Legal opinion re liability for climate change
On this page, we will develop the legal position for liability for planning decisions made in the wake of knowledge about climate change.
Briefly, the thesis is that:
- Councils can be sued at common law for negligence if they allow developments to occur in areas subject to flooding or coastal inundation. They also have a responsibility under the Resource Management Act 1991 to plan for 'sustainable management" and under the Local Government Act 2002 to plan for 'sustainable development'.
- Climate change modeling and predictions are now getting precise so that predictions can be made about the likely impact on Lower Hutt in some detail.
- How far must the City Council take those predictions into account in planning and infrastructure decisions?
- What account are they currently taking?
Can a case be made that current actions and/or omissions of the Council are negligent and/or in breach of the Resource Management Act and Local Government Act?
Matters to follow up:
Existing law on Council liability eg Abbottsford landslip
Supreme Court statements in EPA case that impacts of Climate Change are already happening in terms of sea level changes and more intense storm events
Greenpeace service of liability notices on GHG emitters
Whether the ETS changes legal liability
Whether Councils faces changes in their own insurance policies due to climate change risks