![\"Mike](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/07\/e1dd6ec2-mike-smith-nz-1024x578.webp\" "\\"Mike")
Smith v Fonterra<\/strong><\/h2>\n\nThe core argument behind my case has always been that if corporations knowingly contribute to dangerous climate harm, then surely there must be some legal mechanism to hold them accountable. I don\u2019t think this is a radical proposition, and nor do most people. Courts exist precisely to examine difficult questions where public harm and private power intersect.
In 2024, we won a historic victory. The Supreme Court of New Zealand unanimously ruled that my case could go to a full trial<\/a>. It was a massive breakthrough for global climate litigation. Our trial was locked in for April 2027.<\/p>\n\nBut corporate power does not accept defeat quietly. Fearing the evidence that would come out in an open courtroom, these big polluters bypassed the public and went straight through the back door to the highest office in the land.<\/p>\n\n
New Zealand Parliament proposes to ban climate tort cases<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\nThe New Zealand government is now rushing through the Climate Change Response (Tort Liability) Amendment Bill<\/em><\/a> – a law effectively ghostwritten by the polluters themselves.
This proposed law bans citizens from suing heavy polluters for climate damage, and it applies retrospectively to kill my court case before it can even start. The government has stepped in to rewrite the law, specifically to protect the country’s biggest climate polluters<\/a>. By doing this, they are shutting the courtroom doors in the faces of ordinary people.<\/p>\n\nThis decision strikes at the foundations of democracy. It raises profound questions about the rule of law, the separation of powers, and whether ordinary citizens can still seek justice when their interests clash with those of politically influential industries.<\/p>\n\n![\"Greenpeace](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/07\/7ec94eaa-gp0su7s6w.jpg\" "\\"Fonterra")
Greenpeace activists in Auckland set up a decontamination tent outside New Zealand\u2019s largest dairy company, Fonterra, and poured 2 metric tonnes of slime around the building. This represented the toxic slime found in rivers and lakes from e-coli and nitrate contamination, and prevented shareholders from walking through main entrances for their annual meeting. \u00a9 Dom Zapata \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nThe people v politically influential industries<\/strong><\/h2>\n\nThe question that comes sharply into focus is Who holds power, and who is forced to live with the consequences of decisions made by that power?<\/strong><\/p>\n\nWe hold obligations to those who came before us, and to those who will come after us. That worldview stands in direct conflict with political systems that treat the environment as expendable whenever profit margins or electoral calculations are at stake.
Recent investigations, including a scathing finding by the Ombudsman<\/a>, revealed the shameful truth of how this new law was born. Executives from Z Energy and Fonterra had direct access to the Prime Minister\u2019s Office<\/a>. They handed over private briefing documents suggesting exactly how the law should be rewritten to exempt them from accountability.<\/p>\n\n
In 2024, we won a historic victory. The Supreme Court of New Zealand unanimously ruled that my case could go to a full trial<\/a>. It was a massive breakthrough for global climate litigation. Our trial was locked in for April 2027.<\/p>\n\n
But corporate power does not accept defeat quietly. Fearing the evidence that would come out in an open courtroom, these big polluters bypassed the public and went straight through the back door to the highest office in the land.<\/p>\n\n
New Zealand Parliament proposes to ban climate tort cases<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\nThe New Zealand government is now rushing through the Climate Change Response (Tort Liability) Amendment Bill<\/em><\/a> – a law effectively ghostwritten by the polluters themselves.
This proposed law bans citizens from suing heavy polluters for climate damage, and it applies retrospectively to kill my court case before it can even start. The government has stepped in to rewrite the law, specifically to protect the country’s biggest climate polluters<\/a>. By doing this, they are shutting the courtroom doors in the faces of ordinary people.<\/p>\n\nThis decision strikes at the foundations of democracy. It raises profound questions about the rule of law, the separation of powers, and whether ordinary citizens can still seek justice when their interests clash with those of politically influential industries.<\/p>\n\nGreenpeace activists in Auckland set up a decontamination tent outside New Zealand\u2019s largest dairy company, Fonterra, and poured 2 metric tonnes of slime around the building. This represented the toxic slime found in rivers and lakes from e-coli and nitrate contamination, and prevented shareholders from walking through main entrances for their annual meeting. \u00a9 Dom Zapata \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nThe people v politically influential industries<\/strong><\/h2>\n\nThe question that comes sharply into focus is Who holds power, and who is forced to live with the consequences of decisions made by that power?<\/strong><\/p>\n\nWe hold obligations to those who came before us, and to those who will come after us. That worldview stands in direct conflict with political systems that treat the environment as expendable whenever profit margins or electoral calculations are at stake.
Recent investigations, including a scathing finding by the Ombudsman<\/a>, revealed the shameful truth of how this new law was born. Executives from Z Energy and Fonterra had direct access to the Prime Minister\u2019s Office<\/a>. They handed over private briefing documents suggesting exactly how the law should be rewritten to exempt them from accountability.<\/p>\n\n
This proposed law bans citizens from suing heavy polluters for climate damage, and it applies retrospectively to kill my court case before it can even start. The government has stepped in to rewrite the law, specifically to protect the country’s biggest climate polluters<\/a>. By doing this, they are shutting the courtroom doors in the faces of ordinary people.<\/p>\n\n
This decision strikes at the foundations of democracy. It raises profound questions about the rule of law, the separation of powers, and whether ordinary citizens can still seek justice when their interests clash with those of politically influential industries.<\/p>\n\n The question that comes sharply into focus is Who holds power, and who is forced to live with the consequences of decisions made by that power?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n We hold obligations to those who came before us, and to those who will come after us. That worldview stands in direct conflict with political systems that treat the environment as expendable whenever profit margins or electoral calculations are at stake.The people v politically influential industries<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
Recent investigations, including a scathing finding by the Ombudsman<\/a>, revealed the shameful truth of how this new law was born. Executives from Z Energy and Fonterra had direct access to the Prime Minister\u2019s Office<\/a>. They handed over private briefing documents suggesting exactly how the law should be rewritten to exempt them from accountability.<\/p>\n\n
![\"Greenpeace](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2026\/07\/06be6397-gp0stvnmi.jpg\" "\\"Climate")