The Māori climate activist breaking legal barriers to bring corporate giants to court
In a landmark case, Mike Smith has won the right to sue seven of the country’s biggest companies over their alleged contributions to climate change
Mike Smith stands stock still in a khaki-coloured vest, posing for a photograph against dark foliage in the Auckland Domain gardens. He sets his face into a determined expression, raises his eyes to the horizon, and jokes he is creating the “Che Guevara look”.
“You know the one – where he is looking wistfully up?” Smith says of the Cuban revolutionary’s famous portrait.