A Summary of the Climate Change Commission‘s report. My #cartoon today #NZpol #ClimateChange #ClimateTargets
Bjørn-Oliver Magsig
@magsig.nz
Law & the environment | Exploring pathways towards cooperative sovereignty & shared responsibility | Born at 341ppm
The #NZ Government just announced it will bar tort claims arising from climate change damage, for both current & future cases. That's not just bad climate policy. It's a rule-of-law problem. New piece w/ Graeme Austin in @aunz.theconversation.com: theconversation.com/changing-cli... #ClimateLaw
Changing climate law to prevent civil cases removes a key protection for NZ citizens
The law change will gut the capacity of tort law to hold greenhouse gas emitters and the government to account for climate harms.
theconversation.com
250+ legal experts worldwide: Phasing out fossil fuels is not a political choice—it’s a legal obligation. As leaders gather in SantaMarta, a new open letter calls on governments to act—ending expansion, subsidies, and delay. 👉 Read: bit.ly/41UFypF
New national climate plans have barely moved the needle on limiting global warming. Yet there is hope. According to UNEP's latest #EmissionsGap Report, accelerated adoption of renewable energy and falling costs mean we have the tools to cut emissions now: www.unep.org/news-and-sto...
If you're a @drilledmedia.bsky.social listener you know I think social scientists are key sources if we want to understand why governments haven't acted on climate. So imagine my nerd delight to get my hands on an incredible new batch of research on climate obstruction. drilled.media/podcasts/dri...
Welcome to the World of Obstruction
Investigating the obstacles to action on climate change.
drilled.media
Long (Inspiring) Read. An “optional extracurricular activity” in a University of the South Pacific environmental law class went all the way to the International Court of Justice (IJC) and transformed global climate law. By @brookejarvis.bsky.social for The NYT Magazine… buff.ly/XYow5FH
New: The International Court of Justice’s finding that granting fossil fuel exploration licences could breach international law casts a shadow over the New Zealand Government’s oil and gas plans. newsroom.co.nz/2025/07/25/w...
World's highest court sends shot across bow of NZ's climate policy
The International Court of Justice's finding that granting fossil fuel exploration licences could breach international law casts a shadow over the Govt's oil and gas plans.
newsroom.co.nz
⚡️ ⚖️ Precedent-setting #climatelitigation victory this morning in #SaulvsRWE 🙌 🎉 A victory for #climatejustice and corporate accountability 🧵🧑⚖️ A short thread to unpack the key legal principles reaffirmed by the judges of the Higher Court of Hamm 🇩🇪 ⬇️ 1/8
🔥 ⚖️ #ClimateLitigation history happening right now at Higher Court of Hamm🇩🇪: follow with us this precedent-setting ruling in #SaulvsRWE. 🗣️ Today's decision cld be a turning point in efforts to make polluters pay for climate harms. 🧵 thread with context, insights from the Court & legal arguments👇
Jumping on line and going on again about Adaptation Futures 2025 as it’s the biggest climate adaptation event- held in both virtual & in person formats because we can’t keep flying to save the planet but come and stay longer - first time NZ & Pacific has hosted this
New Zealand has argued states shouldn’t be bound by international human rights law to reduce their climate pollution, in its submission to a landmark climate case being heard by the International Court of Justice. newsroom.co.nz/2024/12/16/n...
NZ swims against Pacific currents at global climate case
NZ's arguments before the 'World's Court' look progressive but ultimately align with polluters and developed nations, a law lecturer says.
newsroom.co.nz
Using the opportunity to tell you about a new paper that I wrote together with Akiho Shibata about the underrated geopolitical dimension of glacial #geoengineering proposals in #Antarctica. It’s #openaccess & available online at International Affairs here: academic.oup.com/ia/advance-a...
Really unusual move by @nzgeo.bsky.social to open the books & show how our changing world is affecting the viability of critical magazines like NZ Geo. www.nzgeo.com/stories/our-... If you've enjoyed my work, please subscribe-it's very affordable-& help keep this shoestring powerhouse on the road🇳🇿
Our future, by the numbers
The fate of New Zealand Geographic will be decided by the cruel precision of accounting—our income less our costs, year on year. Here’s what that looks like.
nzgeo.com
The same set of documents show the fossil fuel industry heaping praise on the Government's draft Emissions Reduction Plan, the final version of which is due this month.
Eloise Gibson@eloisegibson.bsky.social · 2y agoEnergy Minister Shane Jones says the Govt is considering options to support the oil and gas industry, after RNZ obtained letters showing the industry has asked the Government to "underwrite, guarantee or hedge" some or all of the risk of fossil fuel exploration. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
Here my commentary on #COP29 with former colleagues from the Wuppertal Institute. This year, for obvious reasons, it is called "Not a Gift from God". It is high time to look for complementary initiatives like the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative! #FFNPT wupperinst.org/fa/edaktion/...
wupperinst.org
🚨🔥In 2 weeks, we will enter a historic moment as Advisory Proceedings on #ClimateJustice enter public phase at ⚖️ 🇺🇳International Court of Justice 🫵📢 Now: it’s your turn to step up & show solidarity with Pacific Islanders 🧵See in thread some concrete steps YOU can take👇👇👇
All the quotes in this are some version of experts asking, with a heavy, tired irony: "WHO COULD HAVE POSSIBLY KNOWN?" www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Australia’s carbon credits system a failure on global scale, study finds
Researchers find carbon offsets approach, which is supposed to regenerate scrubby outback forests, was not reducing emissions as promised
theguardian.com
As of next week, the oceans will have set a rather preposterous heat record every day for a year.
A HUGE win for the climate in Smith vs Fonterra Supreme Court ruling
Huge win for the climate in Smith vs Fonterra Supreme Court ruling - Greenpeace Aotearoa
The Supreme Court has today ruled in favour of Northland iwi leader Mike Smith’s (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) climate case continuing to trial. The case is against Fonterra and six other…
greenpeace.org
Climate activist wins chance to sue Fonterra, Z Energy | www.stuff.co.nz/environment/... by @oliviawannan.bsky.social
Stuff
stuff.co.nz
There was no press release about it, but Transport Minister Simeon Brown has quietly told officials to stop work on policies that would provide transport alternatives to private cars. newsroom.co.nz/2023/12/17/g...
Government quietly defunds transport climate work
Transport Minister Simeon Brown wouldn't say whether the Government will completely scrap the targets for reducing private car usage.
newsroom.co.nz
Surprise, surprise - big oil unfazed by ‘historic’ COP28 agreement
"This agreement delivers on making it clear to all financial institutions, businesses and societies that we are now finally at the true "beginning of the end" of the fossil-fuel driven world economy”, PIK Director Johan Rockström on #COP28 closing: www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/late...
At the centre of the surreality of the situation is this: the Climate Commission report was written for a government with a distinct vision of what the climate response will look like, but it has been received by a Government with no clear picture of the future. newsroom.co.nz/2023/12/13/c...
Climate Commission report makes for awkward reading
Among the Government's first actions on climate, spelled out in the 100-day plan and coalition agreements, are moves that directly conflict with the Climate Change Commission's advice
newsroom.co.nz
Better text in sight. Better in the short term but leaves huge backdoor for fossils in the long term.
Akshat Rathi@akshatrathi.bsky.social · 3y ago🚨 SCOOP Bloomberg News has seen a draft of the COP28 outcome. It strengthens fossil fuel language and gets rid of the much hated "could" and replacing it with "should". Worth noting it's not the final text. But negotiators are getting creative. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
