The Nature Of The Obligation On New Zealand Government To Keep Fossil Fuels In The Ground For Future Generations

Abstract

Climate change has been recognised by world leaders as posing a global and existential threat to humanity. However, government inaction has meant that this threat is failing to be addressed and the world is nearing the cusp of irreversible and catastrophic environmental harm. Previous legal scholarship has examined discrete areas of law including international environmental law, human rights and domestic regimes in an attempt to impose obligations on governments to take climate action. This paper challenges this siloed thinking and shows that it is necessary to consider the various sources of legal obligations and principles as a whole to derive any tangible duty of climate action. The question it frames is whether the New Zealand government owes a duty to future generations to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Examining the various sources of domestic and international obligations, this paper concludes that such a duty does exist. To uphold international obligations, human rights and tikanga, and act through a climate emergency ‘lens’ the government must keep fossil fuels in the ground. It is hoped that this paper underlines the legal imperative on government to take climate action and encourages a more holistic and long-term perspective in climate policy.