New Zealand government sued over ‘dangerously inadequate’ emissions reduction plan

Pine plantation in Canterbury, New Zealand. A group of climate lawyers have filed judicial review proceedings against the government in Wellington’s high court. Photograph: Naomi Haussmann/The Guardian

Two groups representing hundreds of top environment lawyers are suing the New Zealand government over what they say is its “dangerously inadequate” plan to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050.

It is the first time the country’s emissions reduction plan has faced litigation, and the lawyers believe it is the first case globally that challenges the use of forestry to offset emissions.