#10: Melanie Baker-Jones: Climate, Risk, and the Regulatory Standards Bill

Coherent

Video episode available on my Substack.

What does climate action look like in a legal framework that prioritises present-day costs, private property rights, and minimal state intervention?

In this episode of Coherent, climate consultant and legal academic Dr Melanie Baker Jones joins Melanie Nelson to unpack the wide-reaching implications of the Regulatory Standards Bill for climate policy and environmental governance in New Zealand. Drawing on her background in law, disaster regulation, and climate risk, Melanie brings a practical, grounded lens to the tensions at the heart of the Bill.

The conversation explores how the RSB’s principles — including cost-efficiency, predictability, and limited administrative discretion — could make it harder to justify bold, future-facing climate measures. Together they consider the risk that long-term adaptation work by councils could be delayed or challenged, and the way the Bill might privilege current private interests over intergenerational obligations, Māori worldviews, or the legal rights of ecosystems.

We also look at soft law tools like climate plans, and how these intersect with zoning, LIM reports, infrastructure investment and corporate disclosures. Dr Baker Jones shares international examples of litigation over climate advertising and explores how the Bill’s emphasis on commercial freedoms could affect similar efforts here. From the omission of international obligations to the power given to the Regulatory Standards Board to investigate and make public assessments, this episode raises some big questions about the direction of our climate response — and who gets to shape it.

If you care about the climate and want to understand how behind-the-scenes law changes could shape what is possible in the years to come, this one’s not to miss.

Resources:

Sector Specific RSB Tool we mentioned: https://tinyurl.com/RSBTool

Linktree with a wide range of historic and contemporary information on the RSB, including submission guides and builders.

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This is part of a series of in-depth conversations with experts across sectors on the real-world impacts of the Regulatory Standards Bill. If you value independent political analysis, subscribe to my Substack for more interviews, writing, and updates. Free subscribers get regular content. Paid subscriptions really help keep this work going.

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