Bogota, Colombia – As a crucial climatic demand, it is aimed at trial in Germany Next week, experts say that the case presented by the Peruvian farmer Saul Luciano Lliuya against the German energy giant RWE could establish a significant precedent in the struggle to hold the main pollutions responsible for climate change.
“This is one of the first cases of this type, a case presented by someone directly affected by climate change against an important greenhouse gase emitter, which has reached the trial,” said Noah Walker-Crawford, a researcher at the London Economy School and Advisor to Germany Non-profit, which has been advised to Lliuya.
Lliuya’s demand against RWE He argues that the company’s historical emissions of the company’s greenhouse gases have fed global warming, accelerated glacial fusion About his hometown of Huaraz, Peru. As a result, Lake Palcacocha has increased to dangerous levels, threatening the community with the risk of catastrophic floods.
RWE, who has never operated in Peru, denies legal responsibility, arguing that climate change is a global problem caused by many taxpayers.
“It is very sad and painful to see the glaciers melt,” said 45 years old, Associated Press in a video call from Germany. “There is a lot of concern of people in my community about the future, about the issue of water, because all rivers that are reduced from mountains are used for agriculture.”
Walker-Crawford said of all these cases around the world, this is the one who has gone further.
“He has already established a partial precedent because the courts considered him admissible in 2017, which means that the judges said the case is solid in legal terms,” he said. “Now, the court is listening to evidence, and we will see if the company’s responsibility can be tested in this specific case.”
Sebastien Duyck, a main lawyer of the International Environmental Law Center, says that the reason why the case is so significant is not the decision itself or the amount of damages requested, but the precedent that would establish.
“If we could use the grievance law to say that any fossil fuel corporation that has contributed significantly to climate change can be responsible for the cost -related costs in proportion to its emissions, it could open the door for many similar cases worldwide,” he said.
The case could be “a change of play”, according to Murray Worthy, by Zero Carbon Analytics, a climate change research group.
“This case is absolutely crucial,” Worthy said. “While this is only a case focused on this place in Peru, the broader implications are huge. The costs and damage of climate change could work dozens of billions of dollars a year, and if fossil fuel companies in general are responsible for those and will need to pay those costs, they would completely change the finances and perspectives of the entire fossil fuel industry.” “
RWE is one of the largest energy companies in Germany, historically recognized as an important electricity producer of fossil fuels.
RWE says that the demand is legally inadmissible and that it establishes a dangerous precedent by holding individual emitters for global climate change.
“In our opinion, there is no legal basis to hold individual emitters responsible for global phenomena such as climate change. Due to the large amount of global greenhouse gases from natural and human sources, as well as the complexity of the climate, it is not possible, in our opinion, legally attribute specific effects of climate change to a single issuer, “said the company in response to the questions raised by AP.
The company insists that climatic solutions should be addressed through state and international policies, not by courts.
Walker-Crawford said the court is entering the test collection phase, examining whether Lliuya’s house actually faces a significant risk of floods.
“If the court decides that the risk is high enough, it will evaluate whether RWE emissions may be scientifically linked to that risk,” he said.
Regardless of the final result of the case, Walker-Crawford said that it is likely to reinforce the legal basis for future demands.
“Even if the specific risk in this case is not considered high enough, the precedent that companies can be responsible for their climatic impacts still remain,” he said.
The result of the case could also have financial repercussions.
“We are already beginning to see the impact of climate litigation on financial markets,” said Walker-Crawford. “Research has shown that when climatic cases against corporations exceed the main obstacles, negatively affects the value of the stock market of companies that are demanded. Investors are beginning to take note of the significant climate litigation of financial responsibility that can occur. ”
Lliuya, who also works as a mountain guide for tourists, said the demand began with little hope. Ten years later, that hope has grown.
“When the German judges visited my house and the lake in 2022, it gave me hope, the hope that our voices were heard and that justice could be possible,” he said. “Whatever the result, we have traveled a long way and I feel good with that,” he said.
The audience will begin on Monday.
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Franklin Briceno in Lima, Peru, contributed to this report.
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