to two companies - Turangi Ltd and Riverside Energy Ltd - did not properly consider the climate change impacts, or consider the views of Māori under their Treaty of Waitangi obligations.
Before the permits were granted in 2021, the then Labour government had received advice from the Climate Commission, saying they were not on track to met their emissions reduction targets, and advised them to avoid locking in new fossil gas assets, and recommendations from the International Energy Agency that no new gas fields should be approved for development to met international targets.
The group also highlights the government declaring a Climate Emergency in Parliament in 2020.
When the court was heard in the High Court in Wellington, Justice Francis Cooke did not agree, writing in his decision that under the Crown Minerals Act, those matters were irrelevant considerations and climate change was not specified under the Act.
While Justice Cooke wrote that no one could doubt the importance of climate change issues, the purpose of the Crown Minerals Act was to promote mining for fossil fuels, and on that line the Energy Minister acted in line with the Act.
An appeal of that decision was thrown out by the Court of Appeal - but the group have now been granted leave to take their case to the Supreme Court.
Lauren Craig said the case was about holding the government at the time to account on their statements about climate change and their promises under the Zero Carbon Act.
"And then they didn't consider climate change, about oil exploration. Which is absolutely wild to me. So I think it's hugely important to be able to hold them to that. I think the reason that the Courts are a big part of climate action to me is because they're about making sure the promises made by politicians and our parliament are kept."
Craig said the group had considered they might end up at the Supreme Court, but hoped it wouldn't get that far.
"We're all going to have been graduated and well past University, we're not going to be students anymore right. I think that [it's] really upsetting to think how long these decisions can take and how long and ridiculous it is that we're still having to fight these things."
She said giving up was never an option - even with a change of Government, to one that is more inviting of oil and gas exploration, overturning the 2018 ban on new offshore permits.
"It's such a blatantly ridiculous thing to be exploring for oil - like exploring, not even drilling - exploring to set up more oil drills. We thought it was ridiculous to be doing it in 2022. It's more ridiculous to be doing in 2025."
She said if the group can prove to the Supreme Court that the previous decisions should have considered climate change, it could mean future decisions follow suit.
"The fact is that if we can hold them to account for this one and the issuing of this permit for exploration, then it means in future exploration permits being issued - even though it's dumb that they're issuing them in the first place - at the very least, they need to think about climate change considerations and actually do something about what Māori are telling them, not just sit around and not listen."
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